Andy & Tony, [and others interested in discourse and activity] The discussion between Anna Sfard and Andy, with other articles sent by Mike [Engestrom and Lomov] have opened up a fascinating topic. I'm going to attach another article by John Shotter that explores a similar theme to the concept of "fusions of horizons" by Gadamer. John's article "Cartesian Change, Chiasmic Change: the Power of Living Expression" is another perspective on a similar theme. John is referring to Merleau-Ponty's last book "The Visible and the Invisible". Chapter 4 of that book is titled "The Intertwining - The Chiasm" As I mentioned earlier, the paradigmatic example of chiasmatic change is binocular vision which is more than mere blending. Binocular vision APPEARS undivided. Both Bateson and Merleau-Ponty take this paradigmatic example as an example of the more general way our living relations are intertwined to our surroundings within a living world of expression. I will paraphrase John Shotter to give an example of his perspective Much more is happening than mere blending, amalgamation, or interweaving of separate constituents which remain identifiably separate even when completely interwoven. Something utterly new and novel is being created. This is the recognition of the fact that our relations to our surroundings are not simply relations of a causal kind, or of a systematic kind, logical kind, or rational kind.. Our relations to our surroundings are also of a living dynamic kind. We often pre-suppose a non-living world of earth and rocks to which we ADAPT or die, a world that is just there, independently of our living participation with it, and we relate to that world mechanically. (page 9) This is an example of the style of John Shotter's discourse. I thought others may be interested in his perspective. Larry
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JULY 4 JOHN SHOTTER Chiasmic Intertwining.pdf
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