- 28 Aug 2019 20:16
#15030319
Putting this in Opaque Cogitations as I'm using it as a means to collect the various resources that help me delinate Evald Ilyenkov's notion of ideality.
I'll try to add to this thread with the brief snippets of free time I have and hopefully I'll be able to mull over the material more thoroughly after I've collected some good sources with emphasis on the important parts that stand out to me.
The pivotal paper for which this thread and all writers are based in relation to is:
The Concept of the Ideal - Evald Ilyenkov
And situate it's significance, I rely on an introduction by Peter E Jones
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247897900_The_ideal_in_cultural-historical_activity_theory_Issues_and_perspectives
At present, something that has sparked me curiosity is the possible connection between Ilyenkov's point about ideality existing only in the process of some task and the integrationists view that signs are temporarily means of mediating human activity.
And although it is reproduced in greater length in Peter E Jones earlier piece that I quoted the introduction of. I wish to post this shorter summary in criticism of some interpreters of Ilyenkov's ideality that are argued to be mistaken in that they construe it too broadly such that the emphasis on representation and distinction/indepenedence from the material properties of a thing seem contradicted.
"Symbols, Tools, and Ideality in Ilyenkov"
I'll try to add to this thread with the brief snippets of free time I have and hopefully I'll be able to mull over the material more thoroughly after I've collected some good sources with emphasis on the important parts that stand out to me.
The pivotal paper for which this thread and all writers are based in relation to is:
The Concept of the Ideal - Evald Ilyenkov
And situate it's significance, I rely on an introduction by Peter E Jones
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247897900_The_ideal_in_cultural-historical_activity_theory_Issues_and_perspectives
1The ideal in cultural-historical activity theory: issues and perspectivesPeter E JonesIntroduction1The concept of the ideal (as in the terms ideal form or ideal image) is one of the most difficult concepts in Marxist philosophy but also one of the most important for research in the cultural-historical and Activity Theory (henceforth ‘CHAT’ for convenience) traditions. Evald Ilyenkov, the late Soviet philosopher who made the most important contribution to the elucidation of this concept, stressed that ‘the problem of “ideality” in its general form is equally significant for psychology, linguistics, and any socio-historical discipline’ (1977b, p.95). The crux of the problem has to do with the dialectical process through which human productive activity of necessity generates images of itself which are objectified in ideal or symbolic forms and come to have an essential role within that activity This process of idealisation and the function of ideal forms within activity are research problems of enormous interest and importance. In more general terms, the significance to CHAT of the concept of the ideal lies in its offering the possibility of understanding the human mind in its interconnections with activity. Specifically, it orientates research into language acquisition, concept formation, or educational activity, for example, towards an analysis of the relevant forms of symbolic mediation in terms of the logic and developmental dynamic of those activities in which they are generated and function, obliging us, at the same time, to take into account the dialectical interconnections between different social practices within the social process as a whole.2
At present, something that has sparked me curiosity is the possible connection between Ilyenkov's point about ideality existing only in the process of some task and the integrationists view that signs are temporarily means of mediating human activity.
Spoiler: show
And although it is reproduced in greater length in Peter E Jones earlier piece that I quoted the introduction of. I wish to post this shorter summary in criticism of some interpreters of Ilyenkov's ideality that are argued to be mistaken in that they construe it too broadly such that the emphasis on representation and distinction/indepenedence from the material properties of a thing seem contradicted.
"Symbols, Tools, and Ideality in Ilyenkov"
https://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/pdfs/For%20Ethical%20Politics.pdf#page90
-For Ethical Politics
-For Ethical Politics