Re: All the way with Piaget

Naoki Ueno (nueno who-is-at nier.go.jp)
Tue, 5 May 1998 20:32:50 +0900

At 9:15 AM 5/3/98 -0700, Martin Packer wrote:
>The knowing and learning
>subject is always both active and acted upon--and subjectivity is shaped in
>interaction; so that the cognitive activity that constructivism emphasizes
>is itself the product of participation in particular social practices,
>culturally and historically situated. The very formation of an 'inner'
>mental realm, one of deliberation and cognition, is a product of specific
>practices and forms of relationship.

Eva,

I like this Martin's phrase so much.
So, I use it again.

My second paraphrasing is

"Objectivity is shaped in interaction; so that the objective social structure
(or objective environment) that traditional sociology (pyschology) emphasizes
is itself the product of participation in particular social practices,
culturally
and historically, politically situated. The very formation of an 'outside' is
a product of specific practices and forms of relationship. "

Is this paraphrasing showing that the problem of practice of reification
of "mental" is just the other side of the coin of the problem of practice of
reification of "objective socail" or "objective macro social structure"?

Of course, this "the other side of coin" is not the solution.

If so, how should we formulate " social" or "macro social structure"?
I believe that activity theory is not "the other side of coin" or
objectivisim. So, concrete analysis of "macro social structure" of
activity theory will be very helpful if it is used appropriately,
concretely.

Naoki Ueno
NIER, Tokyo