Meaning and the Growth of Understanding: Wittgenstein's Significance for Developmental Psychology

by Michael Chapman (Editor), Roger A. Dixon (Editor)

Overview

In the beginning it seemed to us that someone was missing and that something was amiss. He was often mentioned, occasionally discussed, but seldom cited or credited explicitly. And when he was acknowledged, it was sometimes for reasons that seemed anachronistic and misleading. His influence could be felt in a number of areas of our discipline, but few scholars seemed to know just how, just where, and to what extent. We discovered, almost accidentally, that we shared an interest in his legacy, in unravelling at least some portion of this riddle. Shortly thereafter, we began discussing ways in which, by pooling our resources with those of interested others, we could move closer to a res­ olution. Put simply, the protagonist of this riddle is Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), the son of a wealthy Viennese industrialist, the influential Cantabrigian philosopher, the rural Austrian schoolteacher. And the subject of our study is his largely unexplored legacy for developmental psychology. Although Wittgenstein's thought seemed to hold special promise for the study of human development, the philosopher and his work could walk virtually unrecognized through the landscape of contemporary developmental issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642830259
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/16/2011
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1987
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction: Wittgenstein and Developmental Psychology.- 2 Pedagogical Elements in Wittgenstein’s Late Work, On Certainty.- 3 Rule Following, Mental Models, and the Developmental View.- 4 Wittgenstein, Contextualism, and Developmental Psychology.- 5 On Certainty and Universality in Human Development: Developmental Psychology Between Apriorism and Empiricism.- 6 Recognition in Wittgenstein and Contemporary Thought.- 7 Inner Processes and Outward Criteria: Wittgenstein’s Importance for Psychology.- 8 Wittgenstein’s “Forms of Life”: A Cultural Template for Psychology.- 9 Wittgenstein and Categorization Research in Cognitive Psychology.- 10 Wittgenstein, Psychology, and the Problem of Individuality.- 11 Socializing the Theory of Intellectual Development.- 12 Grammar, Psychology and Moral Rights.- Author Index.