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[xmca] Yet another one: public reason/public language



I wonder if anyone can answer this one?

In John Rawls' theory of political justice, he introduces the term "public reason". What this means is that in the event of an ideological difference, the case must be argued out, in public, using and appealing to "public reason."

So for example, a right-to-lifer might believe that an embryo is a human being and killing an embryo is therefore murder. But others don't see it that way, especially if they don't hold to a literal reading of the Christian Bible. Rawls rules out the right-to-lifer from appealing to chapter and verse in the Bible - that would be "private reason" which makes sense only for those who hold to the literal truth of the Bible. They have to appeal to other reasons, which don't appeal to specialised beliefs, read "knowledge" in accessible to their protagonists; EG, that abortion is a danger to the health of the mother, leads to promiscuity, etc., etc.

Now, my question: is there an expression like "public language", meaning the ordinary language, the "lingua franca of everyday life" which, for example, a neuroscientist uses when he talks to a social worker, an engineer when she talks to a test driver, or a mathematician when talking to a meterologist? Specifically, is there a name for the language and concepts people use when communicating or reasoning across discipline boundaries, different from the specialist language they must use within their own discipline?

Andy

Duvall, Emily wrote:
Hi Andy, Sorry, I meant Richard Palmer. If you want to grab a nice overview of Giddens' and a brief introduction to Arendt's work, Mark Haugaard's book "Power: A reader" is great. ~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 11:58 PM
Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture,Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Circle of Activity?

Thanks Emily. Giddens I have read, but it is a little while ago now nad he is prolific. I will check out structuration. Hannah Arendt I keep coming up to, but have never actually picked her up! Which Palmer are you referring to?

Andy

Duvall, Emily wrote:
Thanks for bringing this up Andy... :-)
I do have one more suggestion... check out Giddens and structuration... you may find connections between the hermeneutic circle and activity. Palmer is another good source. If you want some fun, I suggest Arendt... her work is very political and may appeal to you.
~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:19 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Circle of Activity?

Thanks Emily, and others.
By browsing over how Heidegger and Gadamer and recent writers use the idea of "hermeneutic circle" it seems that they did not at all just see it in a literary sense, but also in the same sense I am using it, i.e., the understanding and construction of social reality. But in each case the idea is located within a larger theory which differs in fundamental ways from CHAT. So in a way, I don't need another term, but in other ways I do.

Best of luck with your collaborative project Paul and Emily. I look forward to seeing the result.

Andy

Duvall, Emily wrote:
Hi Paul, I took a seminar on TM as well... from Denny Schmidt at Penn State... :-) I like to think that Gadamer moved Heidegger's work forward. Isn't that what all good grad students should do? At any rate, yes, the circle doesn't close but renews itself so to speak as new understandings/fusions are achieved (and they are achieved if you consider the importance placed on conversation for Gadamer). For me the 'circle' is much better understood as a spiral that doesn't end... kind of like those tops that keep spinning and the circle keeps moving as it appropriates and renews.
I actually have a paper going on Vygotsky and Gadamer that I submitted to MCA... sent back because I need to work on internalization... one of these days. Perhaps you might be interested in some collaboration???
~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Dillon
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 5:21 PM
To: Culture ActivityeXtended Mind
Subject: RE: [xmca] Circle of Activity?

Emily,

I totally agree with your identification of Gadamer for a good understanding of  the concept of the hermeneutic circle.  I took a seminar on Truth and Method in grad school.  We spent several sessions on Gadamer's appropriation of Heidegger, especially in relation to the question of the horizon's that interpretation presupposes.  As I understand it, the hermeneutic circle is never closed, in some ways reminiscent of GH Mead's "generalized other" or the Zen brush paintings of a circle, or even as Leonard Cohen sings,  "there is a crack, a crack in everything that's where the light comes in."

Paul

--- On Tue, 7/14/09, Duvall, Emily <emily@uidaho.edu> wrote:

From: Duvall, Emily <emily@uidaho.edu>
Subject: RE: [xmca] Circle of Activity?
To: ablunden@mira.net, "eXtended Mind, Culture,Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 10:41 AM

Hi Andy, The hermeneutic circle is tied to horizons of understanding and fusion of horizons. When we come to agreement between us (myself and the text in this case) then there is a fusion of horizons of understanding. This brings the circle of interpretation into play as we re-engage, so to speak, and work on the next/ new horizon of understanding. Gadamer (my peep here) would argue that there is a tension between the whole and the parts of the text with neither taking seniority, so to speak. I would argue, on his behalf, that the you cannot simply reduce meaning to the meaning within the text outside the reader. This would be Dilthey's fallacy.... there is a nice piece by Gadamer on this aspect of Dilthey's work but Gadamer addresses all of this in Truth and Method. I would suggest using Gadamer for your definitions. I would also recommend Gallagher on education and hermeneutics. By the way, I wrote a piece that brings together activity, hermeneutics, and democratic education...yes, a blend of Engestrom, Vygotsky, Gadamer and Dewey... to look at ways to talk about what occurs for teachers and students when working in the ZPD.
~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 8:33 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [xmca] Circle of Activity?

Another problem of terminology. I would like to know if anyone knows the expression for this idea.

"The hermeneutic circle" is the understanding of a text based on reading each word composing the text, but each word is read only in the light of having already taken the word to belong to a certain genre of text. Thus we have a circle: understand whole via parts, understand parts via whole.

But this concept of 'circle' is hardly unique to the interpretation of texts.

An institution or social formation is constituted by the individuals in a community who act and perceive a range of actions as belonging a certain social entity, but each action is always only interpreted in the light of it being part of a certain social entity. So we have a circle.

I am thinking of calling this a 'circle of activity'.

Does anyone know if this idea has a name which makes the link to 'hermeneutic circle' explicit?

Andy





--
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Andy Blunden (Erythrós Press and Media) http://www.erythrospress.com/
Orders: http://www.erythrospress.com/store/main.html#books

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