[xmca] Read the introduction to the special issue on CHAT/AR

[Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>]

Hi Mike

you wrote,

Bridget and Morten, the editors, tell us that the special issue set out "to
explore in what sense CHAT and AR can be said to be a method*/*methodology."
They note that there is controversy on this point and differences that are
associated with the allegiances of the reviewers to AR of CHAT ("There was
other evidence that what is signified by the terms “method” and
“methodology” is unclear because, during the production of the Call for
Papers, it emerged that the editors of MCA had a preference for using the
term “method,” whereas AR authors would use the term “methodology.”)

I followed up on your recommendation to read the introduction and was
intrigued by their referring to an article, "Philosophy, Methodology, and
Action research" by Wilfred Carr [The Journal of the Philosophy of
Education, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2006.
 On p. 95 Bridget and Morten suggest it is "quite legitimate to turn praxis
against the straightjacket of any normative theoretical methodology."

Carr, in his 2006 article locates AR as a modern manifestation of the
pre-modern tradition of practical philosophy conceptualized in ancient
Greece.  I found this an enlightening expansion of perspective in locating
the roots of AR.

  On page 425 Carr states,

"For Aristotle, the most important conceptual distinction to draw when
considering human action is between the two forms of human action which the
Greeks called *poiesis* and *praxis*.  Poieses refers to the numerous
PRODUCTIVE activities that form the basis of economic life.  It is a form of
*making action* whose end is KNOWN prior to the practical means taken to
achieve it and is guided by the FORM of reasoning called *techne*
[instrumental reasoning]. Poiesis requires mastery of the *knowledge*
*methods* and *skills* that TOGETHER CONSTITUTE technical expertise.

Aristotle contrasted this technical expertise [poieses] with the FORM of
action termed *praxis* which differs from poieses in several ways.
- the end of praxis is NOT to PRODUCE objects but progressively realize the
idea of the *good*
-the good of praxis cannot be made, it can only be *done*
- to promote the good life can only be realized in and through praxis
itself.
- knowledge of praxis cannot be specified IN ADVANCE and is acquired in
concrete situations in which knowledge is being interpreted [how the good is
being understood]
-knowledge of the good is nothing other than the ABSTRACT way of specifying
the MODE of human conduct through which the good is given expression
- acquiring knowledge of what the good IS  & knowing HOW to apply it in
particular situations are NOT separate processes but MUTUALLY supportive
CONSTITUTIVE elements within a single dialectical process of practical
reasoning [phronesis]
- though phronesis, like techne, involves subsuming particular cases UNDER
GENERAL principles, phronesis is NOT a deductive FORM of reasoning that can
be learned isolated from practice or be PRESCRIBED.
- Phronesis involves developing the capacity to make wise judgements ABOUT
what in particular situations constitutes an appropriate expression of the
good.
- phronesis, for Aristotle, is NOT a METHOD of reasoning but a moral and
intellectual virtue whose actions are rooted in a DISPOSITION of virtue and
a MODE of ethical reasoning.
- ethical reasoning includes the notions of *deliberation* *reflection* and
*judgement*

Carr's account of Aristotle's distinction between phronesis and techne draws
heavily from Dunne, J. (1993) Back to Rough Ground: Phronesis and Techne in
Modern Philosophy and in Aristotle.

Mike,

As I read this historical perspective on "action research" I was continually
reflecting on Anna Stetsenko's account of *transformative Activist Stance*
as ethical and moral searching for the *good*.

Not sure if this is on topic for methods/methodology but I found this broad
historical perspective for locating action thought provoking.

Larry
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