The first thesis you post is deeply related with the second one that states that "the language itself ends the fundamentals and possibilities of a scientific cognition of data. The word is the germ of science and, in this sense, it's right to say that in the beginning of science was the word" (second § of number 2 ... I do not know the page because the text I use was published in Portuguese)
-----Mensagem original-----
De: MnFamilyMan@aol.com <MnFamilyMan@aol.com>
Para: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Data: Quarta-feira, 3 de Outubro de 2001 23:54
Assunto: Eric offers a beginning to the discussion
Much in the vain of the obstacle language represents I would like to jump to the fifth chapter. Not because I don't find the first four chapters important but because it isn't until then that Vygotsky starts to discuss the process language plays in forming a scientific discipline.
From page 248 of chapter 15 (?) I put the question mark because I clicked on chapter 5 of the menu, so I am assuming it is a typo.
"It is important to make two points.
1. Every natural-scientific concept, however high the degree of its abstraction
from the empirical fact, always contains a clot, a sediment of the concrete, real
and scientifically known reality, albeit in a very weak solution, i.e., to every ultimate
concept, even to the most abstract, corresponds some aspect of reality which the
concept represents in an abstract, isolated form. Even purely fictitious, not natu-
ral-scientific but mathematical concepts ultimately contain some echo, some reflec-
tion of the real relations between things and the real processes, although they did
not develop from empirical, actual knowledge, but purely a priori, via the deductive
path of speculative logical operations. As Engels demonstrated, even such an ab-
stract concept as the series of numbers, or even such an obvious fiction as zero,
i.e., the idea of the absence of any magnitude, is full of properties that are quali-
tative, i.e., in the end they correspond in a very remote and dissolved form to real,
actual relations. Reality exists even in the imaginary abstractions of mathematics."
What he states after this point is extremely important for understanding this point. I won't paste it here however, because this may not be where we want to begin our discusion of this stunning document. I am perfectly happy waiting on commenting on Vygotsky's view of language unitl we have hashed over his historical perspective of the crisis.
Eric
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Nov 01 2001 - 01:01:27 PST