Re: All the way with Piaget (fwd)
maria judith (costlins who-is-at ism.com.br)
Thu, 07 May 1998 22:40:27 -0200
Martin Packer wrote:
>
> Dewey, I appreciate your messages addressing the nature of
> constructivism(s); but I want to say again that we need to keep
> epistemology and ontology distinct. Knowledge is not being; what exists is
> distinct from what is known. One can claim that knowledge is constructed
> by the individual, and at the same time that this knowledge is (in some
> sense) about entities existing "out there." One might argue that Piaget
> comes close to this: because knowledge is construced from action 'on' and
> 'in' a world of material entities, it is 'about' that world.
>
> I find von Glasersfeld confusing and, I think, confused on these
> distinctions. He has stated that constructivists "deliberately and
> consequentially avoid saying anything about ontology, let alone making any
> ontological commitments." But he also says that "Please note that
> constructivism does not deny an outside world; it merely agrees with
> skeptics and holds that the only world we can know is the world of our
> experience." But "not deny[ing] an outside world" is talking about
> ontology; arguably it is making an ontological commitment, albeit a weak
> one. If so, his ontological position is weaker than Kant's, despite the
> fact that von G contrasts it with idealism and claims it is aligned with
> Kant. Kant (to add to the complexity) was both an 'empirical realist' and
> a 'transcendental idealist,' who insisted that we must logically infer that
> a real world exists, even though we cannot experience it directly and so
> can make no positive assertions about its character.
>
> Can you take a shot at helping me get clearer on how you locate
> constructivism both epistemologically and ontologically?
>
> Martin
>
> p.s. Diane -- I appreciate the question you've posed me and am currently
> musing... will get back to you.
>
> ================
> Martin Packer
> Associate Professor
> Department of Psychology
> Duquesne University
> Pittsburgh PA 15282
>
> (412) 396-4852
> fax: (412) 396-5197
>
> packer who-is-at duq3.cc.duq.edu
> http://www.duq.edu/liberalarts/gradpsych/packer/packer.html