Re: CP5:

Judy Diamondstone (diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu)
Fri, 4 Jul 1997 12:59:02 -0400

Paul's idea to include "artifact-o-genesis" [Mike's term] in
a differentiated program of cultural-historical research seems
patent, now that he has suggested it. The cultural history of an
artifact is entailed by every instance of strategic use of it as
it is by the functions it serves more generally at a particular
historical moment, which change over time - by all the various
interlocking genetic systems, to none of which it is reducible.
Somehow, the artifact, with, I still insist, no mind of its
own, is mutually constitutive of the other genetic systems -
us, culture - which to me still bodes something portentous,
terribly significant, like the secret that renders mysterious
what is simply given - It has something to do perhaps with
the mimetic ground of consciousness. I don't know.

Still rambling,

Judith

P.S., Since I will be away for the rest of July, I will miss the
rest of the CP discussions. I hope that someone is caching them
in a single file.

P.P.S. Well, I suppose I did in the end use the CP discussion
to consider personal matters. I noticed in my language above
(secret, portentous mystery, caching valued texts/meanings)
an oblique reference to death.

Perchance to be continued...

>All of which leads me to wonder why the genesis of artifacts isn't
>identified as line of development in a way parallel to ontogenesis. What
>this would give us is a scheme that includes microgenesis, ontogenesis,
>genesis of artifacts, mesogenesis, then cultural-historical (as a higher
>yet level of system integration), then phylogenesis, and finally (following
>Cole and Engestrom 1993) genesis of the physical world. Besides being a
>useful scheme for directing research attention, it seems to me that a lot
>of notions that have been developed mainly in the context of ontogenesis
>also would apply to the genesis of artifacts and activity systems (e.g.,
>the parallel between the kind of abbreviation that happen in
>internalization and in sedimentation in artifacts, possible extensions of
>notions like leading activity to artifacts and activity systems).
>
>And now back to artifact production.
>
>Paul Prior
>p-prior who-is-at uiuc.edu
>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
>
>
>

Judith Diamondstone (908) 932-7496 Ext. 352
MAILING ADDRESS:
Graduate School of Education
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
10 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08903