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Re: [xmca] activity (was concepts)



Even in this translation, I still see a Marxist talking about *acts* of thought and speech. So far as I can see you assimilate Vygotsky to language *fetishism*, in the same sense as Marx criticises fetishism of commodities in Chapter 1 of /Capital/. That is, you want to ascribe human powers to words which are material artefacts produced and used by human beings, and do not have human powers. Modern economics and modern linguistics require this fetishism, but what attracts me to Vygotsky is that he does not.

BTW, I don't think one can "use a concept" except in acceptably loose talk. One can refer to or evoke a concept, but not really use one. One can use a word, yes, but not a concept.

Anyway, if you want to talk linguistics, go for it.

Andy

Martin Packer wrote:
 On Apr 21, 2011, at 10:39 AM, Andy Blunden wrote:

Good ol' Lev is never that unambiguous is he, though? Consider this:

  “This justifies the view that word meaning is an act of speech. In
  psychological terms, however, word meaning is nothing other than a
  generalization, that is, a /concept/. In essence, generalization and
  word meaning are synonyms. Any generalization – any formation of a
  concept – is unquestionably a specific and true act of thought. Thus
  word meaning is also a phenomenon of thinking” (Vygotsky Volume 1: 244).

Andy

Andy, Let me offer this cleaner version of what you have found (basically it's David K's 'triangulated' translation). From the start of chapter 7. You highlight the word "concept." But notice that the meaning of a word is a generalization *from the psychological side.* Words are used, in acts of speech and in acts of thought. When a word is used in an act of thought, it is to generalize. But that doesn't mean that word meaning in itself is an act of thought, or that word meaning itself is a concept.

"We found this unit, showing in simplest form a unity of thought and speech, within the meaning of the word [значении слова]. The meaning of the word, as we attempted to clarify above, represents a further indecomposable unity of the two processes, beyond which we can not say that it represents the phenomenon of speech or the phenomenon of thinking. A word devoid of meaning is not a word, it is an empty sound, hence meaning is a required, constitutive feature of the word. It is the word itself, viewed from the inside. Thus, we seem sufficiently entitled to study it as a phenomenon of speech. But the meaning of the word from the psychological side, as we have been repeatedly convinced in this entire study, is nothing but a generalization, or concept. Generalization [Обобщение] and meaning of the word are synonymous. Any generalization, any formation of a concept [образование понятия], is the most specific, authentic, most obvious act of thought. Therefore, we have the right to think of the meaning of the word as a phenomenon of thinking.

"The meaning of the word is both a spoken and an intellectual phenomenon, and this does not mean a purely external participation in two different mental lives. The meaning of the word is a phenomenon of thought only in so far as the thought relates to the word and is embodied in the word, and vice versa: it is a phenomenon of speech only insofar as it relates to thought and is illuminated by its light. It is a phenomenon of verbal thought, or of meaningful words; it is the unity of speech and thought."

Martin


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*Andy Blunden*
Joint Editor MCA: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g932564744
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
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