Activity Theories and the Ontology of Psychology: Learning from Danish and Russian Experiences

Abstract

Psychology has permanent problems of theoretical coherence and practical, analytic and critical efficiency. It is claimed that Activity Theory (AT) with roots in a long European philosophical tradition and continued in Russian AT is a first step to remedy this. A Danish version of AT may have a key to exceed some, mostly implicit, ontological restrictions in traditional AT and free it from an embracement of functionalism and mechanicism, rooted in Renaissance Physics. The analysis goes back to Aristotle's understanding of the freely moving animal in its ecology and introduces some dualities in the encounter between subject and object which replace the dualistic dichotomies traditionally splitting Psychology in Naturwissenschaft vs. Geisteswissenshaft. This also implies a "Copernican turn" of Cartesian dualism. The perspectives are to give place for a phenomenology of meaning without cutting human psyche out of Nature and to open Psychology to its domain.

On the Theorem of Correspondence

“…A definitive version was subsequently published in Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 29-38. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-016-9363-5. 16 (Pylyshyn, 2009) as well as from theoretical general psychology (Mammen & Mironenko, 2015) including a formal account (Mammen, 2016a) seem to constitute what has been termed converging validity (Schaughnessy, Zechmeister, & Zechmeister, 2015, p. 181) regarding the proposed dual ontology of sense and choice categories.…”

“…A definitive version was subsequently published in Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 29-38. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-016-9363-5. 14 In his comment to the Mammen and Mironenko (2015) paper, Neumann (2016) refers to 'The Little Prince' by Saint-Exupéry (1996). Neumann (2016) points to the parallel between becoming tame in the story and establishing choice categories.…”

“…However, when it comes to heirlooms, pieces of art, pets, close friends, loved ones, and relatives, this difference is no longer trivial; it becomes crucial. Mammen and Mironenko (2015) recently argued that although this awareness of objects' history is a central aspect in the lives of human beings, it has actually been neglected in much of contemporary psychology. In a very recent and genuinely thought provoking paper Mammen (2016a) brought new arguments into the discussion concerning the importance of being able to single out and track specific objects through space and time.…”

“…The effectiveness of establishing such ad hoc finite choice categories is, however, not restricted to the lab, but also comes into play in everyday life (Mammen, 2016a;Mammen & Mironenko, 2015). For instance, when I look for my bicycle, I definitely use sensory criteria (a black, male bike with bags on both sides of the rear wheel).…”

Looking for a Symphony

“…As a specific example the phenomenon Love, as "significant object relations", is related to the concept "choice categories". It is stated that relations of affection and love can't be understood independent of history of common activity, and that this makes the concept "choice categories" central in a psychological understanding of what love is.In their paper Mammen and Mironenko (2015) refer to professor at Psychological Institute, Aarhus University, 1970-1997 Poulsen. This brings to my mind that Henrik Poulsen once in a discourse with Jens Mammen searched for an adequate metaphor for the role of Activity Theory (AT) in scientific psychology.…”