Chapter 3- History of Sociocultural Ideas Flashcards
What is historicism in the context of the sociocultural approach?
Historicism is an intellectual tool in the sociocultural approach, emphasizing the importance of history in understanding social and cultural phenomena. It involves exploring how phenomena emerged, evolved over time, and were influenced by various social, political, and cultural factors.
Giambattista Vico highlighted the significance of understanding phenomena “through causes,” not just their current attributes.
How does historicism contribute to understanding human behavior?
Historicism helps interpret social and cultural events by tracing their historical development and the evolution of ideas about them. By analyzing the emergence and transformation of phenomena, historicism provides insights into how human behavior is socioculturally regulated. This approach highlights the role of communities in shaping individuals’ actions and experiences.
Why is historicism critical in sociocultural psychology?
Historicist analysis is crucial in sociocultural psychology to understand how sociocultural phenomena and human behaviors have evolved over time. Unlike natural phenomena, sociocultural occurrences are human-made products shaped by communities’ reactions to ecological conditions, resulting in diverse social arrangements, institutions, technologies, and ways of life.
What is the significance of employing historicism in sociocultural psychology?
Historicist analysis in sociocultural psychology is crucial for understanding the essence and evolution of sociocultural phenomena, institutions, and human behaviors.
How does historicism counter the reification of cultural phenomena?
Historicist analysis reveals that cultural phenomena are human-made products, not divine or natural occurrences, thus emphasizing the potential for change by human agency.
What does historicism reveal about the emergence and evolution of sociocultural phenomena?
Historicist analysis identifies the specific conditions and factors contributing to the emergence and evolution of sociocultural phenomena, emphasizing their contextual nature.
How does historicism validate ideas in sociocultural psychology?
Historicist analysis demonstrates the congruence of ideas across different historical contexts, providing evidence for their validity and supporting the method of consilience in science.
Why is it important to examine the historical roots of sociocultural approaches in psychology?
Examining the historical roots of sociocultural approaches validates these ideas for modern scholars and underscores their intellectual lineage and theoretical background.
What is the central postulate of the sociocultural approach to understanding human behavior?
The central postulate asserts that human behaviors and accompanying mental processes are not individual creations but are regulated by communal prescriptions developed within sociocultural communities.
How are social interactions and cultural meanings related in the sociocultural approach?
Social interactions and cultural meanings are mutually constitutive. Culture assigns meanings to social acts, making them meaningful for individuals, and these meanings exist and function exclusively through social interactions
What do sociocultural psychologists analyze to understand human behavior?
Sociocultural psychologists analyze the rules, norms, scripts, and values developed by communities, known as sociocultural models, which serve as guidelines for understanding human behavior.
How do scholars understand individuals’ subjectivities in the sociocultural approach?
Scholars delve into individuals’ subjectivities, shaped by sociocultural models and the current configuration of social, political, economic, and cultural factors, as well as individuals’ interpretations and reflections.
What is methodological multiplism in the context of sociocultural psychology?
Methodological multiplism involves utilizing diverse methods such as econometric analysis, demographic research, and qualitative methods to understand sociocultural influences on behavior.
What are the ultimate goals of sociocultural studies?
The overarching goals of sociocultural studies are to understand the connections between sociocultural prescriptions and human mentalities and behaviors, uncovering the sociocultural nature of the human mind across different contexts.
What are the three geographical locations that the historical and conceptual account of sociocultural regulation is grouped into?
The three geographical locations are Germany, France, and the USA, each representing a distinct scholarly tradition in sociocultural psychology.
What are the four primary components of sociocultural regulation discussed in the analysis?
The four primary components are:
- Regulatory processes existing within communal/public/externalized/social space.
- Mental structures and processes formed and functioning in the minds of community members under the influence of regulatory processes.
- Mechanisms enabling interaction between public and mental aspects of sociocultural regulation.
- Functions performed by the synthesis of sociocultural and mental aspects, along with the manner in which they are executed.
not all components are represented in each theory. Descriptions of sociocultural regulation vary in completeness among different representatives of sociocultural theories.
How are the public and mental aspects of sociocultural regulation related?
The public aspects involve externalized regulatory processes, while the mental aspects pertain to the internalized mental structures and processes influenced by these regulatory processes. The interaction between these aspects forms the basis of sociocultural regulation.
What is the focus of the analysis within each geographical location?
The analysis within each geographical location focuses on the contributions of scholars from that region to the understanding of sociocultural regulation, emphasizing the unique perspectives and theories developed within each scholarly tradition.
What is objektiver geist?
Objektiver Geist is a concept within the German tradition of sociocultural analysis, referring to the collective spirit or culture of a society that exists independently of individuals’ subjective experiences.
Objektiver Geist is a concept introduced by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, referring to the configuration of intersubjective understandings within a community, represented in the public space through cultural institutions and social interactions.
Who are some notable figures in the German tradition of sociocultural analysis?
Notable figures include Johann Gottfried Herder, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Johann Friedrich Herbart, and Adolf Bastian, among others.
German scholars were among the first in Europe to develop a conceptual framework for sociocultural analysis, emphasizing the importance of collective spirit, culture, and national character in shaping people’s lives and actions.
What is volksgeist?
Volksgeist is another concept within the German tradition, representing the spirit or character of a particular people or nation, reflecting their collective identity and values.
What are the components of objektiver geist according to Hegel?
Objektiver Geist consists of the intersubjective and reciprocal understandings community members have about the world, other people, and themselves, manifested in public institutions like family, law, religion, and government.
How does objektiver geist relate to subjectiver geist and absolute geist in Hegel’s philosophy?
Objektiver Geist, subjectiver geist, and absolute geist are three interconnected concepts in Hegel’s philosophy. Objektiver Geist represents collective consciousness, subjectiver geist denotes individual consciousness, and absolute geist signifies the awareness of rational subjectivity.
What role does objektiver geist play in shaping individual consciousness according to Hegel?
Hegel posits that individual consciousness is a social product shaped by objektiver geist, which constructs the social context within which subjective consciousness exists and operates.
How did Wilhelm Dilthey contribute to the development of the concept of objektiver geist?
Wilhelm Dilthey borrowed the concept of objektiver geist from Hegel and used it to develop the philosophy and methodology of the human sciences, aiming to systematically study human-made phenomena and human psychology.
Objektiver geist and volksgeist: Terminological clarification.
Objektiver geist and volksgeist have nearly the same meaning, as both refer to the collective mind. In German, geist means ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit,’ or, less literally, ‘mind,’ ‘mentality,’ or ‘consciousness.’ Objektiver means ‘objective‘ or outside of the subjectivities of individuals (i.e., subjectiver geist refers to the subjective minds). Therefore, the first concept means objective mentality/mind or objectivated/ externalized mentality.
In turn, Volks represents a ‘crowd of people’ and, later, an ‘ethnic group.’ Referring to Herder, who introduced the term volksgeist, Jahoda (1992) wrote that “a Volk is characterized by shared language and historical tradition which shape the mentality [Volksgeist] of its members” (p. 76). Thus, volksgeist can be translated as the ‘collective mentality of the community of the people.’ In addition to these terms, German scholars also created the notions of volkersseele (the soul of the people) and volkscharacter (people’s collective character). These concepts reflect ideas similar to the mental commonality of the collectivity of people.
What is the objective mind according to Dilthey?
The objective mind, borrowed from Hegel’s concept of objectiver geist, refers to the collective intersubjective products of a community, including its laws, customs, arts, and sciences, which are publicly available manifestations of communal creations.
Dilthey views the objective mind as an enduring extension of the past into the present, representing a permanently enduring present for individuals within a community, shaping their everyday lives and identities.
What role does the objective mind play in enculturating children according to Dilthey?
Dilthey emphasizes the role of the objective mind in enculturating children, with the child’s family serving as the primary form of the objective mind. Children are immersed in the objective mind from an early age, shaping their self-development.
Dilthey suggests that the objective mind opens the possibility of knowledge in the human sciences, serving as the cornerstone of inquiries into people’s sociocultural and mental worlds. Researchers in the human sciences should focus on understanding the objective minds of communities to gain insights into human behavior and culture.
Life-expressions
Dilthey understood life-expressions to be all forms of people’s activities and their products that are manifested and can be the objects of a scientific investigation: routinely executed actions and rituals, written and spoken utterances, everyday conversations the products of their actions, culturally contingent arrangements and decorations of spaces, and various artifacts: art, religious beliefs, philosophical writings, laws, and many others. These life-expressions constitute facts that human sciences researchers can explore to enquire into people’s collective and individual minds.
What are life-expressions according to Dilthey?
Life-expressions, as defined by Dilthey, are manifestations of people’s mental lives, encompassing behaviors, gestures, and rituals, which can only be understood within the structured context of the objective mind of the community.
How does the objective mind influence the interpretation of life-expressions?
The objective mind, representing the communal norms and values, infuses meaning into life-expressions and prescribes appropriate behaviors for different contexts and situations. Understanding life-expressions requires considering the structured features of the objective mind within which they are developed and used.
Dilthey uses greetings as an example to demonstrate how the objective mind assigns meaning and prescribes behaviors for different social interactions. Greetings, such as handshakes or bows, carry specific meanings dictated by the objective mind based on the context and relationship between individuals.
Why does Dilthey emphasize the importance of the objective mind in understanding human behavior?
Dilthey argues that the objective mind serves as the intermediary between expressions of behavior and their underlying meanings, shaping individuals’ mental attitudes toward others. Understanding human behavior requires considering the structured norms and values prescribed by the objective mind within a community.
What is Volksgeist according to Johann Gottfried Herder?
Volksgeist, introduced by Herder, refers to the collective spirit or mentality of a community or nation, encompassing its shared values, customs, beliefs, and cultural expressions.
How did Lazarus and Steinthal contribute to the understanding of Volksgeist?
Lazarus and Steinthal expanded on the concept of Volksgeist, proposing that it serves as the primary object of study for understanding human psychology. They emphasized the importance of examining the collective mind alongside individual consciousness.
What functions does the collective mind, or Volksgeist, serve?
The collective mind fosters unity and harmony within a community or nation, shapes individual mentalities through socialization, and serves as a repository of knowledge and skills passed down through generations.
What are the methodological implications of studying Volksgeist in sociocultural psychology?
Sociocultural psychologists must examine the collective mentality within which human behaviors occur to fully understand the context and meaning of these behaviors. Understanding Volksgeist is essential before examining individual consciousness.
What functions does the collective mind serve?
The collective mind promotes unity and harmony within a community, shapes individual mentalities through socialization, acts as a repository of accumulated knowledge and skills, and serves as a source of socialization and mental development for children.
The collective spirit unites people into a nation, fostering a sense of belonging and shared identity. It promotes a collective consciousness where individuals perceive their community or nation as ‘We’ and ‘Us.’
What role does the collective mind play in individual development?
Individual Geist is largely shaped by the group Geist to which one belongs. Socialization into the collective mentality of the community influences an individual’s mind, self, cognition, and other mental faculties.
Sociocultural psychologists must examine the collective mentality to understand the context and meaning of human behaviors. Understanding the collective mind is crucial before examining individual consciousness, as it provides insights into societal influences on behavior and cognition.
Who are some prominent French scholars in the field of social sciences?
Prominent French scholars in the field of social sciences include Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and Émile Durkheim.
Voltaire introduced the concept of “l’esprit des nations” (the spirit of nations), which he used to explore the history of civilizations and conduct cultural comparisons.
What influence did Émile Durkheim have on the field of sociology?
Émile Durkheim, often regarded as the ‘founding father’ of modern sociology, borrowed and adapted concepts from German scholars like Wundt, contributing to the development of sociological theories such as “collective representations.”
A representation
is “that which stands for or signifies something else”
The mental representations in the mind of a person stand for the objects and phenomena that this person encounters.
Modern sociologists define collective representations
as “the ideas, beliefs, and values elaborated by a collectivity and that are not reducible to individual constituents. …collective representations help to order and make sense of the world… [They] inhibit and stimulate social actions. Their force…comes from them being within all of us and yet external to the individual”
What are social facts according to Durkheim?
Social facts, according to Durkheim, are ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist external to the individual and have coercive power over individuals, controlling their behavior.
How does Durkheim define collective representations?
Durkheim defines collective representations as shared mental representations developed by societies, which regulate social life and guide interactions among community members.
What is the significance of collective representations in Durkheim’s sociology?
Collective representations serve as the essence of the social composition of communities and are the object of sociological research, allowing sociology to differentiate itself from psychology by focusing on social phenomena rather than individual mental processes.
How does Durkheim describe the relationship between individual minds and collective representations?
Durkheim suggests that collective representations are generated by the actions and interactions of individual minds within society, but they also influence and shape the mentalities of individuals, constituting a dialectical relationship between individual and collective mental processes.
What are collective representations in the context of education?
Collective representations in education refer to shared ideas, attitudes, and expectations about the value and purpose of education held by various stakeholders such as students, instructors, staff, policymakers, and society as a whole.
Collective representations in education are externalized in education laws, institutional regulations, norms, values, and material artifacts such as campuses, buildings, labs, and libraries, as well as in the behaviors and interactions of students and professors
How do collective representations influence individual behavior in education?
Collective representations enter the minds of individuals within educational communities, shaping their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and serving as mechanisms that control the actions of university community members.
What did Durkheim argue about collective representations in terms of sociological phenomena?
Durkheim argued that collective representations belong to two realms simultaneously: the social realm, as they belong to the communal sphere, and the psychological realm, as they belong to the mental realm of individuals.
What functions does the symbiosis of collective and individual representations execute according to Durkheim?
According to Durkheim, the symbiosis of collective and individual representations serves several functions: it brings cohesion and coherence to social life, controls people’s behaviors through shared sentiments and norms, serves as a repository of communal knowledge, and forms social facts that constitute social reality.
