I got up this morning determined to respond to Gordon's query about
how and in what senses one can think of knowledge as distributed and the
subsequent commentaries. But then there was Arne's thoughtful message
added to the discussion and NOT available at home is an article by David
Bakhurst about Ilyenkov that I wanted to use in sorting out the issues.
What I do have is a copy of Chapter 6 of David's book on Ilyenkov and
Soviet Philosophy where Ilyenkov is discussed, but unfortunately, the
material I specifically wanted is not included.
Those who have preceeded me have done far better than I could hope to
do in responding to Gordon's thoughtful puzzle. Until I can get the time/
space/and ready-to-hand materials coordinated, I'll just note that
on p. 184 of his book, David writes:
... according to Ilyenkov, the ideal cannot be reduced to a "static"
property at all, be it either a quasi-natural property, or a property
of mental states.... Rather, it exists as a moment of the constant
interchange between acting subject and environment."
This clearly resonates with the comments on Gordon's query by others, but
does not help me in defending the notion of the ideal and material being
two aspects of all artifacts (which is a position Ilyenkov also adopts).
My apologies for being so overwhelmed by competing obligations that I
cannot coordintate the needed elements for providing a more useful next
turn.
mike