[xmca] Gadamer's text as artifact mediated action

[Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>]

Hi Andy

I just finished reading the commentary you wrote in "Mind, Culture, and
Activity" Vol. 17, Issue 1.  In this commentary to Wolff-Michael Roth's
editorial you explore the concept "form" and bring Gadamer into the
conversation.  I really appreciated how you linked up Gadamer's
hermeneutical concepts of "traditions" and "texts" with CHAT the concept of
"artifact-mediated action".  For others who may be interested in this
theoretical bridging I will attempt a quick summary.  [Andy, I do think this
is written in the same spirit as Anna Stetsenko's project]

Gadamer, [quoted by Andy] is talking about how to interpret texts that come
out of a different "tradition" He wrote,

When we try to understand a text, we do not try to transpose ourselves into
the author's mind but, if one wants to use this terminology, we try to
transpose ourselves into the PERSPECTIVE within which he has FORMED his
views.  But this simply means that we try to understand how what he is
saying could be right. [emphasis added]

Andy then adds another quote from Gadamer,

The ANTICIPATION of meaning that governs our understanding of a text is not
an act of subjectivity but proceeds from the COMMONALITY that binds it to
the tradition.  But this commonality is constantly BEING FORMED in our
relation to tradition.  Tradition is not simply a permanent precondition;
rather, we PRODUCE it ourselves inasmuch as we understand, participate in
the evolution of tradition, and hence further DETERMINE it. [emphasis added]

Andy, these 2 quotes exploring the notion of texts and traditions, as you
point out, are dealing with the production and use of artifacts.. A concept
of a "tradition" as the perspective within which a writer has FORMED his
views.is a concept you link to the notion of "an activity" that is
culturally and historically constructed.  You then state,

"Tradition implies something MORE EXTENDED than is sometimes associated with
the words "an activity". somewhat closer to "cultural context."  But in this
connection, I think "tradition" can be validly interpreted as "an activity,"
which I refer to as "a project".

Andy, I appreciated your translating the terms "texts" and "traditions" into
the concepts of the CHAT tradition.  It is in this spirit of interpretation
and translation that I also read Anna's works.

As a little aside I also want to bring in a metaphor by David Kellogg that
he created on May 7, concerning concepts.

David wrote,
"concepts come in a structure which is paradigmatic rather than syntagmatic;
they GROW ON TALL TREES WITH DEEP ROOTS, and do not proliferate temporally
like crabgrass."

This metaphor created a strong image of traditions, perspectives and
concepts as growing deep and tall.

Larry
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