[Xmca-l] Re: Hegel's notion of The Notion

[Lplarry]

Alfredo, I also want to thank Greg, Andy, and Wolf-Michael for opening up access to this exploration of what concepts are.

I will just add a paragraph that Andy wrote when discussing the concept of perezhivanie.

‘Before Hegel, concepts were understood to consist of a set of attributes that were necessary and sufficient for an object to be subsumed under the concept. On THIS basis, the objects found within a field of study could be categorized by genus and type.  Hegel gave us a completely different approach.  For Hegel, all the concepts relevant to a domain of science are unfolded from (a) foundational concept (form of activity) and therefore stand in developmental RELATIONS TO one another….’

My turn is up and I will throw this theme back and hope to get a grasp on this theme as it unfolds.

A very generative opening inquiry

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

From: Andy Blunden
Sent: May 11, 2017 9:26 AM
To: Alfredo Jornet Gil; Greg Thompson; xmca-l@ucsd.edu; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Hegel's notion of The Notion

I meant 
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/hl/hlsubjec.htm 
down to about 1345

In my Hegel reading group we tend to take about 2 years, 
reading once a week, to get through one Hegel book. So take 
your time.

Wolf-Michael, of coursed "expressionism" exists. It is an 
art movement, and took the form of various literary 
activities in the domain of art criticism as well as certain 
related art practices as such. Activities exist.

Andy

------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Blunden
http://home.mira.net/~andy
http://www.brill.com/products/book/origins-collective-decision-making 

On 12/05/2017 2:07 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil wrote:
> Greg, Andy,
> thanks for making Hegel more accessible to all of us not so familiar. Andy, can you add a link to the section you mention, I could not find it following the link Greg provided or the index. Thanks,
> Alfredo
> ________________________________________
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>
> Sent: 11 May 2017 17:48
> To: Greg Thompson; xmca-l@ucsd.edu
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Hegel's notion of The Notion
>
> Concepts are first of all things which exist; because they
> exist, the mind is capable of grasping them, in fact, they
> are exactly the way the mind grasps the world
> (etymologically concept = to grasp). The way they exist is
> in human activity and the artifacts we use in that activity.
> Since you have made a start on this Greg, I have to say that
> I think you need this and also the section to follow called
> "The Subjective Notion" to get a decent picture.
>
> Andy
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Andy Blunden
> http://home.mira.net/~andy
> http://www.brill.com/products/book/origins-collective-decision-making
>
> On 12/05/2017 1:40 AM, Greg Thompson wrote:
>> ​Okay Andy, I've started into the Hegel text that you
>> suggested (I don't think you truly appreciate how slow of
>> a reader I am! BTW, the text Andy shared can be found
>> here:
>> https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/hl/hlnotion.htm),
>> and I came across this notion of The Notion by Hegel in
>> Section 1279:
>>
>> "Now although it is true that the Notion is to be
>> regarded, not merely as a subjective presupposition but as
>> the /absolute foundation/, yet it can be so only in so far
>> as it has /made/ itself the foundation. Abstract immediacy
>> is no doubt a /first/; yet in so far as it is abstract it
>> is, on the contrary mediated, and therefore if it is to be
>> grasped in its truth its foundation must first be sought.
>> Hence this foundation, though indeed an immediate, must
>> have made itself immediate through the sublation of
>> mediation."​
>>
>> This seems core to the kind of realism that Hegel is
>> building up (a realism of concepts) and, I think, remains
>> a revolutionary conception today. The idea here seems to
>> be that the Notion is not a "subjective presupposition"
>> but is rather much more real than that. But, I guess I'm
>> wondering HOW can this be?
>>
>> There are multiple objections, but perhaps the biggest
>> objection comes from 20th century social science's
>> preoccupation with social construction. In this tradition,
>> concepts are things held in the head, subjective and maybe
>> also intersubjective, but always mediated (and some might
>> say "derivative"). Hegel seems to be offering a much
>> different take - one in which concepts are much more
>> primary. Am I right here?
>>
>> And, what is this business about the "sublation of
>> mediation"? (and where does this last bit jibe with CHAT?
>> Many people in CHAT speak of mediation but I don't recall
>> anyone speaking of the "sublation of mediation").
>>
>> Any help with this text would be appreciated.
>>
>> (and this is closely related to "the stuff of words" but I
>> still felt that this needed a new thread.).
>>
>> -greg
>>
>> --
>> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Anthropology
>> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
>> Brigham Young University
>> Provo, UT 84602
>> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson