Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form of communication

[Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu>]

Mike,

Bridget Somekh and Morten Nissen refer to Gadamer in their introduction to the special issue - they mention that his distrust of method (see my note to David) has been taken up by some action researchers, who argue that AR is not a method, or has no methodology. Insofar as the other articles are based on Vygotsky/Leontiev and/or Lewin, their sources predate Gadamer and Habermas. 

Martin

On Jul 17, 2012, at 7:26 PM, mike cole wrote:

> My question is kind of like Peter's. Why didn't these issues arise when we
> had the discussion of the special issue on Action research??
> 
> What side were those colleagues on in the Habermas-Gadamer debate?
> 
> mike
> 
> On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 12:39 PM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:
> 
>> So, just wondering, if action research is truly a bottom-up activity, why
>> go to theorists to justify it?
>> 
>> Peter Smagorinsky<http://www.coe.uga.edu/~smago/vita/vitaweb.htm>
>> Distinguished Research Professor<
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>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
>> Behalf Of Martin Packer
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 2:23 PM
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form of
>> communication
>> 
>> Hi Larry,
>> 
>> I think Gadamer made a valuable contribution to the philosophy and theory
>> of hermeneutics, and showed the importance of interpretation in all fields.
>> But there are, to my thinking, limitations to his analysis that suggest to
>> me that one has to turn elsewhere for a basis for action research. Mainly,
>> there is no place for systematic *mis*understanding in Gadamer's
>> hermeneutics. He presumes a community of like-minded people, united in
>> mutual understanding. it would be nice, I suppose, if life were like that,
>> but surely it is not. In most places there is 'an Other who *is* an object
>> for the subject,' to play with the words you quoted from Gadamer. The
>> debates between Gadamer and Habermas in the 1970s centered around the issue
>> of whether there is a place for critique in hermeneutics.
>> 
>> Here's one good summary of the debate:
>> Mendelson, J. (1979). The Habermas-Gadamer debate. New German Critique,
>> 18, 44-73.
>> 
>> Martin
>> 
>> On Jul 17, 2012, at 12:58 PM, Larry Purss wrote:
>> 
>>> I have been reflecting on action research and the turn it took into
>>> discussing voice, tone of voice, and the loss or extinguishing of voice
>>> when others are marginalized.
>>> 
>>> I came across this statement from Gadamer who wrote the foreword to the
>>> book "Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics" by Jean Grondin.
>>> 
>>> "So, understanding is no method but rather a form of community among
>> those
>>> who understand each other. Thus a DIMENSION is OPENED up that is not just
>>> one among many FIELDS of inquiry but rather constitutes the PRAXIS OF
>> LIFE.
>>> 
>>> Gadamer is exploring the 2nd person voice and putting it play with the
>> 1st
>>> person and 3rd person voice.
>>> 
>>> I wanted to abstract this dis-position towards the 2nd voice. I want to
>> now
>>> embed this statement in its context. Gadamer wrote,
>>> 
>>> "But it was only when Dilthey and his school gained influence on the
>>> phenomenological movement that understanding was no longer MERELY
>>> juxtaposed with conceptualization and explanation."[Gadamer, foreword]
>>> 
>>> In other words, understanding came to be seen as constituting the very
>>> fundamental structure of human becoming-in-the-world and moved to the
>> very
>>> center of philosophy.
>>> 
>>> "Thereby subjectivity and self-consciousness lost their primacy. Now
>> there
>>> is an Other who is not an object for the subject - but someone to whom we
>>> are BOUND in the reciprocations of language and life. So, understanding
>> is
>>> no method but rather a form of COMMUNITY among those who understand each
>>> other. Thus a dimension is opened up that is not just one among many
>> fields
>>> but rather constitutes the praxis of life." [Gadamer, foreword]
>>> 
>>> Gadamer's tone of voice may have something to contribute to action
>> research.
>>> 
>>> Larry
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