"Since a cultural-historical approach begins from the premise/
assumption that inhabiting an environment transformed by the material/
conceptual products of prior generaions is the defining characteristic
of homo sapiens, removing the assumption of mediation is tantamount
to erasing the entire set of ideas."
contains at least two aspects of the cultural-historical approach.
Both aspects are by itself not that original, because you can find
these in other theories as well and Vygotksy actually borrowed these
from other sources.
The historical aspect, which is - I think - the very foundation -
refers to Vygotsky's notion that in order to understand the human
mind it is necessary to acknowledge that it pre-exists in "the
ensemble of social relations", as Marx put it in his 6th
Thesis on Feuerbach.
The tool-mediated nature of Vygotsky's approach originates from
Engels' idea that labor "...created the first man." Just as labor is
characterized by the use of tools, so also is the human mind mediated
by psychological tools and every conceivable kind of sign.
Both aspects are linked to the other and it is the way they are
interwoven which makes Vygotsky's approach unique. So, the object of
cultural-historical study is the understanding of these
interrelationships.
Jac
Jacques Haenen