Re: [xmca] Circle of Activity?

[ERIC.RAMBERG@spps.org]

Andy:

Perhaps this is helpful, in reading Foucault's concept of the hermeneutics 
of the subject I perceive this concept of the individual's connection to 
the whole vis-a-vis discourse is indeed a circle.  OF course the 
frenchness of Foucault drives him to go beyond the concept of the cirlce 
and he makes the claim that discourse creates discourse regardless of an 
individual's connection to anything.   He is NOT interested in the context 
but rather how discourse has developed outside of context.  For it is not 
in the truth that Foucault's philosophy is interested in.  If not the 
truth then what could a philosophy be interested in?? Well. . . are social 
entities always grounded in truth? 

If  a person were to draw a cirlce on a piece of paper one would have a 
boundary dividing the paper.  If this were done with a compass than the 
precision of the cirlce would indeed provide evidence of it's 
"circleness".  The context is well set and all is right with the world. 
Cut the paper on the line drawn and what has been done to the original 
context?  No more boundary.  Or is there?

something to think about
eric




Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>
Sent by: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu
07/14/2009 10:32 AM
Please respond to ablunden; Please respond to "eXtended Mind, Culture, 
Activity"

 
        To:     "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
        cc: 
        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/
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