Description
Book SynopsisAndy Blunden presents an immanent critique of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, the psychology originating from the great Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Tracing the roots of this theory from Goethe, Hegel and Marx, Andy Bluden draws out the principles with which Vygotsky developed a theory of the mind, in which he overcame and transcended the problems of mind-body dualism.
Table of ContentsPart I. Introduction and Historical Excursus 1. Introduction 2. Soviet Cultural Psychology (1924-) 3. Goethe’s Romantic Science 4. The Young Hegel and what drove him 5. The Phenomenology and ‘formations of consciousness’ 6. The Subject Matter of the Logic 7. Being, Essence & the Notion 8. Subjectivity and culture 9. Hegel’s Psychology and Spirit 10. Marx’s Critique of Hegel 11. Marx and the Foundations of Activity Theory 12. Marx’s Critique of Political Economy 13. Conclusions from this Historical Excursus Part II. Lev Vygotsky 14. Vygotsky’s Critique of Behaviorism 15. Vygotsky and Luria on Romantic Science 16. Vygotsky on Units and Microcosms 17. Vygotsky on Gestalt and Bildung 18. The Significance of Vygotsky’s Legacy Part III. Activity Theory 19. Activity 20. Activity as the Substance of a Science 21. Criticisms of Vygotsky’s concept of Activity 22. Leontyev’s Anatomy of Activity 23. Leontyev’s Activity Theory and Marx’s Political Economy 24. Groups as a Model of Sociality 25. Yrjö Engeström’s Model 26. Michael Cole and Cross-Cultural Psychology 27. The Results of this Immanent Critique Part IV. An Interdisciplinary Approach 28. Collaborative Projects 29. Ethics and Collaboration 30. Marx’s Critique of Political Economy and Activity Theory 31. Towards a Taxonomy of Activity 32. Collaborative Projects and Identity 33. Collaborative Projects and Agency 34. Emancipatory science 35. Conclusion References Index
