Artin Goncu's book was "missing" (i've ordered a replacement), Burgard I
only glanced at, Saxe's "Culture and Cognitive Development" was a real joy
to read (pity I didn't read it when I was a mediocre maths teacher in
Brixton in the '70s), and Becker's article was very interesting, too.
i think these two books confirm on psychological grounds, my view, arrived
at through epistemological considerations, that the mathematical concept of
value has its origin in exchange of commodities, but ...
For example, Saxe's book investigates how children build a rich variety of
value-relations and operations through the practice of exchange and
brilliantly illustrates how *creative* a process this is, but *takes for
granted* the existence of the currency. Becker's article considers the
perception of the value of money (and the building of ethical precepts in
the same process), but the *money* itself is treated much in the way of
culturalisation, whereas it is in fact a social *creation*, and I have not
seen anything about the creation of money - only creation of methods of
living with an already-existing money-system.
Likewise, while I liked Saxe's study of the transfer of school-learnt
concepts to practical activity as street traders, and the development of
relatively sophisticated concepts of measure in connection with business
activity, this barely scratches the surface of the way in which the money
relation structures our psyche.
I liked the illustration in Becker of how economic activity punished and
rewarded the child for errors/skill in LOGIC precisely because of the way
that monetary exchange gives an objective existence to formal logical and
mathematical relations.
But money is an objective social construct of enormous depth, and its
relations are internalised profoundly in the psyche of all citizens of the
modern world.
Likewise, while it is invaluable to see how children actively create forms
of commerce and reflect on ethics while eking out a living selling candy -
I guess it is in the nature of experimental psychology that the absolute
ubiquity of capital is taken for granted - I feel that activity theory
could offer something more. But maybe this is not a problem for psychology?
Andy
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| - Andy Blunden - Home Page - http://home.mira.net/~andy/index.htm - |
| All mysteries which lead theory to mysticism find their rational |
| solution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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