[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form ofcommunication
David,
I believe the subject line is a reference to Gadamer's book Truth & Method, in which he argued that positivist philosophers of science had fetishized method, technique, as the only route to truth, and proposed instead that there is no technique to understanding. Understanding and interpretation (and hence hermeneutics) run beneath and prior to any technique or methodology, according to Gadamer. Again Habermas disagreed, accusing Gadamer of having missed an opportunity to work out a genuinely interpretive methodology for the social/human sciences. Or for emancipatory science.
Martin
On Jul 17, 2012, at 7:47 PM, kellogg wrote:
> Lewin argues somewhere that the Jews in 1939 were a group held together by a common fate, but that it was not useful to think of them as sharing a common understanding. On the contrary, part of the strength of any group, but particularly one that is under attack, is that there is a variety of different understandings to draw on.
>
> I think part of this was Lewin's total rejection of the idea of "group will" that was so popular among German psychologists with Nazi tendencies. But the substance of Lewin's famous dispute with Ach over "will" was really something that Lewin shares with Vygotsky (or so it seems to me).
>
> Lewin really distinguishes between actions that are subordinate to forces in a given situation, and those which are "managed by the subject". He says that there is some aspect of the personality that remains outside of a given situation, aloof from it, apart from it, and this is where we can really speak of free choice--not elsewhere.
>
> Larry--does the the subject line of this mail imply that forms of communication are not methods? So what's a method?
>
> David Kellogg
> Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
>
>
> --------- 원본 메일 ---------
> 보낸사람: mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
> 받는사람 : "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> 날짜: 2012년 7월 18일 수요일, 09시 26분 21초 +0900
> 제목: Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form ofcommunication
> 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<
> > http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/docs/policies/iga/DRP-Guidelines.pdf> of<
> > http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/of> English Education<
> > http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/english/secondary/index.html>
> > Department of Language and Literacy Education<
> > http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/english/secondary/index.html>
> > The University of Georgia<http://www.uga.edu/>
> > 309 Aderhold Hall<http://www.coe.uga.edu/about/directions.html>
> > Athens<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens,_Georgia>,<
> > http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/> GA<
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)> 30602<
> > http://www.city-data.com/zips/30602.html>
> >
> > Advisor, Journal of Language and Literacy Education<
> > http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/>
> > Follow JoLLE on twitter @Jolle_uga
> >
> > 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
> > > __________________________________________
> > > _____
> > > xmca mailing list
> > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> > > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> >
> __________________________________________
> _____
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________
> _____
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca