(Annals of Theoretical Psychology (Springer (Firm) ) ) Cabell, Kenneth R. - Valsiner, Jaan-The Catalyzing Mind - Beyond Models of Causality-Springer (2014)
(Annals of Theoretical Psychology (Springer (Firm) ) ) Cabell, Kenneth R. - Valsiner, Jaan-The Catalyzing Mind - Beyond Models of Causality-Springer (2014)
(Annals of Theoretical Psychology (Springer (Firm) ) ) Cabell, Kenneth R. - Valsiner, Jaan-The Catalyzing Mind - Beyond Models of Causality-Springer (2014)
The Annals of Theoretical Psychology is devoted to understanding theoretical developments and advances in psychological theory. This series is designed to further the
dialogue on theoretical issues in the field of psychology and to unify the discipline
through a theoretical synthesis of ideas on key issues of debate. Core themes of the
Annals vary from one volume to another, moving beyond a focus on one particular
aspect or approach to theory. Each book consists of invited and submitted papers
and commentaries that explore a facet of innovative theory in psychology. Of particular interest is moving the discussion and exploration of theory into application for
use in research, practice and teaching, taking into account the globalized nature of
contemporary psychology.
The enduring objective of the Annals of Theoretical Psychology is the exploration
of key concepts that require further inquiry, dialogue, and theoretical integration
within psychology and related fields.
2123
Editors
Kenneth R. Cabell
Clark University Department of Psychology
Worcester
Massachusetts
USA
Jaan Valsiner
Niels Bohr Professorship Centre
of Cultural Psychology
Aalborg Universitet
Aalborg
Denmark
ISBN 978-1-4614-8820-0
ISBN 978-1-4614-8821-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7
Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951786
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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As professors and researchers of psychology, we are often asked, What is Psychology? We generally reply, Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes. This answer, very proper and direct, speaks to their inquiry, but
it leaves room for discussion and debate. By definition, the scientific study, analysis,
and understanding of human behavior explains its essential components, but it does
not completely address the epistemology of the disciplinea point upon which few
seem to agree. As argued by Smedslund (1991), psychology is becoming more and
more pseudoempirical, and therefore, we believe that a theoretical focus needs to
be re-introduced into the discussion of modern psychology.
The desire and necessity of reintroducing theory in psychology is not a new one,
as one can see from the prior editions of Annals of Theoretical Psychology. From
Joseph Royces initial work putting together Volume 1 of this series in 1984 to the
most recent edition by van Geert, Mos, and Baker in 1995, a thoughtful and thorough
exploration of the role of theory in psychology has taken place. Certainly, we regret
the delay as the discipline has not stood still in the almost 20 years since that last
volume. It is in this light that we enthusiastically reintroduce the Annals of Theoretical Psychology as an annual publication that will address the need for greater dialog
across psychological perspectives, sub-disciplines, theorists, and methodologies. It
is our intent that by driving reasoned dialog and constructive debate related to important topics in psychology, we will stimulate further inquiry of central, overlooked,
or complex psychological principles.
Our goal in reviving the Annals of Theoretical Psychology is to expand and explore ontological, epistemological, and methodological debates (among others) and
attempt to provide a forum for discussing what psychology is what is the focus of its
study, and how one can study its phenomena. Furthermore, the revival of this series
attempts to focus on constructing, from the aforementioned debates, exactly how to
proceed with the development of theory and its applications. Despite various crises
in psychology (Teo, 2005), to date the role of theory in psychology has not risen to
the forefront in any appreciable manner.
The need for an annual publication on theoretical psychology at this time is significant. As an example, in the United States, psychology is a core science that has
only grown in importance since its acceptance as an academic discipline. One need
v
vi
only look to the daily news to see that many of the issues of today focus on the
human dimension and the human condition. However, despite its growth as a core
science, it has become fractured and highly specialized (an old problem identified by
Vygotsky, as summarized by Hyman, 2012). The result is that each sub-discipline
develops its own language and approach where the concepts can no longer operate
to explain the entirety of the human experience, even though they seek to explain
similar behavioral or mental processes.
In order to begin from common ground, the Oxford English dictionary defines theory as, a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially
one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained:a set of
principles on which the practice of an activity is based: a theory of education | [mass
noun]: music theory.an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course
of action: my theory would be that the place has been seriously mismanaged.
(Mathematics) a collection of propositions to illustrate the principles of a subject
(Oxford University Press, 2010). From this set of definitions the role of theory in its
application to psychology can be clearly seen.
It is in this light that we re-launch the Annals of Theoretical Psychology. Theoretical psychology, as we see it, is not limited to basic or applied science. Theoretical
psychology is about the supposition or system of ideas that helps spark debate and
move our discipline forward in a unified fashion. Additionally, through this debate, a
more meaningful understanding will develop. More directly, theoretical psychology
is about identifying problems or shortages in our shared understanding of the human
experience and exploring how these gaps are addressed through science and the state
of the art.
For example, arguably the most famous psychologist (or infamous depending
on ones perspective) in history is Sigmund Freud. His theories have been simultaneously contentious (e.g., Grnbaum, 1986) and useful for some as the roots of his
theory are still employed by thousands of psychoanalytic therapists around the world.
However, why do his theories work for some and not for others? Can we understand
the basic science, application, and theoretical underpinnings so that development
and growth can occur relative to this theory?
Likewise, incomplete representations of psychological phenomena and principles are not limited to the realm of personality theorists. Despite vast amounts
of research, we still cannot completely explain basic yet abstract concepts such as
memory, human agency, free will, leadership, confidence, love, or consciousness,
let alone more challenging topics like promoting change, developing meaning, or
structures and ways of knowing, just to name a few.
Numerous reasons may account for our general inability to examine key psychological principles in a complete manner. As noted by Stam (2004), functionalism
and other more convenient demands may play a role. Likewise, various critiques of
psychology highlight that the methods of scientific inquiry have become the focus of
psychology rather than a direct examination of underlying theories and relevant data
(Teo 2005; Bakan 1996). Ultimately, the what of psychology is lost in how it is
investigated. These reasons generally prohibit meaningful dialog, but the Annals of
vii
Theoretical Psychology will provide a forum for meaningful dialog across various
disciplines.
The Annals of Theoretical Psychology will move the dialog forward by bringing
together disparate communities and perspectives of psychologists. For example, representatives from cultural psychology, cognition, neuroscience, social psychology,
theology, and various other disciplines will be invited to consider numerous topics
within this series. Decidedly, these writings and debates will represent clear works
in progress. The dialog and created environment will attempt to address historical
challenges inherent in the science of psychological inquiry. This will help counteract
the science wars highlighted by Driver-Linn (2003) related to scientific progress
in her analysis of Thomas Kuhn. In short, through this series, we are not so bold to
believe that the Annals will predict or create scientific revolutions. Instead, we hope
to present a pebble on the pile that will gradually shift psychological research and
discourse toward a normative dialog that actively considers theory, research, and
application.
We believe that this first volume in 19 years picks up the debate where it was
left off and begins to look at psychology through many lenses, in order to see the
landscape and future of psychology through many focal points. Additionally, we
believe that the dialog beginning in his volume will start to advance the discipline,
science, and thought for future decades to come. Perhaps in those decades, the
future of psychology and theory will lead our discipline toward a multidisciplinary
approach. It is hoped that the future volumes will speak to that future.
Craig Gruber, Hroar Klempe
Matthew Clark, Jaan Valsiner
References
Bakan, D. (1996). The crisis in psychology. Journal of Social Distress and the Homelessness, 5,
335342.
Driver-Linn, E. (2003). Where is psychology going? American Psychologist, 58, 269278.
Grnbaum, A. (1986). Prcis of the foundations of psychoanalysis: A philosophical critique.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 9, 217284.
Hyman, L. (2012). Vygotskys Crisis: Argument, context, relevance. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences, 43, 473482.
Oxford University Press. (2010). Oxford English Dictonary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Royce, J. R., & Mos, L. P. (Eds.). (1984). Annals of Theretical PsychologyVolume 1. New York:
Plenum.
Smedslund, J. (1991). The pseudoempirical in psychology and the case for psychologic.
Psychological Inquiry, 2, 325338.
Stam, H. J. (2004). Unifying psychology: Epistemological act or disciplinary maneuver? Journal
of Clinical Psychology, 60, 12591262.
Teo, T. (2005). The Critique of Psychology: From Kant to Postcolonial Theory. NewYork: Springer.
van Geert, P., Mos, L. P., & Baker, W. J. (Eds.). (1995). Annals of Theoretical Psychology
Volume 10. New York: Springer.
Acknowledgments
This book was born out of many caffeinated debates, late night seminars, liquored
discussions, and email consultations with the many gifted researchers of the Kitchen
Seminar Network. It is precisely because of their intellectual playfulness and tolerance for new ideasno matter how seemingly ridiculousthat allowed for the
fruition and development of the ideas in this book. I am eternally grateful for
the Kitchen Seminar, its network of academics, atmosphere of innovation, critical
constructiveness, and open-mindedness.
I also want to acknowledge Jaan Valsinermy advisor, colleague, and friend. Six
years of collaborating together have taught me how to think critically, constructively,
and theoretically about psychology. Working together has also developed my tolerance for sizable quantities of very strong coffee. His generousness has amounted not
only to stacks of articles, journals, and books in my tiny studio apartment, but also
many international adventures. I am deeply appreciative for two invaluable gifts Jaan
has given me, the opportunity to work with other researchers who bring many fresh
perspectives to psychology, and an ever-changing perspective on the world.
Clark University has been my intellectual home for the past 6 years. Clark has
given me the autonomy and support to challenge conventionthe Universitys
motto, which has been enacted in the making of this book. I wish to acknowledge
those friends and colleagues in the psychology department who make Clark what it
isthe perfect mixture of a welcoming and intellectual atmosphere.
No one had to deal with this books production more than my girlfriend, Alyssa
Faro. Her support and encouragement gave me the motivation to work through the
difficult aspects that the editing and writing process entails. Always willing to help,
Alyssa played a crucial role consulting with me when I had questions and helping
me polish various aspects of this book. I also wish to thank James and Mary Jean
Faro. The completion of my writingand of this booktook place at their house. I
owe them a great deal of thanks for giving me a quiet place to work by the lake, and
letting me run down their supply of coffee and food all the while.
A great deal of thanks is due to the series editorsCraig Gruber, Jaan Valsiner,
Matthew Clark, and Sven Hroar Klempewho had enough faith in me to produce
the re-introduction volume to the series, Annals of Theoretical Psychology. I also
want to thank Kevin Carriere, an undergraduate student at Clark University, who
ix
Acknowledgments
put in a tremendous amount of time formatting and prepping the manuscripts before
submission.
I was fortunate enough to be awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate
Research Fellowship as an undergraduate senior at Clark University. The generous
funding from this grant has allowed me to significantly increase my time reading,
writing, and researching my particular areas of interest. It has also allowed me to
travel the world so I can discuss, and develop these ideas with international scholars.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-0946748. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.
Worcester, Ma.
October 2013
Kenneth R. Cabell
Contents
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33
71
95
xi
xii
Contents
Contributors
xiv
Contributors
Contributors
xv
xvi
Contributors
Contributors
xvii
xviii
Contributors
from 2007). In 1995 he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize for his
interdisciplinary work on human development.
Brady Wagoner is Professor with special responsibilities in cultural psychology
and Director of the MA program in Cultural Psychology and Social Practice at
Aalborg University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, where
he was also cocreator of the Sir Frederic Bartlett Archive and journal Psychology
& Society. Additionally, he is associate editor for Culture & Psychology and on the
editorial board of five other journals. His books include Symbolic Transformation
(Routledge, 2010), Dialogicality in Focus (Nova, 2011), Culture and Social Change
(Info Age, 2012), and Development as a Social Process (Routledge, 2013). He is
currently working on a book titled Bartlett in Reconstruction: Where Culture and
Mind Meet (Cambridge).
Tania Zittoun is professor of psychology and education at the University of Neuch
tel (Switzerland). A sociocultural psychologist, her work has addressed life course
development, the nature of semiotic processes, and the methodological challenges
raised by such phenomena. She has a long-standing interest for the role of art and fiction in our understanding of reality and is currently examining the role of imagination.
She is Associate editor of Culture & Psychology. Her last books are Cultural Psychology and Psychoanalysis: Pathways to Synthesis (S. Salvatore & T. Zittoun (eds.),
2011, Information Age Publishing) and Human Development in the Life Course.
Melodies of Living (T. Zittoun, J. Valsiner, D. Vedeler, S. Salgado, M. Gonalves, &
D. Ferring, 2013, Cambridge University Press).
xix
Part I
Chapter 1
This book, The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality, began from our quest
to achieve three goals for the discipline of psychology, and more specifically, as
elaborated within a semiotic cultural psychology. Cultural psychology is a new up
and coming (Cole 1996) research field of an interdisciplinary nature. Despite its
recent emphasis in psychology, it is older than experimental psychology (beginning
with Wilhelm Wundt and his opening of the first experimental psychology laboratory
in 1879) dating back to the Vlkerpsychologie tradition of the 1850s. The first professorship in the World that bore the name psychology was that of Moritz Lazarus in
University of Berne, Switzerland, in 1860, with his Lehrstuhl in Vlkerpsychologie.
Unfortunately in the middle of social negotiations about how psychology could be a
science, (Valsiner 2012) it was the experimental psychology tradition that expelled
the study of complex cultural phenomena out of the realm of concerns of hardcore
experimentalists who happily substituted the behavior of a white rat to stand in for the
psyche of all human beings. The rat had no aesthetic attitudes towards the mazes he or
she was forced to run, nor sophisticated ideas about investment of ones behavioral
capacities for the sake of future gains. The rat did not drink champagne, show herself
in fashion shows, construct nuclear bombs or, paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Human beings did all of thatand much more. Their pilgrimage to arts, sciences,
and geographic explorations were willful, complex, and often unrewardedat least
during their lifetimes.
K. R. Cabell (!)
Department of Psychology, Clark University,
950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
J. Valsiner
Department of Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_1,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
This theoretical groundwork for an alternative explanatory system for higher and
complex mental and behavioral phenomena in psychology may bring about bigger
questionswhat is knowledge? What is science? What is psychology? What does
the discipline of psychology study? What do various methods tell us? What counts
as data? What is required for a psychological fact, law, or generalization? This is
just a small sample of questions that this book begins to question, problematize and
reconceptualize.
From our point of view, science is about generating a body of knowledge. Psychology, being a science, focuses on human experiences and the thoughts, feelings
and behaviors that make these experiences meaningful. Putting these definitions together, the question becomes what kind of knowledge can result from focusing on
lived experiences and their meaningful cultivation? The answer to this question is
a focus on typesa focus on different types of (semiotic) mechanisms by which
individuals make their experiences meaningful. These types are classified according to their function and allow for explanatory laws to be built. Kurt Lewinone of
the key figures in the twentieth century psychologyemphasized such a focus on
types back in the 1920s under the label of Conditional-Genetic Types (Lewin 1927).
Lewin was far ahead of his timesfocusing on the general and conditional nature
of concrete psychological events. He laid the foundation for a new kind of science
of psychologyneither behavioral nor mental, but one that looks for general laws
of human conduct that are uniqueconditionally bound to the present situation. He
could have discovered the notion of catalysis back then in the 1920simporting it
from chemistry where it was well recognized after Wilhelm Ostwalds Nobel Prize
for it, in 1909. But he did notit was physics rather than chemistry that fascinated
Berlin Gestalt psychologists in the 1920s.
Before a version of scientific psychologyqualitative and conditionalis proposed, we must make explicit why the old axioms of a scientific psychology do not fit
the goals of our research, while focusing on new axioms. This introduction, and the
chapters to follow, try to do just that. Contrary to the focus on elementary psychological functionsbe these behavioral or mentalwe start from human psychological
phenomena of highest complexity. Consider the following questions: How do we
understand the sacredness of a religious experience? How do we explain the honor
experienced when serving for ones country? Or defending the honor of a woman in a
duel in the nineteenth century? What does it mean to experience respect, duty, or obligation and how does this operate within our everyday experiences?. All theseand
many others of similar kindare qualitative phenomena that cannot be measured
in the habitual act of a psychologist assigning numbers to them. Quantification
here loses the richness of these experiences. Statistics loses the heterogeneity of
these experiences. Unidirectional linear causality loses the complexity of the experiences. The power of the complexity of human psychological phenomena that matters
in everyday life forces psychology as science to re-think its methodological habits.
But how? Of course it is easy to deconstructshow the faults in long-ingrained
habits ofthe modern practices of any discipline. We take no satisfaction in only
problematizing the mismatch between phenomenon and the methods used to study
them. There is an abundance of deconstruction and criticism of modern psychology,
but not enough theoretical proposals to allow any one author, or the discipline as
a whole, to move beyond the faults to a more constructive and developmentally
sophisticated discipline. The goal of this book is constructive. What type of axioms
would allow for psychology to maintain the richness, heterogeneity, and complexity
of concrete experiences while still being able to make explanatory laws?
Abstracting from Aristotles writings, these questions generally fit his notions of
material, formal, efficient, and final causes. However, they are not meant to be strict
interpretations, as it is our belief that in order to achieve progress in a discipline, one
should always go beyond (i.e., develop, extend, build upon) the writing of others
(not treat them as completed works that require the strictest adherence).
If we bring these general questions into the field of psychology, we can apply them
to a subject of interest for the authors: trapping phenomena. Trapping phenomena
are a type of psychological event in which the individual feels, thinks, or perceives
himself/herself as stuck, caught, in a bind, etc. Take, for example, someone who
feels trapped when passing a beggar in the main street of a city. They can give money
to the beggar, even though they know that this beggar is tricking them or they cannot
give money, and feel bad they did not help a poor, homeless, and troubled man.
Either way, there seems to be a perceived negative consequence.
Psychology needs a new developmental focus. For material cause, that from
which a thing comes into being is a developmental question. However, it is important
to point out that development here is not tied to the notion of the developing
person across the lifespan, but the general notion of development of a phenomenon.
Therefore, it would not make sense to study how trapping phenomena develop as
the person ages. Instead, what form, function, structures, processes, persons, events,
conditions, etc allow for trapping phenomena to emerge? To understand the material
cause of the trap, one must ask how a trap can emerge? How would a trap develop?
How does an individual get out of a trap (i.e., how does the trap disappear)? This
question is hard to know until we better understand the form of trapping phenomenon.
Formal cause is related to the form that a phenomenon takes and why it takes
this form. This question has two subpartsits genotypic and phenotypic form.
These words are used similar to their use in biology and are imported into psychology through the work of Kurt Lewin (1927) and his conditional-genetic typesas
mentioned earlier. Each psychological phenomenon has a genotypecarefully defined root properties and ways of expressing these in specific contextsand a
phenotypethe manifested genotype in a certain condition, at a certain time, and in
a certain space. Therefore, a genotype is analogous to the theoretical definition, while
the phenotype is the various ways that definition can manifest itself. For example,
a beggar might not be the only place where one feels trapped. We can feel trapped
when guilt-tripped by a friend, a parent, or a significant other. We can feel stuck or
in a bind when confronted by conflicted social norms in another culture. Trapping
phenomena adhere to a type, but manifest themselves in a variety of forms. The
name, conditional-genetic, is directly related to these genotypic definitions, since
the point of a conditional-genetic analysis is to uncover the conditional nature of
genotypes. Said differently, conditional-genetic analysis studies how certain genotypes manifest their different phenotypic displays in various conditions. The primary
focus is on conditionswhich can generate results vastly different from one extreme
to the other. To understand the differentiation between phenotype and genotype in
terms of trapping phenomenon, we might say that given the example earlier, trapping phenomenon have the genotypic form of two (or more) contradictory, opposing,
or ambivalent trajectories where both the contradictory trajectories are perceived to
result in negative consequences. The phenotypic form in this case is the individuals
who feel that they can either give money or not give money to the beggar (contradictory actions). If they give money, they feel they are likely being tricked and will lose
money to someone who is maybe unworthy of it. If they do not give money, they will
feel like a bad person for not helping out, which is a socially desirable trait. Both of
these courses of actions have negatively perceived consequences.
Efficient causality is related to the systemic embeddedness of the phenomenon.
What role are other factors playing in the phenomenons operation? What various
relationships does the phenomenon have to other phenomena, structures, processes,
persons, events, conditions, etc.? Efficient causality is known for its focus on change.
Typically, we view this change as variable A acting on variable B. Instead, if we think
of it in systemic terms, then this change can be the result of a variety of interrelated and
interlinked phenomena. Even if there is no change, there might be some systemic
reason for the buffering of or resistance of the effect. This buffering, inhibiting,
resistance quality cannot be understood in linear causal terms (cause A leads to
outcome B) but only in systemic terms (system of X-Y-Z leads to outcome B, under
some, but not other circumstances). In the trapping example, there are factors such
as social status (e.g., beggar), social norms, social values (e.g., helping), personal
beliefs (e.g., dont want to get mugged), and various meanings that surround social
acts and social objects (e.g., money, donating, giving, begging, etc). There is the
place, the historical period, the social locations of both individuals involved, etc.
Of course many will say in rebuttal that there are many infinite parts of the system
involved. However, it is our belief that not all parts of a system are meaningful for
the given situation. This distinction between meaningful and nonmeaningful parts
of a system must be elaborated upon.
Lastly, final cause asks for what purpose, goal, or intention does a phenomenon
function? This is important for psychology, since we are dealing with active
participants, engaging in a world within which they act, think, and feel. Individuals
are purposeful, they intend to act in certain ways, changing their current environment. Similarly, psychological phenomena, related to the individuals mind and
coordinated with society, are also purposive, goal-oriented, and intentional. Why
certain phenomenon function, is a key part in understanding the phenomenon. In
terms of trapping phenomenon, for what purpose do we trap others? For what
purpose does the trapping phenomena exist? Why are people able to get trapped?
These are very important questions to better understand trapping phenomena.
These four types of causality can only explain a phenomenon if they are explored
together as a totality. Explanation and understanding of a phenomenon can only be
understood by identifying how the phenomenon emerges, develops, and disappears,
what forms it takes (genotypically and phenotypically), what function it serves, and
the systemic relation between the phenomenon and other persons, processes, and
conditions.
Although historically psychology has been focusing somewhere between the first
and second types of causality, it is our belief that psychology should focus on the
fourth type of causalitymorphogenetic causal loop models. In this type of model,
a phenomenon is looked at in relation to the whole system. The main property of
the system is its amplification of variability and the new forms of the system has
mutually beneficial relationship with other elements.
adequate for explaining and understanding the complexity of higher-order mental and
behavioral phenomena psychology. Authors who think that statistics is not an adequate tool for understanding and explaining psychological phenomena, often make
the following type of argument:
The uncritical use of the assumption of normal distributionthe bell-shaped curve
dominated psychological and social sciences. But in this assumption, something important
was overlooked. Researchers tended to forget or never learned how the bell-shaped curve had
been mathematically derived and defined. The normal distribution occurs when both of the
following conditions are satisfied: (1) the fluctuations are random; (2) They are independent
of one another. But psychological and social events are neither random not independent.
Therefore it is illogical to assume a normal distribution. This is what most researchers forgot
or never learned. (Maruyama 1999, p. 53)
There are two problems. The first is that the statistical use of the normal distribution
is illogical since the theoretical criteria for its use is not met by psycho-social phenomena. The second is that using the normal distribution and statistics simplifies the
complexity of phenomena, homogenizes them, and ignores the focus of real interest
for psychologiststhe variability of phenomena:
It is often assumed that variations occur in a Gaussian (normal) distribution around the
mean. This assumption holds if the variations are due to random fluctuations or random
errors, which are independent from one another. However, in many biological and social
processes, heterogeneity is non-random and interrelated. Therefore, the distribution is often
non-Gaussian (non-normal). Even in such cases, however, a normal distribution is often
assumed in order to simplify matters. This assumption enables the researcher to ignore the
nature of variations; they become just a matter of degree, which can be measured in terms of
standard deviation. They also become expected accidents and abnormalities which need no
explanation and play no important role. What counts is the mean, which is the major trend,
the trend, the mainstream, the real. (Maruyama 1980, p. 589)
10
psychological system that highlights a systemic point of view is that which does not
adhere to the assumptions of statistical phenomena.
Mutual causal systems include elements within a system [that] influence each other
either simultaneously or alternatingly (Maruyama 1963, p. 164). While differentiating between the two types of mutual causal systems, Maruyama writes the
following, the difference between the two types of systems is that the deviationcounteracting system has mutual negative feedback between the elements in it while
the deviation-amplifying system has mutual positive feedbacks between the elements
in it (Maruyama 1963, p. 164). Often times, it is the assumption in experimental
work that if we have similar conditions, we can produce similar effects. This way we
can try to achieve replicability of our results. However, the implications of mutual
causal systemsof both typesare that similar conditions can produce different
effects. It all depends on the parts in the system, the initial kick, and what parts are
deviation-amplifying versus deviation-counteracting. This revision of causality has
been formulated as follows:
In the light of the deviation-amplifying mutual causal process, the law of causality is now
revised to state that similar conditions may result in dissimilar products. It is important to
note that this revision is made without the introduction of indeterminism and probabilism.
(Maruyama 1963, p. 167)
11
With either definition of causality (with and without probablism and indeterminism),
causality in the psychological system must be systemic. It must include heterogeneous elements and processes related to each other in various ways, achieving greater
and greater variability over time. This variability allows for the synthesis of novel
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
12
It is important to note that the concept of semiotic catalysis is a process that highlights
the systemic relations between parts, and specifies how the relationship of these parts
construct, as a gestalt, the conditions necessary, but not by themselves sufficient, to
bring about a qualitative transformation of a psychological phenomenon. Semiotic
catalysis should highlight the systemic, transformative, developmental nature of
13
mediating process and the heterogeneous variety of outcomes that result (such as the
enabling of certain semiotic regulators).
Although there have been developments identifying various semiotic regulators,
there is still a lack of conceptual, strategic, and analytic clarity for semiotic catalyzing
processes. Although a theoretical charting out of semiotic catalyzers has occurred
in other places (Beckstead et al. 2009; Cabell 2011) this book began as a project
to incorporate international and interdisciplinary perspectives to question, criticize,
and comment on the concept of semiotic catalyzers with the hopes of extending,
expanding, and developing the concept into a useful theoretical and empirical tool.
It is our hope that from the groundwork of cybernetics and causality, that the concept
of catalysis can have a rich and fruitful basis for development as a theoretical concept
better suited to the model and explain everyday experiences and their meaningful
cultivation.
References
Aristotle. (2006). Metaphysics (trans: Ross, W.D. ). Stilwell, KS: Digireads. com Publishing.
Beckstead, Z., Cabell, K., & Valsiner, J. (2009). Generalizing through conditional analysis:
Systemic causality in the world of eternal becoming. Humana. Mente, 11, 6580.
Cabell, K. (2010). Mediators, regulators, and catalyzers: A context-inclusive model of trajectory
development. Psychology & Society, 3(1), 2641.
Cabell, K. R. (2011). Catalysis: Cultural constructions and the conditions for change. Journal of
Integrated Social Sciences, 2(1), 112.
Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Lewin, K. (1927). Gesetz und Experiment in der Psychologie. Symposion, 1, 375421.
Maruyama, M. (1960). The multilateral mutual causal relationships among the modes of communication, sociometric pattern and the intellectual orientation in the Danish culture. Phylon, 22(1),
4158.
Maruyama, M. (1963). The second cybernetics: Deviation-amplifying mutual causal processes.
American scientist, 51(2), 164179.
Maruyama, M. (1980). Mindscapes and science theories. Current Anthropology, 21(5), 589608.
Maruyama, M. (1999). Heterogram analysis: Where the assumption of normal distribution is
illogical. Human Systems Management, 18(1), 5360.
Valsiner, J. (2002). Forms of dialogical relations and semiotic autoregulation within the self. Theory
& Psychology, 12(2), 251265.
Valsiner, J. (2007). Culture in minds and societies. New Delhi: Sage.
Valsiner, J. (2008). Open intransitivity cycles in development and education: Pathways to synthesis.
European journal of psychology of education, 23(2), 131147.
Valsiner, J. (2012). A guided science: History of psychology in the mirror of its making. New
Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Part II
Chapter 2
Life . . . becomes a chemical symphony based on the simple melodic line of water, and is
worked out in relation to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, sodium, potassium,
calcium, and traces of other elements, but the greatest of these components is the water. As
in great musical masterpieces only the initiated can fully appreciate the achievement of the
master, so here the initiated alone can only appreciate the versatility and the amazing chemical
beauty of this creation. Viewed in this way water is the music, the carbon compounds and
colloids are the instruments, the catalysts of the various changes produced are the players,
and the whole is possible because the qualities of the energy fields that correspond to the air
of the room in which the orchestra plays. Sometimes the performance goes awry, owing
to anomalies in one or more of the above and we have pathology and even death. Who can
say then whether the music, the instruments, the players, or the energy field is the most
important in the ensemble known as life?
Witzemann 1943, p. 178 (added emphasis)
Immanuel Kant was brutal. His verdict about two parallel sciencesdealing with
compounds of different kindswas negative. Kant believed that psychology and
chemistry, cannot become sciences since they cannot be mathematical. The godly
role of mathematics haunted the secularizing sciences in the eighteenth century. Not
mathematicalnot science!
Looking back, we can see that Kant was half-right: psychology has proven unable
to become science, as it has failed to reach generalizations of the level of abstraction, characteristic of mathematics. Despiteor maybe becauseits dedication to
statisticsand the General Linear Modelpsychology remains pseudo-empirical
(Smedslund 1997, 2009) and theory-phobic. One can observe recurrent unhappiness
by psychologists with such sad state of affairs in their discipline. That takes the form
of active denial (we are science, after all!) or equally active lament. Neither solves
the problem.
J. Valsiner (!)
Niels Bohr Centre of Cultural Psychology Aalborg University,
Kroghstraede 34117, DK9220, Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]
Department of Psychology, Clark University,
950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
17
18
J. Valsiner
However, Kant was quite wrong in his characterization of the other science
chemistrythat according to him was also doomed to the fate of being nonscience.
While being similar in their epistemological credos in Kants time (1780s), chemistry
became a respectable science in the nineteenth century (1830s1870s), while psychology became a hostage to the ideological war between Naturwissenschaften and
Geisteswissenschaften (Valsiner 2012). How could chemistry do what psychology
has failed to accomplish?
By trying to answer this question, I here admittedly position myself on the side
of those chemists who considered history and philosophy of their discipline relevant
(such as Humphrey DavyAbbri 1994), and in clear opposition to the founders of
contemporary chemistry whoLavoisier and Berzelius in the leaddenied the value
of history of science for progression of ideas toward the future. Here, I enter into the
history of ideas in chemistry to find out which of the intellectual turns these ideas
took in chemistryand have failed to take in psychologycould be borrowed for
the latter discipline. History mattersboth for understanding the past and producing
the future.
19
20
J. Valsiner
21
The border between the chemical and biological worlds was at stake: Nineteenth-century chemists
submitted animal compounds to elementary analyses in their laboratories, while physiologists
claimed that they could not understand the processes transpiring in living bodies because they
dealt with dead matter (Bensaude-Vincent 2003, p. 209).
2
e.g. my high introversion makes me to be shy in public.
3
A particularly difficult mental puzzle for the alchemists was an apparent disappearance of such
perceivable characteristics at different phases of alchemical experimentation. For exampleif gold
22
J. Valsiner
As a result of breaking free from its alchemical past, chemistry has incorporated a
differentiated system of layers into its scientific language. Such differentiated picture
of such language layers affords the discipline flexibility of presentation of ideas in
relation to the desired audience. Such differentiated language domain allows for
fitting the messages to the recipients as the common language meaning.
. . . survives in their synchrony in a different manner than is the case in natural languages. In
natural languages diachrony manifest itself only through the etymology while in chemistry
lay and semi-lay terms coexist today as clear synonyms with and to the functional and
systematic names, and the choice of terms is determined by the efficacy rationale of the
various communication situations pertaining to the field of chemistry (Mounin 1981, p. 218,
added emphasis)
It is important to underscore the functional flexibility of the idea of this new way of
language use in chemistry. Languages developed did not represent what the essence
of the named substance is (e.g., in common sense: salt = something salty), but the
presentation of the chemical for a particular way of reacting with other chemicals,
to arrive in a new synthesis. From the generic notion salt, one cannot predict any
potential to enter into reactions with others, but from a formulaic version one can
chart out possible future connections with other reagents.
At the level of concrete terminology, there are at least four layers of namesfor
the same substancesused in the chemical nomenclature. The first one overlaps with
those in the common languageterms like water or salt are used both in chemistry
and everyday life. In chemistry one can encounter at least four layers of names for
the chemicals talked about (Mestrallet Guerre 1980referenced via Mounin 1981,
pp. 217218):
1. Lay terms that represent either a specialization of common sense terms (water,
salt, ammoniac) or neologisms based on alchemic roots of chemistry (aqua forte,
tincture of litmus). These names do not represent the actual chemical composition
of the substance, and are arbitrary encoding of the objects. So, the term water has
no implications about its composition of HOH.
2. Semi-lay terms that combine the root of a common sense word with a prefix or a
suffix that connects to a paradigm (benzene, ethylene, propylene); nothing in the
name gives information on the structure of the chemicals, yet their function as a
category name can be elaborated in the terms of the components.
3. Functional names that specify major chemical function (phosphoric acid, benzoate of soda, silver chloride).
4. Names that describe the sum of the elementsrigorous and absolutely unambiguous reconstruction of the substance is possible2-methyl pentane:
CH3 CH2 CH2 CH CH3
|
CH3
turns into red crystalshas it vanished? Or is it merely disguised? Explanations for such transformations could be built on analogy with transmutation (of souls), or masking. The latter became
demonstrated through reversal of the reactionred crystals could turn back into gold (Crosland
1978, p. 38).
23
Through opting for multiple labels, chemistry keeps its creativity open through the
flexibility of its language useand by the interesting aspect of it: the most concrete
use of the language is simultaneously the most abstract. The latter is the result of introduction of a new formulaic language to chemistry in the 1810s1830s, largely thanks
to Jns Jakob Berzelius (Melhado and Frngsmyr 1992). That language brought hierarchical order to chemistry and thus allowed the discipline to emerge as one that
unites structural and functional features of chemical transformations within the same
formal system. That order also entailed the elaboration of the notion of causality
moving beyond the Aristotelian legacyand to formulate principles of catalysis and
(in biology) enzymatic functions.
24
J. Valsiner
oxygen from the air enter into mixing with the hydrogen and resulting in an intermediate product (oxyhydrogen) that burns and ends up as water (the binding of two
gases into a liquidH2 O).
Platinum as a metal that has miraculous effects on various chemical reactions
was known already in the eighteenth century, but it was Dbereiners engineering
genius that made its catalytic function visible in a newly created tool of functional
value. His setting up the mere presence of a platinum plate to the crucial phase of the
chemical reactionrelease of hydrogen and mixing it with oxygencaused the gas
mixture to burn (hence the light) while turning into water. Without the presence of
the platinum as a catalyst such reaction is not enabled, but platinum (as metal) does
not participate in the chemical reaction sequence of producing water out of zinc and
sulfuric acid (and oxygen from air).
The notion of catalysis was first introduced by Jns Jacob Berzelius in 1835. In
his capacity of inventing new terms, the notion of catalytic force (katalytische Kraft);
the first effort was to classify the phenomenon into a category (catalysis). Yet, not
much was done with the notion in terms of understanding of how it works, until
Wilhelm Ostwald launched upon large-scale research and application efforts at the
end of the nineteenth century.
Catalysis as it Changes Reaction Speeds It is not very surprising that the first
exploration of the new notion of catalysis was dedicated to demonstrating how a
chemical reaction could be sped upor slowed downby conditions that were not
parts of the chemical reaction itself. Traces of that focus survive in the popular
presentations of the concept to the present day4 , while the complexity of ideas about
catalysis have surpassed this first approach.
The various versions of impact of catalysts on the reaction rates were summarized
by Mittasch (1938), here reproduced as Fig. 2.1. A regular one-time catalytic effect
can be inhibitive (trajectory 2Giftwirkung poisoning) or escalatory (trajectory 1
Aktivierung). The activation can be delayed by a catalyst (trajectory 4). Thus, in the
outcomes of reactions, different time-dependent patterns can occur.
However, the notioncatalyst is not consumed in the reactiondoes not necessarily mean that it does nottemporarilybind itself with an intermediate state of
the chemical by-products and become released from them by the end, not losing
its nature or quantity. Thus, in a typical reaction where X and Y result in compound
Z, the catalyst (C) can enter intoand exit fromthe intermediate forms of the
chemical reaction:
X + C XC
(2.1)
Y + XC XYC
(2.2)
cf. Wikipedia explanation: Catalysis is the change of rate of a chemical reaction due to the
participation of a substance called catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical
reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. The conceptual core notion that emerges
here is participationwith (chemical reagents) or without (catalysts) being consumed. This
definition has roots in the work of Berzelius and Ostwald, but becomes obscure at our time. The
not consumed notion is better replaced by renewed.
25
XYC CZ
(2.3)
CZ C + Z
(2.4)
The catalyst C here binds itself to X, followed by the hybrid binding Y to itself, and
then XY becoming Z while C is present. Subsequently, the Z is the result of the
chemical reaction, while C becomes reproduced in quality and quantities it existed.
Note that, here the catalyst does not remain an outside condition for the reaction
process (like the first examples of platinum as catalyst were). Instead, the catalyst
becomes temporarily functionally bound into the whole reaction at its intermediate
stages.
To draw parallels with psychological processesthe entrance into the chemical
reaction in the middle part of the construction of a new compound in chemistry has a
parallel in the microgenetic processes of psychological kind where the structure of intermediate gestalts (Valsiner and van der Veer 2000; Chap. 7) involves psychological
materials that disappear as the final percept or any other psychological phenomenon
becomes assembled. However, psychologyin contrast with chemistryhas not
often analyzed these intermediate steps, and the ways in which the final result is
produced remains unexamined. While chemistry has turned the domain between
Stimulus (S) and Response (R)S Rinto a domain where the processes in
between (i.e., S (set of intermediate transformations) R) are the focus of investigation, psychology has continued to look for formal relations5 between S and
R, avoiding the analysis of transitions.
In contrast, chemistry depends on the explanation of the steps in-between,
and it is precisely here that the role of catalysts becomes central. Similarly to the
development of Aktualgenese ideas in psychology, it is the specific conditions of the
intermediate states of affairs that need catalytic lead-in toward the stable end product
(Fig. 2.2). The sequence of reactions depends upon the appropriate catalysts acting
in the sequence at appropriate time. This turns catalytic processes into time-space
5
Usually representing these in terms of correlation coefficients or their derivates. The hope is to
reconstruct what happens in between through looking at the relations between S and R. Yet, as these
relations are formal, they cannot re-construct the psychological process that is actually taking place.
26
J. Valsiner
Fig. 2.2 The enabling role of catalysts in sequential reactions. (Mittasch 1938, p. 30)
Fig. 2.3 Catalytic conditions
that create bifurcations.
(Mittasch 1938, p. 70)
27
The Conceptual Relevance of Autocatalysis The notion of autocatalysis was introduced by Wilhelm Ostwald in 1890. The chemical process entails the synthesis
of substance X at time T1 that would enter as a catalyst into the same reaction chain
at T + N, acting in any role (promoter/inductor or inhibitor/poison)
Wilhelm Ostwald was a prolific person. Not only was he the initiator of physical
chemistry (receiving the Nobel Prize in 1909 for the catalysis applications), but also
through his active propagation of the energetist notion that was supposed to unify all
sciences, he had an impact upon psychology of his time as well.
As described in Fig. 2.4, the autocatalytic system is the key for all the three
fates of the systemits collapse (trajectory X), self-maintenance (trajectory Y),
and development into a new form (trajectory Z). The openness of the open systems
depends on the relationships between auto- and allocatalytic processes in the system.
Autocatalysis is the basic process of the maintenance and development of open
systems. The emergence of life out of inorganic components has be attributed to
autocatalytic functionswhich of course is the reasonable attribution in contrast
to all the implications of attributing such emergence to any outside causation. Its
characteristic form of the proceeding with the outcome production is the Sigmoid
curve (Fig. 2.5). It indicates the feed-forward catalysis of the processlearning in
this casethat speeds up the process in the intermediate stage, to be followed by the
slowing down at the reaching of destination.
An Organic Example of Autocatalysis: The Tin Pest At 13 C and lower, pure
tin transforms from its silvery metallic form to nonmetallic grey tin. First that
transformation is slow, but as the decomposing reaction catalyzes itselfthe more
of the grey tin is produced the more of it will be produced (until finally the tin
decomposes into powder). What seemsat warm temperaturesa metallic object
can disintegrate at low temperatures in an escalatory way. By some interpretation,
28
J. Valsiner
Napoleons soldiers fighting in the Russian winter conditions lost their buttons on
their uniforms because those were made of tin .
From Science to Practice One could use the development of knowledge in chemistry as an example of autocatalytic process. Ever since Wilhelm Ostwald and Alwin
Mittasch provided ideas of catalysis that granted profits to chemical manufacturers,
the search for catalytic solutions to practical chemistry problems has been escalating.
Such escalation often involved trial-and-error type of learning, leading to the need
for new qualitative breakthroughs in theory.
Alwin Mittascha disciple of Wilhelm Ostwald who most diligently carried his
ideas of catalysis further both theoretically and practicallyjoined the BASF company in 1904 to undertake the development of commercial synthesis of ammonia6
(NH3 ) from atmospheric air through a catalysis process. The direction of efforts was
clearto find adequate catalysts that would increase the production of ammonia
to the level that was commercially viable. In that effort, the applied researchers
scanned huge variety of catalysts (2,500, in year 1912; Farber 1966, p. 165). This
largely blind processtry what one can, maybe something worksresulted in
local generalization of how one could succeed7 . Together with solving engineering
problems of the scale of the production plant, the effort succeededthe factory near
Ludwigshafen started production in 1913 (it closed in 1957). By the end of 1915
the BASF plant produced 150,000 t of ammonia (in comparison, by year 2012 the
Worlds production of ammonia was 198 million tons). Catalytic functions are the
main focus of our chemical industries.
The Partner of the Hormones is the Living Cell8 Biological Catalysis The
organic world is different from the anorganic. Figure 2.3 leads us to the crucial notion
of autocatalysis that is of importance in biological systems. Autocatalysis is a form of
catalysis where the catalyzed system itself produces substance that actsin another
6
A colorless gas used widely in fertilizers and military ammunitions, as well as pharmacological
industry.
7
The key was to purify the catalytic activators, and use various catalysts to absorb hydrogen and
nitrogen separately (Farber 1966, p. 163).
8
Giersberg, cited via Mittasch 1938, p. 70.
29
location of the systemas a catalyst for the system (e.g., k k in Fig. 2.3, and A
in Fig. 2.4)
Enzymatic Catalysis Enzymesbiological catalyzersare molecules that regulate metabolic reactions in the biological organisms. Almost all biochemical reactions
in a cell require the presence of catalysts. Enzymes determine which metabolic pathways can be taken in that cell. Enzymes are highly context-specific, and dependent
on other small moleculescoenzymesthat are bound to the enzymes. Coenzymes
transport chemicals from one enzyme to another (perhaps the most commonly known
coenzyme is Acetyl-coenzyme-A in the Krebs cycle). Coenzymes are changed by
their action.
An intricate example of the way in which enzymatic catalysis works could be
taken from a further look at ammoniahow it would be met if encountered by humans (or other vertebrates) in contrast with aquatic animals (fish). For the latteras
they lack the specific enzymatic reaction to protect them from ammoniaeven small
concentrations of ammonia in the water turn out to be lethal. Butnot so for humans!
A specific pathway guarantees that ammonia cannot be built up in the bloodstream. A
special enzymecarbamoyl phosphate syntethasetransforms ammonia into carbamoyl phosphate, after which it is either directed further to turn into amino acids or
urine. The cycle ends up re-producing the enzyme. The neutralization of the effect
of ammonia for vertebrates is guaranteed here.
The enzyme action is thus a form of specific catalysis, and . . . it provides a definite, general
solution for all the fundamental biological enigmas: the mysteries of the origin of living
matter, of the source of variations, of the mechanisms of heredity and ontogeny, and of
general organic regulation . . . Catalysis is essentially a determinative relationship, and the
enzyme theory of life, as a general biological hypothesis, would claim that all intra-vital or
hereditary determination is, in the last analysis, catalytic. (Troland 1917, p. 327)
What enzymatic catalysis tells usin psychologyis a story that makes our conceptual domains very complex, and almost completely eliminates the traditional uses of
quantification in psychology. Instead of measurements of barely conceivable illusory psychological properties and claims of explaining small portions of variance
we would be faced with dynamic structures of binding and un-binding processes
within the phenomena of mental and affective kind. Implications of such change for
psychology as science are enormousyet realistic.
30
J. Valsiner
The talk about organizers and inducers brings to chemical catalysis a parallel with
embryonic development and the work of Hans Spemann in the field of epigenesis.
Empirical evidence of organizers in embryonic development is known since 1924,
from Spemanns and Mangolds classical study of creating twin salamanders by the
way of tissue transplant (Sander and Faessler 2001).
Possible uses of catalytic terminologies in psychology need to deal with the levels
of organization of the catalytic processes in the organism. Herelike in biology
the catalytic processes belong to a hierarchical order. It is of interest here to return
to Alwin Mittaschs scheme of hierarchical catalysis that includes the psychological
counterpart of the biological one (Fig. 2.6)
31
While Mittaschwho after his retirement from BASF in 1933 turned directly
to the study of philosophy of chemistrymanages to fill in the physical side of his
hierarchical scheme (the left hand side of Fig. 2.6), the psychological uncovered territory (right hand side) is bare. He only indicated an analog of two levels of catalytic
processeschemical and biologicalas counterpart to unconscious psychological
processes. The final inclusion of the intentional action (Bewusster Wille on top)
would guide psychologists to topics that were relevant in the late nineteenth century:
intentionality, Gestalt nature of psychological functions, and their varied rates. Such
complexity of the catalysis processes becomes the norm in the living systems that in
addition to the complexity of inorganic compounds entail the capacities of movement,
adaptation to changing conditions, andin some casesgoals-directedness.
What has been accepted in chemistry and biology as the unquestionable basis for
sciencecatalytic and enzymatic organizationis slowly beginning to enter into
contemporary psychology. Catalytic ideas have found their place also in management
science or organizations (Padgett and Powell 2012). Yet, old mindsets are hard to
break and the illusory beauty of the General Linear Model keeps its dominance in
psychology, leading to the theoretical blind spot of not noticing the nonlinear and
noncausal nature of the psychological phenomena. Theoretical innovation of basic
modelsof causality and catalysisneeds to precede any empirical inquiry.
References
Abbri, F. (1994). Romanticism versus enlightenment: Sir Humphrey Davys idea of chemical
philosophy. In S. Poggi & M. Bossi (Eds.), Romanticism in science (pp. 3145). Dordrecht:
Kluwer.
Bensaude-Vincent, B. (2003). Chemistry. In D. Cahan (Ed.), From natural philosophy to the social
sciences (pp. 196220). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Crosland, M. (1978). Historical studies in the language of chemistry. Mineola: Dover.
Dolby, R. G. A. (1977). The transmissions of two new scientific disciplines from Europe to North
America in the late 19th century. Annals of Science, 34, 287310.
Ertl, G., & Glonya, T. (2003). Katalyse: Vom Stein der Weisen zu Wilhelm Ostwald. Zeitschrift fr
Physikalische Chemie, 217, 12071219.
Farber, E. (1966). From chemistry to philosophy: The way of Alwin Mittasch (18691953). Chymia,
11, 157176.
Gigerenzer, G. (1991). From tools to theories: A heuristic of discovery in cognitive psychology.
Psychological Review, 98(2), 254267.
Gigerenzer, G., Swijtink, Z., Porter, T., Daston, L., Beatty, J., & Krger, L. (1989). The empire of
chance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kauffmann, G. B. (1999). Johann Wolfgang Dbereiners. Feuerzug. Platinum Metals Review,
43(3), 122128.
Klein, U. (2004). Not a pure science: Chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries. Science, 306,
981982.
Kuznetsov, V. I. (1966). The development of basic ideas in the field of catalysis. Chymia, 11,
179204.
Melhado, E. M. (1980). Mitscherlichs discovery of isomorphism. Historical Studies in the Physical
Sciences, 11(1), 87123.
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Melhado, E. M., & Frngsmyr T. (Eds.). (1992). Enlightenment science in the romantic era.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mittasch, A. (1938). Katalyse und Determinismus: Ein Beitrag zur Philosophie der Chemie. Berlin:
Julius Springer.
Mounin, G. (1981). A semiology of the sign system chemistry. Diogenes, 29, 216228.
Ostwald, W. (1907). The modern theory of energetics. Monist, 17(4), 481515.
Ostwald, W. (1908). Erfinder und Entdecker. Frankfurt-am-Main: Rtter & Loening.
Ostwald, W. (1909) On catalysis. The Nobel lecture. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/
chemistry/laureates/1909/ostwald-lecture.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2011.
Padgett, J. F., & Powell, W. W. (2012). The emergence of organizations and markets. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Sander, K., & Faessler, P. E. (2001). Introducing the Spemann-Mangold organizer: Experiments
and insights that generated a key concept in developmental biology. International Journal of
Developmental Biology, 45, 111.
Smedslund, J. (1997). The structure of psychological common sense. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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778794.
Snelders, H. A. M. (1970). Romanticism and naturphilosophie band the inorganic natural science
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Steininger, B. (2008). KatalysatorAnnherung an einen Schlsselbegriff des 20. Jahrhunderts.
In E. Mller & F. Schmieder (Eds.), Begriffsgeschichte der Naturwissenschaften (pp. 5371).
Berlin: Springer.
Toomela, A. (2012). Guesses on the future of cultural psychology: Past, present, and past. In J.
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Toomela, A. (2013). Structural-systemic theory of causality and catalysis. In K. Cabell & J.
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Chapter 3
A. Kohler (!)
Chemin du Carro 7, 1566 St-Aubin, Switzerland
e-mail: [email protected]
Universit de Neuchtel, Neuchtel, Switzerland
33
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A. Kohler
A Transdisciplinary Approach
Considering both philosophical work on causality and the empirical studies about the
acquisition of the same concept do not assume that one perspective nests the other;
neither must the philosophical definition of causality be considered as the final point
of the acquisition of the concept of causality, nor must the philosophical attempts to
define causality be considered merely a step in the development of an individual mind.
I will adopt a transdisciplinary approach to the notion of causality, in the sense that I
propose to integrate both the philosophical and the developmental perspectives within
a common theoretical framework that can stand across disciplinary perspectives. The
chosen framework consists of considering causality as a semiotic tool.
Transdisciplinarity is a word introduced by Piaget (1972), referring to a higher
stage succeeding the stage of interdisciplinary relationships [. . .], which would not
only cover interactions or reciprocities between specialized research projects, but
would place these relationships within a total system without any firm boundaries between disciplines. In order to avoid confusing transdisciplinarity with
interdisciplinarity, these few words might be useful:
35
In an inquiry about causality the common patterns could be the semiotic roles of the
various meanings of causality developed through the history of ideas or observed in
the individual development. It is understood within this approach that there is no need
to choose one definition of causality as opposed to another, if various definitions fulfill
various semiotic roles. For this reason, I think that neither do we have to consider
the philosophical definition of causality as the endpoint of individual development,
nor the individual development as an explanation for the philosophical definitions.
In this passage, we are immediately confronted with the multiplicity of meaning that
causality can take. However, this multiplicity is not problematic for Aristotle: One
needs to find all the four types of cause in order to fully explain something. This is
an important point, as we will see that the notion of cause has been less demanding
later in history, in particular in the philosophical roots of empirical science laid in
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where philosophers were looking for one
single type of cause.
36
A. Kohler
From Aristotles four types of causes, we can summarize the following four
meanings of the word cause:
A cause is something that makes something else (the effect) exist. It is not trivial
that there is a cause for the existence of each thing and this idea would later be
denied by Hume, for instance. For now, let us just remember this usage of the
concept of cause.
A cause is structural or functional, which means, if we accept taking the risk of
an anachronism, that it corresponds to a mathematical function1 that refers to a
law. This type of cause also prefigures a systemic cause, which we will discuss
further in the chapter.
A cause is something that produces a change or rest, or the beginning of a process.
This is probably the most common understanding of what causality is, and it is
directly related to the question of the causal powers, which are capabilities of
producing change, rest, or the beginning of a process.
A cause is an end, an intention or an aim, or even the reason for an action. As
Aristotles examples show, this meaning seems to be used in particular in Human
Sciences, in order to explain human behavior. However, in the Antique World
it was assumed as a valid causal explanation for Nature (what we currently call
physics) as well.
Of course, Aristotle did not have our modern mathematics, however the example given in his text
is clearly pointing at what we would call today a function.
37
anything about the interest of the scientists themselves, as we now know that Newton,
the prototypical figure of this New Science, was secretly very busy trying to answer
the big why? about the world, God, The Bible, and prophecies (Verlet 1993),
practising alchemy during his free time. Nevertheless, the official New Science just
retained efficient causes, in terms of Aristotles causes, and rejected the other three
causes as being unnecessary, or even suspicious. For instance, the final cause has
been considered for a very long time as the prototypical non-scientific explanation,
associated with the logical form of religious explanation.
Humes Causation
Humes conception of causality interests our study for several reasons: Firstly, it
constitutes a solid conception of causality for empirical sciences illustrative of the
empiricist philosophers; secondly, within the lines of Humes writing, there are
several interesting precursors of the more modern definitions of causality, such as
statistical causality or systemic causality; thirdly, Hume introduces a radical change
in perspective in his approach to causality. We will have a closer look at the last
point, but let us first introduce the main ideas of Humean causation.
Humes conception of causality is a radical critique, still very influential today,
of the classical reasoning about causes. He states that causality is a relation we do
not know objectively. We can only suppose its existence, and to do so we will base
our judgment on the observed relation between objects or events, which can be considered, after analysis, merely consisting of a relation of precedence, contiguity and
repetition. Hence, the judgment following such an observation is always a subjective
one. There is no possible objective knowledge about causality. Let us examine briefly
how Hume defends this standpoint in the Treatise of Human Nature.
Hume examines three criteria on which we base our judgment that there is
causation. The first criterion is contiguity:
The idea, then, of causation must be derivd from some relation among objects; and that
relation we must now endeavour to discover. I find in the first place, that whatever objects
are considerd as causes or effects, are contiguous; and that nothing can operate in a time or
place, which is ever so little removd from those of its existence. Tho distant objects may
sometimes seem productive of each other, they are commonly found upon examination to
be linkd by a chain of causes, which are contiguous among themselves, and to the distant
objects; and when in any particular instance we cannot discover this connexion, we still
presume it to exist. (Hume 1739, p. 62)
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would not be a cause at all, because it would either operate later, or we must consider
the first cause as having a different effect which brings the unhappy consequence
of breaking the chain of cause and effect, and leads, in Humean philosophy, to
the annihilation of time. If the second criterion can be reconsidered today, Humes
arguments having lost much of its relevance since contemporary physics, it is not
where the core of the critique lies. The interesting discussion is the one that follows
those two rather common criteria and inquires about the necessary connexion, that
must be added to get a satisfactory definition of causation. Indeed, it is not sufficient
that two events follow each other contiguously to consider the first a cause and the
second an effect.
Having thus discoverd or supposd the two relations of contiguity and succession to be essential to causes and effects, I find I am stopt short, and can proceed no farther in considering
any single instance of cause and effect. Motion in one body is regarded upon impulse as
the cause of motion in another. When we consider these objects with the utmost attention,
we find only that the one body approaches the other; and that the motion of it precedes that
of the other, but without any sensible interval. Tis in vain to rack ourselves with farther
thought and reflexion upon this subject. (Hume 1739, p. 63)
To define the necessary connexion, Hume relies on experience. The rationalist principles such as any effect has a cause are rejected for being circular: a husband always
has a wife, but it does not say anything about the fact that husband and wife actually
exist. The same principle about the existence of an object, i.e. whatever begins to
exist, must have a cause of existence, is considered at best uncertain because we
cannot demonstrate that everything that comes to be has a cause. Convinced that
the idea of necessary connexion comes from experience, Hume presents a theory of
perception and knowledge that takes the reader from perceptions (impressions on
the senses) to ideas, from ideas to beliefs, from beliefs to the cause of beliefs and to
probabilities, and the role of habits and customs for the idea of causation. Nothing
in the presented psychological investigation of Hume explains or justifies the inference of necessary connexion: neither the impressions on the sense, nor probabilities
which are considered as concealed causes. He then starts his chapter Of the Idea
of Necessary Connexion:
39
Having thus explaind the manner, in which we reason beyond our immediate impressions,
and conclude that such particular causes must have such particular effects; we must now
return upon our footsteps to examine that question, which first occurd to us, and which
we dropt in our way, viz. What is our idea of necessity, when we say that two objects are
necessarily connected together. (Hume 1739, p. 115)
Suppose two objects to be presented to us, of which the one is the cause and the other the
effect; tis plain, that from the simple consideration of one, or both these objects we never
shall perceive the tie, by which they are united, or be able certainly to pronounce, that there
is a connexion betwixt them. Tis not, therefore, from any one instance, that we arrive at
the idea of cause and effect, of a necessary connexion of power, of force, of energy, and of
efficacy. Did we never see any but particular conjunctions of objects, entirely different from
each other, we shoud never be able to form any such ideas. But again; suppose we observe
several instances, in which the same objects are always conjoind together, we immediately
conceive a connexion betwixt them, and begin to draw an inference from one to another.
This multiplicity of resembling instances, therefore, constitutes the very essence of power
or connexion, and is the source, from which the idea of it arises. (Hume 1739, p. 119)
Hume points out that considering causality as a single instanceand most philosophical discussion so far even had a single cause with a single effectis not equivalent
to considering the repetition of causality. Hume considers that it is not sufficient for
the analysis to consider only one cause operating once, even when imagining the
same process adding up infinitely, because the meaning of the repetition is not taken
into consideration. Hume introduces this point because he thinks that it is impossible
to make the inference that there is causation based only on one instance of causation.
Therefore, Hume bases his inquiry on many instances of causation and includes into
the discussion the dimension of time and human memory: When we perceive contiguous events we also remember having seen them before (or not), and this memory
matters. Only such a dynamic perspective considering multiple instances of causation, constant conjunction of causes and effects, he states, can lead to the idea of
necessary connexion in the human mind.
A Change of Paradigm
From those last remarks it clearly appears that Humes investigation on causality
is psychological: he is interested in the way we know causality. This perspective
consists of a change of paradigm in the domain of causality. Instead of considering
the problem the way Aristotle and many philosophers after him did, that is starting
from the fact that there is causality in the world and trying to define it from there,
Hume turns the problem the other way round; he inquires about what we can know
about causality from our experience of the world. Normally, a philosopher would
consider his job defining causality in a way that corresponds to what causality is in
reality. Hume considers that assuming causality in the world without analyzing how
this knowledge comes to us through our senses, is not the right method. Instead, he
investigates what our senses tell us about causality. Finding that we can only observe
(and expect) regularities, Hume investigates how a mindthe one of a philosopher
or any otherbuilds up the idea that causality exists in the world.
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Here is a passage where Hume describes the shock his change of perspective can
provoke in the reader, putting into words what could be the reaction of a doubtful
reader:
What! the efficacy of causes lie in the determination of the mind! As if causes did not operate
entirely independent of the mind, and woud not continue their operation, even tho there
was no mind existent to contemplate them, or reason concerning them. Thought may well
depend on causes for its operation, but not causes on thought. This is to reverse the order of
nature, and make that secondary, which is really primary. To every operation there is a power
proportiond; and this power must be placd on the body, that operates. If we remove the
power from one cause, we must ascribe it to another: But to remove it from all causes, and
bestow it on a being, that is no ways related to the cause or effect, but by perceiving them, is
a gross absurdity, and contrary to the most certain principles of human reason. (Hume 1739,
p. 122)
The counter position to Humean causation presented in the passage above is grounded
on the idea of causal powers: if a cause causes an effect, it is because this cause has a
causal power to do so, i.e., it has an inherent property to cause the effect. Hume tries
to show that this vision of causality is only what we made ourselves believe, some
sort of common sense that a more in-depth analysis allows to overcome. Hume thinks
that the common belief about causal powers is just some sort of projection of the
mind onto things, because all we can observe and know is the constant conjunction
of events, from which we make the inference that some are causes and others are
effects. This sort of projection will also be studied in empirical psychology, in terms of
attribution of causality. A few results of the research on attribution will be discussed
further in the chapter.
Thus, Hume refuses to consider that causal powers are real, because we cannot
know them. His position is mainly grounded on two reasons: First, he assumes that
we know everything we know from experience, as he commits to the principles of
empiricism, and that we should not claim to know anything we cannot know from
experience (as the rationalist does); second, he shows convincingly that we cannot
know any sort of necessary connexions from experience, nor can we describe in
a specific way causal powers such as force, energy, agency, and so on. From this
very last point, we may find an alternative to Humes skepticism about causality and
causal powers. Hume states that the attempt to define specifically the various terms
referring to causal powers has failed. Since Hume, many have engaged in the route
of specifying those terms, and empirical sciences such as physics have brought many
fruitful domain-specific theories and results. I will call this alternative to Humean
skepticism about objective causality the route of specifying causality, and several
more recent paradigmatic definition of causality will be presented later in the chapter.
After Hume
If Humes inquiry about causality brings a new meaning into the history of ideas, it
also casts doubt on the possibility of ever finding a definition for objective causality,
at least understood as a unique concept or as a necessary connexion between things
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A. Kohler
Russell continues his paper examining three definitions of the notions of causality,
cause, and cause and effect, showing that there are inconsist with each other, and
that they all depend on a certain vagueness to be useful. One definition of cause is
dismissed notably because it is psychological: This is of interest, as we have seen
that Humes perspective is psychological. For Russell, finding a definition of cause
such as whatever may be included is in the thought or perception of a process is
merely a reason to abandon that definition, because it means a cause does not really
exist if we can only define it as what is in our mind.
Lets us follow the argument concerning the less problematic definition of causality
discussed by Russell, i.e. The necessary connection of events in the time-series.
Russell first provides an account of this law of causality in logical terms:
Given any event e1, there is an event e2 and a time-interval such that, whenever e1 occurs,
e2 follows after an interval . (Russell 1913, p. 4)
He later defines what an event is, and discusses the length of the time-interval:
An event, then, is a universal defined sufficiently widely to admit of many particular
occurrences in time being instances of it.
(. . .) However short we make the interval , something may happen during this interval
which prevents the expected result. (. . .) In order to be sure of the expected effect, we must
know that there is nothing in the environment to interfere with it. But this means that the
supposed cause is not, by itself, adequate to insure the effect. And as soon as we include
the environment, the probability of repetition is diminished, until at last, when the whole
environment is included, the probability of repetition becomes almost nil. (Russell 1913,
p. 78)
Russells critique here is aiming at any theory of causality based on the repetition of
the relation between events, such as Humean causation. Nevertheless, if Russell is
known for his proposal to abandon the concept of causality, it must be noted that he
43
does not fully consider causality useless as an idea, nor does he deny the intuition
about regularities observed in the world, e.g., the constant conjunction of Hume. He
considers causality useful, but only for the infancy of a science:
In spite of these difficulties, it must, of course, be admitted that many fairly dependable
regularities of sequence occur in daily life. It is these regularities that have suggested the
supposed law of causality. (. . .) I am far from denying that there may be such sequences which
in fact never do fail. (. . .) I also do not deny that the observation of such regularities, event
when they are not without exceptions, is useful in the infancy of a science: the observation
that unsupported bodies in air usually fall was a stage on the way to the law of gravitation.
What I deny is that science assumes the existence of invariable uniformities of sequence of
this kind, or that it aims at discovering them. All such uniformities, as we saw, depend upon
a certain vagueness in the definition of the events. That bodies fall is a vague qualitative
statement; science wishes to know how fast they fall. This depends upon the shape of the
bodies and the density of the air. (. . .) In short, every advance in a science takes us farther
away from the crude uniformities which are first observed, into greater differentiation of
antecedent and consequent, and into a continually wider circle of antecedents recognized as
relevant.
The principle same cause, same effect, which philosophers imagine to be vital to science,
is therefore utterly otiose. (Russell 1913, p. 8)
In this passage, Russell sets clearly a problem we have based our historical journey
on: Causality has been defined at various levels of precision in philosophy, and it is
not without consequences. For Russell, the attempt of philosophy to define causality
is always grounded a certain vagueness.
As it appears in the passage quoted above, Russell does not deny ontological
causality. Still, he considers that using the concept of causality becomes inappropriate
when a scienceor a learner Id like to addmoves out of the vagueness of the notion
of cause or causality. Russell briefly analyzes how causality has been a fruitful source
of fallacies in the history of philosophy, stressing the following points:
The analogy between human volition and the relation of cause and effect, which
leads to a certain confusion, whether it is to assume volition in the world or a
similar causeeffect relation between events and between our volition and own
action. This point from Russell raises the following question: Can we combine into
a single notion of causality both actions of an agent and actions of other powers
such as energy and gravitation? Russell calls for a clear distinction between them.
The resemblance between the cause and the effect which corresponds to an unduly simplified law of causality excluded the causal explanation that is more
appropriate to contemporary physics, stating that it is a whole state of the universe
at one point that is the cause2 . To comment on this point, I would like to stress
that the idea of the resemblance between cause and effect comes from the classical
productive sense of causality, notably Aristotelian, where the change produced is
considered having some quality in common with the cause. Within a nomological
explanation such as what Russell has in mind, the classical understanding looks
indeed oversimplified.
2
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A. Kohler
The fact that the attempt to define causality in philosophy often relies on a sense of
what is intelligible for the philosophers, or on what is familiar to imagination;
yet, science often leads to unfamiliar results and requires to make sense precisely
of what seems at first not intelligible at all. This point seems to only address the
criteria of acceptance or refusal for a definition in philosophy; however it is an
important issue.
The idea that the cause compels or determines the effect in a way that the effect
does not compel or determine the cause, grounds the asymmetry between cause
and effect; Russell shows that this is illusionary, as it does not resist the analysis
with multiple causes or multiple effects, because the fact to consider an event
multiple or single is a choice of how vague we describe this event; therefore
the asymmetry between cause and effect results from our selection of cause and
effects (more or less vague, multiple, . . .) and is not real but illusionary. What
Russell points out here, is that the delimitation of the cause(s) and effect(s) is a
problem that philosophers have failed to address, and that this problem cannot
easily be solved: It rather leads to the conclusion that the selection of cause(s)
and effect(s) is totally arbitrary, which in turn questions the distinction between
cause and effect and the whole notion of causality itself.
The historically well documented resistance for causes that can operate when they
have ceased to exist, or that can operate at distance, is considered by Russell as
expressing a widely common prejudice, based on the analogy between the action
of a volition (a person) and causality; For Russell, causes cannot operate, only
volition does, and therefore there is no problem in saying The night causes the
day. This last point is a corollary from the first and third point, bringing an
illustration of the consequence of the denounced confusions.
From this list of what Russell considers fallacies, we have a preview of the complexity
brought up through the attempt to define causality. For Russell, when a science
progresses in defining the description of the relation between particular events
or should we rather say of a phenomenon cut into events vague and arbitrarythen
causality leaves the ground to a probable sequence, a useful prediction in daily life
and in the infancy of a science according to Russell, or to a formula, a function of
which the example is in physics.
Certain differential equations can be found, which hold at every instant for every particle
of the system, and which, given the configuration and velocities at one instant, or the
configurations at two instants, render the configuration at any other earlier or later instant
theoretically calculable. (. . .) This statement holds throughout physics, and not only in the
special case of gravitation. But there is nothing that could be properly called cause and
nothing that could be properly called effect in such a system. (Russell 1913, p. 14)
As I understand Russells position, it says that when we undertake the task of differentiating the concepts that Hume considered synonymous (energy, force, . . .), we
have to move beyond causality itself, thought as a unique and unequivocal concept
for making sense of all types of necessary connexions at work in the world. Indeed,
in physics, the causal explanations are replaced by laws of conservation or constants
ultimately based on measures.
45
Selecting a cause event, an effect event (and maybe both at different scales, more or
less vaguely, . . .) and trying to define the relation between them might be useful at
the infancy of a science, but is soon replaced, according to Russell, by a different
task: Isolating a system, defining laws valid within that system. This last task entails
more description, definition, and model than the first: The system must be defined
at least specifically enough to have boundaries, the law entails constants or other
relations that must be described or modeled into a formula, including the definition
of all elements included in the law, and maybe the specification of circumstances
where the law is valid.
The catalysis in chemistry seems to be one of those circumstances that matters for
the validity of a law. The law defines a certain reaction when two chemical elements
are put in contact. The presence of a specific third element, a catalyst, constitutes a
special circumstance that changes the parameters of the law of reaction; however it
could be hindered by anything out of the practically or relatively isolated system.
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A. Kohler
From the two passages above, it appears that Humes position nevertheless leaves an
alternative. There might be a hope for causal powers or more generally for an objective
account of causation, through the endeavor that Hume challenges his readers with,
47
that is to specify causation in more precise terms, notable in physics. Indeed, Humes
problem of synonymity leaves an open door to an objective definition of causation,
if we can ever define some of those concepts independently from each others. If it
seemed impossible to Hume, nature sciences have built much knowledge since, and
today it looks like a promising route. The concept of catalysis in chemistry is such a
definition about a necessary connexion between a specific chemical element in the
presence of particular reactants and the quantity of energy needed for the reaction to
take place. It does not fall into the problem of synonymous terms raised by Hume, at
least from the standpoint of my limited understanding of chemistry, because it relies
on theories (notably the table of elements and thermodynamics) precise enough to
lead to independent perceptions, i.e., measures.
Counter-Factual
Another attempt to save objective knowledge about causality after Humes critique
is the counter-factual definition of causality. A is a cause of B if and only if the
following counter-factual proposition is true: if B would not have occurred, A would
not have occurred. This counter-factual definition of causality has been developed
by David Lewis notably (Esfeld 2006), who considers that there are other possible
worlds besides ours, where for instance A would not occur while it does in our
world. The concept of possible worlds brings specific difficulties, for instance the
decision on whether A is a cause of B or not relies on a thought experiment of the
kind what would have happened if . . . , which makes the criteria subjective to the
philosophers mind, and highly unverifiable, especially in Human Sciences where
the exact repetition of some research processes is impossible.
Counter-factual causality meets a difficulty that concerns the aim of this chapter,
regarding the differentiation between cause and catalyst. This problem is called the
preemption problem: if there is an event other than the cause event A that would cause
the same effect B if A does not occur, A cannot be considered a cause according to
the counter-factual definition, even if it is nevertheless the cause when A occurs.
Additionally, counter-factual definition cannot distinguish between epiphenomena
and causes.
In sum, if the counter-factual definition of causality seems to offer a simple and
efficient criterion to decide what is a cause and what is not, a closer look at the application of this criteria leads to inextricable difficulties, and in addition does not address
the fundamental problem raised by Hume, namely what are those connexionsif
anybetween cause and effect.
Causal Powers
A realist account of causality, built up to avoid the Humean metaphysics, consists
of a revival of the idea of causal powers, built upon Lockes primary qualities, and
Leibniz dynamical field theory according to which creatures as Humans and God are
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A. Kohler
mutually sharing causal powers. Causal powers rest on dispositional properties, while
Humean metaphysics rest on categorical properties. It means that causal powers are
considered in the things, inherent to the cause.
Let us consider first why the idea of causal powers has fallen in discredit through
the history of philosophy. One first concern with the dispositional properties is that
they can be abused in a way that brings the explanation into a tautology. This problem refers to the famous virtus dormitiva taken for a joke by Molire (Le malade
imaginaire, act III), and aimed at turning Descartes philosophy into ridicule: To the
question What is the cause or reason for the opium to make us sleep? the scholar
answers The reason is that opium has the virtue of sleepiness. If I say The mug is
yellow, because it has the property of yellowness, I have provided no explanation
whatsoever of the cause of the color of the mug, but only put into the discussion a
superfluous property of which I have no proof of existence. Such reason or cause is
of the kind of dispositional properties, and Hume calls them occult qualities.
However, there is more, as Kistler explains in this passage:
The logical empiricists of the beginning of the twentieth-century thus seem to put forward a
new argument against dispositions. To the traditional accusation of epistemic obscurity, they
add that of semantic indeterminacy: the meaning of predicates attributing dispositions is only
partially determined, and the indeterminacy concerns precisely those circumstances in which
the need for dispositions is the most pressing: where they do not manifest themselves. As a
result, the conception of explanation in terms of nomic regularities promoted by the logical
empiricists leaves no place for dispositions and causal powers. The predicates expressing
lawful regularities must be categorical, for the simple reason that the meaning of the terms
used in an explanation must at least be as clear as the meaning of the terms describing the
phenomena to be explained. But descriptions of phenomena are always in categorical terms.
(Kistler and Gnassounou 2007, p. 24)
49
properties in relevant similar circumstances always produces the effect that it did in the case
at hand; for the laws governing these properties may be statistical, the powers to which
the properties contribute may, accordingly, be statistical tendencies or propensities, and
the causation may be non necessitating. Also, the claim that singular causal statements are
implicitly general does not, as here interpreted, imply anything about how such statements
are knownin particular, it does not imply the Humean view that causal relationships can
only be discovered via the discovery of regularities or constant conjunctions. But where
the present theory differs most radically from theories in the Humean tradition is in what
it claims about the modality of the general propositions, the laws, that explain the truth of
singular causal propositions; for whereas on the Humean view the truth of these propositions
is contingent, on my view it is logically necessary. I thus find myself, in what I once would
have regarded as reactionary company, defending the very sort of necessary connection
account of causality which Hume is widely applauded for having refuted. (Shoemaker 1980,
p. 133)
In sum, causal powers are thought of, instead of laws of nature, or nomological
explanation. Indeed, causal powers being genuine and dispositional properties that
are not merely predicates (Armstrong 1989 quoted by Ellis 2001), and being powers
of processes, are the truth makers of the law (Ellis 2001, p. 112). Causal powers
are also considered instead of systemic explanation, because laws are considered
the mere addition of causal powers, and for tenants of the identity theory between
qualities and properties, even the qualities of the whole are considered a mere arrangement built up from qualities of the part, explicitly denying the possibility of
emergence3 (Heil 2003, p. 114).
Causality As a Process
An alternative to the necessary connexion vainly looked for by Hume, consists of
considering causality as a process instead of a necessary connexion. Salmon (2002)
agrees with Hume that there are no logical connexions, and thus no necessary connexions between causes and effects, but cannot resign to what he considers a consequence
of Humean causation: That if there were no more humans to think of causation, causation would not exist anymore. In brief, Salmon tries to give a realistic account of
causation, where causation is something existing independently from us (and that we
can know). Salmon wants to show that causal processes are the causal connections
Hume was looking for:
Humes characterization of causation involves a pair of events (or facts) C and E, the cause and
effect in question, and some relation R holding between them. Most subsequent approaches
have adopted the same pattern; the crucial question then concerns the nature of this causal
relation R. I propose that we temporarily stop thinking about separate facts or events, and
that we temporarily eliminate the terms cause and effect. Instead, I suggest that we
begin with the notion of a process. We are all familiar with many examples of processes. For
3
In a footnote, the author states: I do not think that the properties of wholes emerge in any sense
that involve an addition of being to the properties of parts of a whole (suitably organized), without
any argument supporting his belief.
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A. Kohler
instance, a moving material object is a process; in fact, so is a particle that is at rest in our
particular frame of reference. A moving shadow is a process; so is a red dot that moves on
a projector screen because of a laser pointer used by a lecturer. (Salmon 2002, p. 112113)
The theory of causality as a process considers causation as the transmission of something. A painting transmits a certain configuration of the color spectrum under the
appropriate light that allows me to interpret what I see. A ray of light transmits
energy to a surface of matter. There are several variants about what is transmitted through a causal process: For Reichenbach, causal processes have the capacity
to transmit marks; for Dowe or Kistler, causal processes transmit a conserved or
physical quantity. For instance, Kistler (1999) proposes to define causality this way:
Two events c and e are linked as cause and effect if and only if there is at least one physical
quantity P, submitted to a law of conservation, exemplified in c and e, and of which a
determined quantity is transferred between c and e. (Kistler 1999, p. 1718, translated by
the author)
If this definition may satisfy a physicist, it has very little chances to be useful in
other sciences. It seems that the theory of causation as causal processes chooses
for a specification where physics is the main or only domain where the meaning
of causality should be elaborated. Salmon concludes his chapter with an explicit
statement of this aim:
The account that has emerged removes this concept [i.e. causality] from the field of metaphysics and transports it to physics. If this goal has actually been achieved, I count it as
philosophical progress. (Salmon 2002, p. 131)
However, Salmon recognizes the reductionist flavor of this theory in respect to Human
Science, more specifically to psychology:
I realize that the theory I am proposing has a highly reductionistic flavour. It seems to me
that my account should hold in the natural sciencesincluding biology, but not quantum
mechanics. I am not confident that it is suitable for psychology and the social sciences.
(Salmon 2002, p. 131)
Causality in Physics
Physics has often been taken as the domain of reference for the definition of causality. In particular, physics remains silent about the veracity of Humean account of
causation, even if both Humeans and philosophers supporting causal powers claim
support from physics. Esfeld summarizes arguments for both sides:
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All that our fundamental physical theories state are certain regularities in the distribution of
physical properties. There is thus not more to causation than the Humean acknowledges (cf.
for instance Loewer 2001, pp. 322324, and Field 2003, Sect. 1). (. . .) The argument for
admitting powers stems from our experience of agency and functional properties in general.
If there are powers, there are powers all the way down to the domain of fundamental physics.
(. . .) The argument for admitting powers thus is one of coherence: if we look for a coherent
view of the world that includes everything, then we should acknowledge powers in order to
do justice to functional properties and the experience of ourselves as acting beings. Hence,
we cannot let our metaphysics be determined solely by the criterion of what may be the most
parsimonious ontology for current physics. (Esfeld 2007, p. 214215)
Salmon considers cause and effect as a kind of preliminary notion to what later
becomes a more specified, domain-specific, scientific explanation. In that sense, he
shares a position close to Russell, who proposed to abandon causality altogether as
being vague and contradictory. Salmon still keeps the relation, but defines it broadly
as a certain type of process, which transmits something. But even this definition is
already too reductionist, and for any more precise definition, Salmon explicitly relies
on physics or natural science explanation of each process singularly. It is, I believe,
abandoning the idea of causality as a unique and well define concept, and is therefore
taking the route of specification where causality remains a prescientific notion later
replaced by the precise domain-specific description of a process (the real scientific
concept), and of what this process transmits.
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of causal powers considers constant regularities, laws, and systemic causality as mere
epiphenomena, reducible to dispositional properties of their parts, and therefore does
not consider a system as a cause.
53
give explanation of the dynamics of the processes involved (Beckstead et al. 2009).
Alternatively, and much more rarely (see for instance, the discussion of Lewin 1931),
statistical causality can be understood as a functional relation in the sense defined in
the first route which, according to Russell, cannot be considered as a cause, because
only the whole system within which the function is valid may be considered as a
cause.
In conclusion, we can therefore consider statistical causality as being a way to
identify relations about which we have no objective knowledge to claim that they are
causes-effect relations. Statistical causality does not help for defining causality, and
is either a methodology to elaborate functional relations, statistical laws, or a way of
abandoning causality in favor of a systemic approach, as Russell proposed.
Epistemology of Causality
Now, having briefly examined two alternative routes in the endeavor to define objective causality after Humes critical analysis, let us have a look at the subjective
causality, I mean the way we come to have the idea of causality. The problem here
is another question raised by Hume: Does the way we know about causality matter
for defining objective causality?
Instead of defining the necessary connexion with domain-specific terms referring
to powers, Hume grounds his definition on the origin of the idea of cause, keeping
causation as a unique concept that should be defined for the ensemble of the various
terms:
This multiplicity of resembling instances, therefore, constitutes the very essence of power
or connexion, and is the source, from which the idea of it arises. (Hume 1739, p. 119)
Hume makes the origin of causation (from an epistemological perspective) a definition of causation (on an ontological perspective). In his empiricist philosophy, it
is coherent because perception is the only origin of knowledge, but without the empiricist principles, it can look like a fallacy. Indeed, Hume commits to the principle
that all knowledge comes from the senses, and therefore considers that impressions
or ideas are causes and effects. In addition, the impression from which we have the
idea of causation is considered the cause of the idea of causation, and shares some
properties with its effect: We can then know the effect (the idea of causation) by
knowing the cause (what made us have the idea of causation). This philosophy of
knowing sounds dubious today. Still, if we can doubt Humean metaphysics, it is his
perspective that I am interested in here.
Humes investigations about causality leads him to conclude that we never directly
observe causation itself, and therefore causation is in the mind, an idea of the faculty
of imagination, in his eighteenth century English language. It is remarkable for
the questions pursued in this chapter, that Hume considers causality as a product of
imagination, because it lays the ground to an understanding of causality as a semiotic
tool that helps us make sense of what we perceive. Hume opens the door to a radically
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different perspective on causality, where it is not all about defining types of cause
or progressing in describing what causation between the object is in reality, but it is
about understanding how our mindand our various languagesis able to access
and come about the concept of causality. In this sense, the analysis of causation in his
Treatise of Human Nature is rather an epistemological work, addressing the question
of the possibility and limits of human knowledge and understanding, than a work of
metaphysics.
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we have a clear idea, and which is incompatible with those objects, to which we apply it,
obscurity and error begin then to take place, and we are led astray by a false philosophy.
This is the case, when we transfer the determination of the thought to external objects, and
suppose any real intelligible connexion betwixt them; that being a quality, which can only
belong to the mind that considers them. (Hume 1739, p. 122)
Said in other words, the necessary connexion is a quality which can only belong to
the mind and therefore assuming such a connexion ontologically between objects
is going across the limits of what we are able to know, and it is a false philosophy
because in doing so, what we know as a quality of the mind is projected onto objects
that are not minds. Still, Humean metaphysics does not pretend that causality does
not ontologically exists, and science can build many hypotheses about it, of which
some look sensible and effective ways for representing causal relations.
To summarize the turning introduced by Hume in the philosophical tradition,
one could say that his perspective on causality opens the way to the psychological
investigation of the epistemology of causality, an area of research focusing on its
origin, usage, functionality, and also the cognitive bias related to it. It opens many
interesting investigations about the way the concept of causality has been developed
within culture and how it is built through individual cognitive development, and
about the heuristic value and the relevance of the concept as a semiotic tool. Let us
have a quick tour of those investigations.
His findings are coherent with Humean causation, but Piaget prefers not to abandon
the idea of productive causation, of causal powers, even if he agrees that we have
no direct perception of such powers. Piaget is not satisfied with Humean causation,
because he thinks that Hume, when watching the billiard balls hitting each other, has
simply forgotten to look at the cue and the player hitting the ball. For Piaget, it is
being a player performing the action of hitting the ball that is responsible for our idea
that some constant conjunctions are producing effects while others are not. Thus,
Piaget wants to complement Humes explanation with the idea that causation does
not come from the mere observation of effects following regularly compound causes,
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but from the action regularly followed by effects. He considers nevertheless that the
feeling of power or efficacy that we can get from our own action is not directly
perceived, as holds Maine de Biran, but is a perceptive pre-inference, in other
terms an interpretation occurring during the perception. In Piagets epistemology, i.e.,
the constructivism, the world is not just made of objects or events, but of actions,
inextricable interactions between the subject and the object that transforms both
of them, and perception is not considered as being the automatic impression of
properties onto the mind, but is rather explicitly assumed as a judgment, including
the risk of bias but also the expertise of an observer that is much more active than in
Humean theory.
Research on the perception of causality (Michotte 1954; Andersson 1986, for
instance) supports Humes analysis. This research notably shows that someone assumes causality when watching a figure on a screen, for instance a square, moving
into one direction and stopping when it reaches another figure which, at the same
time, starts moving into the same direction. Most subjects of those experiments on
the perception of causality confirm seeing (more exactly interpreting while perceiving) that the movement of the first figure causes the movement of the second
figure, despite the fact that figures on a screen cannot cause any movement at all
(they are just light beams reflected on the surface of the screen, so to speak). To the
contrary of Humes previous criteria, the perception of causality is even resistant
to a certain distance between the two figures, contradicting the need for an exact
contiguity between cause and effect, despite the fact that there is no visible intermediary object or anything suggesting matter between the two. According to the
developmental psychologists (Rochat 2006), this attribution of causality based on
perception of movement builds up between 2 and 8 months of age.
I think that these experiments on the perception of causality illustrate what Hume
is expressing while saying when we consider these objects with the utmost attention,
we find only that the one body approaches the other. In addition, we can consider
that the situation is eventually the same for someone watching real objects as it is
for the subject of an experiment watching a screen: Whether they are figures on the
screen or real billiard balls, in both situations there are light beams reaching our
eyes and interpreted by our mind. Piaget has built upon those results to elaborate
his own definition of causality through the empirical work of his team on genetic
epistemology:
In other words, causality is a set of operations (operations are required indeed as causality is
cannot be directly observed but is always reconstructed inferentially) which are attributed to
these objects, which means they are not only used by the subject but conceived as corresponding to the real actions of objects one onto others. (Piaget 1974, p. 12, translated by the author)
Piaget provides example of experiments with mobiles attached to the cot, staging
what we would call today abductive reasoning of babies. The further development of
causality, according to Piaget, consists for the infant of a decentration from her/his
own action to actions between external objects, and later to the contextualization
of the relation of causality within space and, eventually, time. Still, what is particularly interesting in Piagets genetic epistemology is that causal relations are not
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different from logical-mathematical relations: They consist of the same relations, but
attributed to the object of the external world. His theory points out the coevolution
of those operations in terms of causalityapplied to external objectsand in terms
of mathematical or logical relationapplied to thoughts. Even if Piaget believed in
an ontological causality, his theory seems to require nothing more than a Humean
causality, once the passive observation of constant conjunction is replaced by the
active interaction of the child with the world, giving to the childs own actions and
operations the epistemological origin of the idea of causation.
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they immediately ask us (when they are put in conditions where they can express their
spontaneous reactions, of course). (Halbwachs 1975, p. 2627, translated by the author)
Put in other terms, Halbwachss point in the passage above means that if causality
(as a unified concept) can indeed be abandoned in achieved models of physics, and
replaced by precise nomological or structural explanations, causality still remains
indispensable for learning or elaborating such models. It is to say that causality may
be ontologically poorly relevant5 : It is nevertheless a useful semiotic tool, at least
for learning and elaborating such models of physics.
It is worth noting the consistency between Halbwachss position, grounded on
genetic epistemology, physics, and science education, and Russells idea that causality can be useful in the infancy of a science. More specifically, we could consider
causality useful for a domain or problem that has not yet reached the description of a
system allowing for nomological explanation. As that might be the doom of Human
Sciences, we can clearly see that Russells critique is far from taking causality out
of our toolbox for good. Indeed, we might not submit to the science the monologism
of Russell, where Human Science should develop nomological explanation like in
physics.
At least if we consider achieved physics models as representing the physical world, which correspond to a certain epistemology of science. There is, however, another epistemology of science
where models themselves do not represent anything, at least when achieved or constituted into
closed formal systems (Grize 1982). In this second epistemology, it is the process of elaborating
a model that ensures a certain fitting with the world.
6
It is easy to imagine how different the study and description of a process will be in physics from
educational sciences.
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This is why physicists rarely speak of causes (this is a significant fact that has often been
used wrongly as an argument against causality): they observe only laws, even if they
immediately try to explain them causally and even if, as it seems to be the case, it often the
search for a causal explanation that leads to discovering these laws.
This admitted, it is only easier (and this is not a paradox) to identify from where causality
starts: since a system of laws acquires a necessary nature as a system. This precision is by
the way obvious, because a law is never by itself necessary: it is more or less general, which
is not similar. For having necessity a system is required, thus deduction is required and we
agree with Meyerson on this, which is about the importance of deduction. (Bunge et al.
1971, p. 197, translated by the author)
Science education research shows that the learner moves from a simple causality,
being able only to consider a single cause linked to a single effect, to a more complex
causality involving either repetitions through time or multiple causes with a single
effect, multiple effects from a single cause, and more elaborated relation between
cooccurrence of causes such as interaction.
The development, from a simple causality to a complex causality, which is associated with
a multifunctional approach, requires learning at the level of specific knowledge, reasoning
and epistemology. (Tiberghien 2004, p. 99, translated by the author)
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Greek, the word means both cause and accusation, reproach8 , indicating
the original legal and moral value of the idea of cause, and possibly also the use as
an attribution directly aiming at someone. There are other languages where the same
proximity can be observed. Considering that the epistemological origin of the idea
of causality comes from the experience of our own actionwhich includes great
number of actions taking place in and about the social realmcausality is therefore at first applied to our own actions but also very soon to other peoples actions
and to people themselves (through the implicit theory of personality, for instance).
Viewed under this light, the conceptual proximity between causality and legal or
moral responsibility is nothing but surprising.
Hence, instead of considering the causal attribution in social cognition as a secondary use of a more global understanding of the world that would be naturally
causaland not a very happy use, since it is full of biaswe could consider the
social cognition as a primary domain of practice of causal attributions, from which
causality becomes progressively differentiated from a social responsibility. Following this thread of thought, when we are looking for causes in the world, or trying
to define causality, we would be intuitively trying to put our hands on a discrete
portion of the world (of the kind that we vaguely call event, or maybe a process or
a property of something) that is responsible for the effect were are interested in, and
to which we can attribute a causal role, to which we can attribute the responsibility
of our state of affair. This could explain some of the dissatisfaction with Humean
metaphysics, for instance, that it does not only say nothing about responsibility, but
even worse: Humean causation sends the responsibility back to the individual who
operates the attribution.
Causality is not just about causal powers being out there, in the space, or not. It is
also about social power, responsibility, accusation, and judgment. Let us remember,
as a last illustration of those important implications, the notion of scapegoat (Frazer
1922; Poliakov 1980): When something happens that is much out of control, be it
because it is too complex or simply because it is one of those things we have to deal
with, powerless, such as natural catastrophes, human being nevertheless most often
prefers to point out an innocent cause be it a person, in order to symbolically regain
the lost control, even if that entails heavy punishment for the designated victim.
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inferences, yet the whole problem of teaching is precisely that some of what we
take for granted has not been acquired, or at least is significantly different from the
adults beliefs. The risk, when it comes to causality, is therefore to project one or the
other of the numerous expert definitions of causality built throughout the history of
philosophy onto the human agent under study. Social psychology has been among
those sciences which projected the formal scientific methodhere the research of a
scientifically defined causality while analyzing the worldon the laypersons psychological functioning, in order to explain it. Heider (1958) for instance, considered
human subjects as nave statisticians, practising inferences like a scientist searching
for correlations and causes. Many other examples can be found, for example in the
various models of decision making, attributing to the layperson a calculating behavior that has more to do with the expert vision of Artificial Intelligence than with
the perspective of a layperson taking a decision in a real situation, as Gigerenzer
and Todd (1999) have since demonstrated, or in some developmental psychology
assuming a hypothetical mechanism of systematic analysis of regularities of events
in the surrounding world, projecting an expert statistical approach to knowledge onto
infants or children. My point here is not to make a list of the authors falling into such
bias, but only to give a few examples among many possible to clearly indicate what
I mean by the risk of attribution of an expert understanding of causalitywhichever
oneto the subject under study in the practice of human science.
Even if all those approaches are somehow following the Humean concept of
causality and share some good sense, there is a fundamental difference between
Hume argument and the projection of scientific method on everyones psychological
functioning. Hume demonstrated with his arguments that causality cannot be directly
perceived, and therefore we ground our notion of causalitywhatever this one ison
the observation of regularities. However, when a scientist who has developed a very
specific and quite advanced definition of causality for his research work, assumes that
this specific notion of causality grounds the cognitive functioning in general (whether
it is about adults analyzing the social world, people taking decision, or very young
children discovering their environment), this scientist is somehow returning Humes
reasoning back to front. Instead of demonstrating (or trying to) that we can ground a
philosophical or scientific work about causality on observations or experiments (with
the help of inference, the work of imagination in Humes terms), such a scientist
assumes the layperson to make use of a philosophically or scientifically defined
concept of cause while observing their environment.
In conclusion, if I agree that there is an inferential activity of a layperson or even
of a very young child, leading from observation to a sense of causality, as Hume first
described it, I nevertheless consider that this sense of causality is not theoretically
developed and therefore does not resemble the scientists concept of causality. There
are two reasons for this position: First, the understanding of causality developed in
different fields of research varies considerably from one to another. It is not by chance
that many social psychologists imagine the layperson using a statistical causality, as
the social psychology researchers themselves use this specific notion of causality,
while the cognitive scientists would rather imagine a subject building an intuitive
model made of boxes and arrows for taking decision, just like the expert models
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built in their academic field. Second, as we have seen throughout a few historical
landmarks, the various specific meanings of causality have been developed through
a long time span, and with the contribution of much hard work. It is still expected
that we will find new meanings encapsulated in the sense of causality, and this
book itself is very likely a step towards this development yet to come. Therefore,
attributing such precision of thought that is required for a conscious, formal, welldefined understanding of causality to anyoneincluding small childrenseems very
likely a cognitive bias rather than a finding.
Explanation in Sciences
Considering causality in depth raises the question of what a scientific explanation
is. If a physicist succeeds in building a law giving account of the observations, is he
really satisfied with it or does he also need a causal explanation to fulfill the need
for explanation? This question is too complex for a short answer, or maybe even for
any answer at all. There is nevertheless one interesting point to stress, which can be
considered as knowledge in the matter, coming both from history and philosophy
of science (Latour 1984, for instance) and empirical work in sociology of science
(Latour and Woolgar 1979, for instance), and sociocultural psychology in education
(Kovalainen and Kumpulainen 2007, for instance): What counts as an explanation
depends on the current state of research in a given scientific community. Applied to
our example in physics, the elaboration of a lawthe nomological explanation
might come as the achievement of a long process and replace previous causal explanations by relating them within a global system, and at the same time raise new
questionsformulated in terms of causalityabout a domain yet out of reach for
thought, which can themselves be integrated into a more general system as laws, suppressing the causal form and so on. Still, for many, the nomological explanation is
not the right thing to pursue in Human Science, a position that can be supported by a
causality specific to the actions of living organism of the higher orderto agency
of a fundamentally different kind than the causality at stake in physics, specified
for instance in concepts such as energy, gravitational forces, and entropy. Even if
we accept the possibility to reduce living organisms in their physical component
(the material cause, would say Aristotle), the description at a much higher level of
organizationat the level of a living system or even of a societyhas little to do
with what we can state of the physical particles, and therefore can require specific
concepts for explanation. It requires types of causes different from what physics
needs.
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and usage on the same level, without any normative selection referring to a more
adequate philosophical definition of causality. In addition, it allows distinguishing
the various meanings and their accuracy for various semiotic roles or aims in the
building of knowledge. Whatever causality is in realityit might not even exist as
Russell suggestedit is nevertheless a tool helping us to think, share our thoughts,
and interact successfully with the perceived world. And this is what we want it to be.
So far so good. Now that we have all this diversity laid on the table, so to speak, we
can seriously consider what causality as a semiotic tool allows us to do and what the
concept of catalysis can bring.
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Second,
complex causality can be approached with something like Mackies account (presented
earlier), which is to consider several causes each insufficient but all necessary for the effect
to take place; notions such as a trigger used in medical research would fit well in this
variant.
Third,
there is the systemic approach, including laws of physics, ecosystems in biology, some
multilevel retro-actions in Artificial Intelligence, and many other examples where causality
is systemic, in the sense that picking up singular causes in the system does not make sense
anymore: Causes are considered efficient in such a system only relationally to the other
causes and ultimately to the whole system.
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Elements of Definition
We are now equipped to consider contributing to a definition of catalysis. In the
previous publications about catalyst (Beckstead et al. 2009; Cabell 2010, 2011), it is
stated that catalyst is a necessary but not sufficient condition to aid, help, or even to
enable the production of novel meanings or the regulation of meanings. Cabell also
specifies that catalyst is not a cause as such. After our journey through the various
historical and conceptual definition of causality, we are now able to react to this
comment in a precise way.
When Cabell states that a catalyst is not a cause, I understand two general statements: First, it is not a cause in the sense that it is not necessary and sufficient for
producing (enabling and so on) the effect; second, it is not a cause in the sense that it is
a condition. The authors developing the concept of catalysis insist on the contextual,
the background nature of catalysis, as opposed to a foreground causality that stands
out of the expected usual course of things. This weight on the contextual aspectand
maybe the whole idea of introducing catalysiscomes from the deliberate aim to
have a concept for explanation that is not cutting out parts out of the complexity of
the real world:
Thus the notion of catalysis can be employed to understand how repeated and unique events
occur without reducing the complexity of life to more elemental parts. (Beckstead et al.
2009, p. 73)
See 2.5.
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The statement made here, I believe, is equally valid for any type of catalysis. Now,
we have seen earlier that for a system causality as such is not to be found in the
relationship between parts of the system anymore. If there is causality in a system,
the system as a whole is the only eligible cause. The relationships within the system
are nomological, whatever the kind of function (support, enabling . . .) they can be
described with, all causally dependent on the whole system.
Hence, we can double the statement that catalysis is not a cause with the fact that
catalysis is necessarily contained in a system. However, there is more to be said about
the system. It is, at least in chemistry, a practically isolated system, and when it fails
to be10 , the catalysis does not happen as expected. The system of the catalysis in
chemistry can be isolated because catalysis is one of those domain-specific specified
causality that can be precisely defined within the disciplineand therefore allow for
dropping the notion of causalityin such a way that some philosophers are ready to
bet that this is a clue of causal powers, or at least that there is a causal process taking
place. Without going back to the philosophical question, this perspective nevertheless
obliges us to look further into the description of the practically isolated system in
which we find the concept of catalysis. Indeed, a domain-specific specified causality
is not easily transported into another discipline: If we only grab the conceptas
a nomad conceptand leave the description of the system behind, I think that the
nomad concept will suffer from vagueness and ambiguity.
In chemistry, the system containing catalysis, considered broadly, entails at least:
A chemical reaction, which is the domain-specific, specified causal process.
An energy barrier or threshold that needs to be reached for the reaction to take
place.
Two reactants or more, which will be merged together at the end of the process.
An intermediate reaction or reactant, that only exists temporarily.
A catalyst, which will not be merged with the reactants at the end of the process,
but is a reactant for the intermediate reaction to take place.
This list is probably not perfect, and would require the help of experts in chemistry
for assessment. Anyway, the semiotic catalysis does not need to stick completely to
what catalysis is in chemistry. My point here is to stress that even if catalysis takes a
slightly different meaning in psychology, if it remains a concept specifying a process
within a practically isolated system like it does in chemistry, the semiotic catalysis
needs a description of that system, understood as a semiotic system or anything else
that would correspond to what the chemical reaction is in chemistry.
10
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Conclusion
We have seen two options for introducing catalysis: First, as a specification of causality and second, as a complementary concept to causality that plays a semiotic role
causality fails to.
11
Of course, only a look back on the data collected for this example would give the answer.
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A Specific Causality
Specifying the vague notion of cause (or condition) by introducing the concept of
semiotic catalysis contributes to move out of the infancy of a science, and can
convincingly take two lines of development: Firstly, catalysis can be part of a semiotic
system, itself causally determinant or not; secondly, it can be described as a domain
specific process within semiotics. The first option requires providing a clearer account
of the system in which a catalyst plays a role. The second requires to specify the
processthe equivalent of the chemical reactionfor which a catalyst plays a role,
the scale at which the process takes place, and the part that a catalyst takes in the
process.
References
Acevedo-Rocha, C. G., Yu, J. H., & kos, D. (2010). Entgrenzung: Transcending boundaries across
scientific disciplines. Arkha, 14, 22.
Andersson, B. (1986). The experential gestalt of causation: A common core to pupilspreconceptions
in science. European Journal of Science Education, 8(2), 155171.
Aristotle. (1989). Aristotel in 23 volumes (trans: Hugh Tredennick ed., Vol. 1718). London:
William Heinemann Ltd.
Beckstead, Z., Cabell, K. R., & Valsiner, J. (2009). Generalizing through conditional analysis:
Causality in the world of eternal becoming. Humana Mente, 11, 6580.
Bunge, M., Halbwachs, F., Kuhn, T. S., Piaget, J., & Rosenfeld, L. (1971). Les thories de la
causalit. Paris: PUF.
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Chapter 4
The term catalysis must be regarded as a foreign term in psychology. Just recently,
it has been introduced as a term describing constraining factors in human behaviour
(Beckstead et al. 2009). The motivation is primarily to emphasize the conditional
aspects of a process in which there are some constraining factors that are hard to specify (Cabell 2011). In this sense, catalysis connotes descriptive adequacy in the sense
that the term communicates some changes without specifying exactly what the cause
would be. Yet, catalysis has a very specific meaning in chemistry, where the catalyst
provides a mechanism to increase in the rate of a chemical reaction induced by
material unchanged chemically at the end of the reaction (http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/catalysis?show=0&t=1343969737).This definition tells us
that the catalyst is a material or an environment that influences a chemical reaction of which the catalyst is not to be regarded as a part. Accordingly, the catalyst
stands unchanged after the reaction, and the reaction could have happened anyway,
but not with the same intensity. According to this definition, a catalyst cannot explain
the reaction, and it is not to be regarded as a necessary part of the chemical reaction. The reaction is dependent on the two or more chemical substances that interact,
whereas the catalyst represents a foreign entity that has impact, but is not included,
and in this sense stands outside the chemical reaction.
To what extent a catalyst may have explanatory power in the process touches on
some intriguing questions embedded in the theory of science. In this respect, there
may be drawn a continuous line from a nontheoretical description placed at one
end, with causality given by necessity placed at the other. In between, we have all
nuances and combinations of descriptions and explanations in which the explanatory
factors belong to at least three different categories: (1) completely independent, (2)
dependent with sufficient reasons or (3) dependent given by necessity. Sometimes we
explain the rainy weather with the fact that we forgot to carry an umbrella. Although
everyone knows that there are no connections between those factors, we sometimes
accept the lack of an umbrella as an explanation for rainy weather. Murphys Law,
S. H. Klempe (!)
Department of Psychology, NTNU, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_4,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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S. H. Klempe
which says that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, is another example of the
first category. All statistics with significant results are accepted on the basis of being
just a sufficient reason and count as examples of the second category. Although most
of us do not see any bad consequences for our health by drinking a glass or two of wine
per week, many would say rather the opposite that the average alcohol consumption
in a population corresponding to two glasses of wine a week is statistically regarded
as a heavy burden for the average state of health, and it counts as a sufficient reason for
modesty among everyone. As an example of what we would attribute as a necessary
dependent, a drunken driver that steers a car directly into the face of a cliff is, by
necessity, regarded as the cause for the incident if no other obvious explanations are
to be found.
The role of density functional theory (Kohn 1998) in physics and chemistry may
pinpoint these examples. This theory is principally a theory of an atomic or molecular ground state (Parr andYang 1995, p. 702), which aims at modelling the electronic
structure and nuclear position in which many and different bodies and materials are
involved. Yet, in chemistry, this theory is applied as an explanatory model for the
role of the catalyst (Parr and Yang 1995; see also Davison and Sulston 2006). In
one respect, the atomic and molecular ground state of the catalyst has an impact
on the chemical reaction. Thus, the density functional theory may have a kind of
explanatory power in the sense that the atomic and molecular ground state may predict the metals catalytic impact on a specified chemical reaction. Yet, on the other
hand, we are still talking about a catalyst, which stands outside and is in itself left
untouched by the chemical process. This implies that the catalyst has impact, and
can partly be regarded as a cause for the intensity of the chemical reaction, but not for
the chemical reaction itself, which occurs between the materials that actually do go
through a chemical transformation and end up being something different from what
they were before the reaction. As long as the catalyst does not go through the same
kind of transformation and is not affected by the chemical reaction, it is relevant
to talk about function instead of cause when it comes to the role of a catalyst,
which the namedensity functional theoryalso explicitly indicates. In the beginning, therefore, functional explanation could loosely and broadly be sketched as a
situation in which the effect alone is regarded as the cause. The metal applied as a
catalyst is defined as a catalyst solely because of the effect it has, and the metal itself
is not necessarily an object for further investigations.
Functions in Mathematics
Catalysis, therefore, is highly related to functional explanations, and in this respect,
the problem and potentiality of the process of catalysis may be regarded as transferable to several fields in which functions have been focused on. Even in mathematics,
functions play an important and almost inevitable role. Here, function is very much
understood in terms of two or more variables associated with each other in a more or
less strict sense. A directory may serve as an example: a given name (x) is assigned
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to a certain number (y), which implies that a directory consists of the two sets A
(names) and B (telephone numbers) related to each other in terms of an assignment
(f). In this sense, a telephone number is given as a function of x, which is mathematically expressed by the symbols: f(x). Thus, a function in mathematics does not
imply any necessary relationship between the two sets. They are, strictly speaking,
rather independently assigned to each other by rules that are conventionally given or
defined more or less ad hoc. A function indicates a not very strict or rather unnecessary connection between some data and the outcome derived from them. This is also
why probability is mathematically expressed by a function of the data (x): P(x); the
likely outcome from the given data is rather suggested than given by necessity.
Functions in Biology
In Darwinistic biology, on the other hand, function is rather conversely understood.
The process of natural selection is regarded as decisive and given by necessity because
it includes and presupposes cause and effect. Although Darwin refers to functionality
in an organism, he does not present an extensive definition of functional explanations
in biology (Darwin 1859). The core aspect of functional explanation in biology is
primarily related to natural selection (Darwin 1859; Elster 1979). Consequently, the
only source of innovations and changes is provided by randomly given mutations.
This implies that genetic dispositions are regarded as the only cause for development
and that causality goes just in one direction, i.e. from the parents to the offspring.
Thus, the function does not count as the cause for a certain capacity in the organism,
but rather as a mechanism for selection. The function of the achieved capacity is
tested against the environment, which determines if the acquired capacity gives the
organism the best chance of surviving (Darwin 1859, Chap. 4, p. 1). There are
primarily two reasons for why a cat is good at seeing in the dark: a mutation caused
this at a certain stage in its development and this capacity made it easier for the cat
to catch food and therefore to survive. Neither of these factors can be regarded as
functional explanations but rather as outcomes of causes and effects. One cause is
the mutation and the other is the capacity to see in the dark. This capacity has a
specified cause and is therefore given by necessity, and the function or the effect of
the capacity is to be regarded as an inevitably determining factor for the organisms
ability to survive.
Functions in Psychology
The Darwinian perspective on development and causality was adopted by psychology
quite early. As William James refers to Darwin in his famous paper on emotions from
1884: The labours of Darwin and his successors are only just beginning to reveal
the universal parasitism of each special creature upon other special things, and the
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way in which each creature brings signature of its special relations stamped on its
nervous system with it upon the scene (James 1884, p. 190 f.). Ten years later,
John Dewey aimed to combine the JamesLange theory of emotion with Darwins
principles: In the following pages I propose, assuming Darwins principles as to
the explanation of emotional attitudes, and the James-Lange theory of the nature of
emotion, to bring these two into some organic connection with each other (Dewey
1894, p. 553). Functional explanations in psychology are therefore highly associated
with William James and American psychology. Yet, there are a lot of questions to
pose in this respect. As we have seen so far, if functional explanations shall be
subsumed under one paramount definition, it must be very vague and broad because
an abundance of varieties that may even contradict each other have to be included.
The complicating factor is, of course, to what extent a function is to be regarded as a
sufficient or necessary condition to be a reason, or if a function can be regarded as a
reason at all. There is inevitably a teleological aspect of a function, and teleological
explanations have been hard to justify during the last centuries. Another complicating
factor is the philosophical background of William James, which is tightly connected
to the American pragmatism. As Charles Sanders Peirce formulated the pragmatic
thesis, scientific understanding is primarily related to the conceivable effects, which
implies that the understanding of causality is dependent on our conception of the
matter (Peirce 1878/1986). This philosophy is probably not so easy to combine with
Darwinism as long as it includes strong causality as a prerequisite, and Peirce does
not exactly embrace Darwin (Peirce 1878/1986).
Catalysis in psychology must also be assessed on this background. In a chemical
reaction, catalysis has a function in the sense that it has demonstrable effect on
the reaction, but it is not a part of the chemical reaction itself. In this respect, a
catalyst has a function and is explained in terms of its function. Moreover, it must
be regarded as a sufficient reason for moderating the reaction, but it is definitely not
a necessary reason for the reaction. Thus, when the term catalysis is transformed
into psychology, it has to be regarded in these perspectives. The connecting point
is, first of all, the extensive use of functional explanations in both sciences. Yet,
the crucial issue is that functional explanations in psychology may refer to very
different forms of explanations. On the one hand it is referred to Darwinism in which
function forms a certain type of necessary condition, yet in chemistry, on the other
hand, function is rather applied as a sufficient condition for increasing the chemical
reaction. However, it may be that when the term function is applied in psychology,
it satisfies neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for an explanation. If this third
alternative is correct, is it then possible to talk about an explanation at all?
This is exactly the question this chapter aims to pursue. First of all, we have to
go deeper into the nature of functional explanations. Then, we have to investigate
the relationship between necessary and sufficient conditions and reasons. However,
conditions are used here in a logical sense and refer to the relationships between
statements, whereas reasons are related to empirical matters. When we talk about a
bachelor, an unmarried man counts as a necessary condition for the concept; however,
to find a man that is actually unmarried is a necessary reason for having found a
bachelor. This chapter primarily deals with explanations, which include empirical
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matters, and hence, it will rather be referred to reasons than conditions because
the latter requires obvious logical necessity. Therefore, the criteria for sufficient
reason have to be specified, which is probably not only the most challenging but
also a crucial issue in this investigation. On this background, we are hopefully
able to present a nuanced but specified variety of functional explanations. On this
background, there will be a need for a discussion about functionalism in psychology
on the basis of a nuanced taxonomy of functional explanations. This discussion will
hopefully sort out distinctions between the different appearances of functionalism in
psychology. Admittedly, if we find appearances of functional aspects that may count
as a sufficient reason in psychology, these examples would be sufficient to conclude
that the term catalysis may be meaningful in psychology as well.
Functional Explanations
In a discussion about explanations, Aristotles four different causes: (1) matter,
(2) form, (3) effect and (4) final are inevitable. Yet, these four types of causes discussed in his book Physics are not the only aspects he is introducing when it comes
to explanations. To explain a phenomenon is regarded as one of the main duties of
a philosopher, so in this sense, all his books aim at explaining the issues they are
discussing. Nevertheless, the four causes he is mentioning in Physics demonstrate
to a great extent his understanding of the variety of explanations that may exist and
that the causes can not only be systematized in a rational way but also challenge
our modern understanding. All those three aspects concerning variety, irrationality
and modern perspectives on explanations are important to take into account in a
discussion about explanations, and not least when we read Aristotles four types of
explanations:
In one sense, then, (1) that out of which a thing comes to be and which persists, is called
cause, e.g. the bronze of the statue, the silver of the bowl, and the genera of which the
bronze and the silver are species.
In another sense (2) the form or the archetype, i.e. the statement of the essence, and its
genera, are called causes (e.g. of the octave the relation of 2:1, and generally number),
and the parts in the definition.
Again (3) the primary source of the change or coming to rest; e.g. the man who gave advice
is a cause, the father is cause of the child, and generally what makes of what is made and
what causes change of what is changed.
Again (4) in the sense of an end or that for the sake of which a thing is done, e.g. health
is the cause of walking about (Why is he walking about? we say. To be healthy, and,
having said that, we think we have assigned the cause). The same is true also of all the
intermediate steps which are brought about through the action of something else as means
towards the end, e.g. reduction of flesh, purging, drugs, or surgical instruments are means
towards health. All these things are for the sake of the end, though they differ from one
another in that some are activities, others instruments. (Aristotle 1990a, Book II, part 3)
This perhaps exhausts the number of ways in which the term cause is used.
There are no references to functional explanations in this summary. On the other
hand, there are two forms of explanations that rather challenge the modern mind.
This is the second and the fourth. We can accept number one because from a logical
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point of view, we will admit that the material counts as a necessary condition for
making something and that the quality of what we have made is highly dependent
on the material it is made of. This is also true when it comes to the third explanation.
According to the modern way of thinking, this is even the ideal type of cause, and
probably the only acceptable as well. What we have problems with accepting are the
form and finality as causes. The former is hard to accept because it mirrors a kind
of platonic world in which the ideal type of everything already exists, and the latter
because it presupposes a sort of purpose behind every event in the world.
Aristotle does not mention functions or functional explanations in the presentation above. However, in Metaphysics, he brings the term function in his
explanation of the four causes. The same thing may have all the kinds of causes,
e.g. the moving cause of a house is the art or the builder, the final cause is the function it fulfils, the matter is earth and stones, and the form is the definition (Aristotle
1990b, Book III, part 1). Aristotle associates finality or the teleological cause with
function. Thus, the term function is in this example directly related to the builder
of the house and his ideas about it because of the function it is supposed to have.
There is a big overlap between the way Aristotle introduces the term function and
the intentions the craftsman may have by building the house. This is probably also
the reason why we very often find an unspecified use of functional explanations in
psychology, in which intentional causes also may be included (de Jong 2003). This
understanding of functional explanation rather contradicts the biological use of it,
which assumes a blind and unintended mutational process as a prerequisite.
This confusion can also be regarded from the perspective that the conditions for
Aristotle talking about causation and causality are very different from our comprehension today. This is what Heidegger is focusing on in his discussion about The
question concerning technology (Heidegger 1977): For centuries philosophy has
taught there are four causes: (1) the causa materialis, the material, the matter out
of which, a silver chalice is made; (2) the causa formalis, the form, the shape into
which the material enters; (3) the causa finalis, the end, for example the sacrificial
rite in relation to which the chalice required is determined as to its form and matter;
(4) the causa efficiens, which brings about the effect that is the finished, actual
chalice, in this instance, the silversmith (Heidegger 1977, p. 6.). Heidegger is questioning our understanding of the term cause, which is not a Greek but a Latin word.
According to Heidegger, the term used by Aristotle is aition, that to which something else is indebted (Heidegger 1977, p. 7). Here, Heidegger applies the German
term Schuld and verschulden, which may be associated with cause, but rather
means to be responsible for something or even guilty. Heideggers point is that
our modern one-sided emphasize on causa efficiens as a mechanical and blind cause
does not correspond to the Aristotelian understanding. If we take a new look at how
Aristotle formulated this cause in his Physics, Heidegger is right. The one who has
given an advice, or is the father of the child, is rather the one to be blamed (or maybe
rather priced) than to be regarded as a unintended cause for the outcome.
Heidegger has a certain agenda for this discussion. Yet, the agenda is ambiguous.
On the one hand, he is the one to praise modernity in terms of the age that has introduced subjectivism and individualism (Heidegger 1977, p. 128). Yet, according to
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Heidegger, the original Greek term for subjectivity, hypokeimenon, has nothing to
do with the self-centred I, but rather means: Man becomes that being upon which all
that is, is grounded as regards the manner of its Being and its truth. Man becomes the
relational centre of that which is as such (Heidegger 1977, p. 128). This is the basis
for his philosophy and the ontology he develops in his main thesis Being and Time
from 1927, and highlights first of all subjectivity and existence, and in this sense, it
is an acceptance of subjectivity as a salient trait of modernity. Yet, on the other hand,
modernity is also characterized by another aspect in the sense that no age before this
one has produced a comparable objectivism (Heidegger 1977, p. 128). Although
he admits that this tension between subjectivism and objectivism must be taken into
account in a discussion about modernity, his investigation of the role of technology in
modernity indicates something else. His discussion about the four causes of Aristotle
reveals this. He wants to emphasize that causa efficiens is not to be understood as
an objective or neutral cause, but rather as a subjective form of explanation. This is
a distinction that can be illustrated by the phi phenomenon. If we have two lights
placed at a certain distance from each other and they are alternately turned on and
off in a certain tempo, the light is experienced as one source moving back and forth,
whereas the two lights are in reality standing still. The cause is attributed to one or
two sources of light. Heidegger would say that the two-light source attribution is also
a subjective form of explanation.
This critique of modern science is important, but it also demonstrates a problem
in Heideggers philosophy. Although he acknowledges that objectivism is a characteristic of modernity, he has problems with accepting it because according to him,
subjectivity is to be regarded as the only basis for a modern ontology. The same can be
traced in the writings of another critical scholar, namely the Wittgensteinian Stephen
Toulmin, who emphasizes that modernity is characterized by a transition from particularity to universality (Toulmin 1992). Both critics are important, yet they do not
take into account how to place the modern need for accuracy and strict reasoning, to
which the praise of a more mechanistic understanding of causa efficiens in science
is an example. It is exactly in this intersection between objectivism and subjectivism
or rather between strict and loose reasoning functional explanations are of interest.
They include both perspectives, almost at the same time. Thus, the challenge is first
of all to sort out when functional explanations can be said to be what.
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are not causal explanations (Fodor 1968, p. 233) and they give no information
whatsoever about the mechanisms underlying these [internal] states (Fodor 1968, p.
233). This type of explanation may be quite diverse and not very strict. In this sense,
the explanations may correspond with an indefinite number of hypotheses. However,
there is at least one criterion from which the explanation can be refuted, namely
when the explanation contradicts known facts, specifically in neurology, he says. In
this respect, it is sufficient to disconfirm a functional account of the behaviour of an
organism to show that its nervous system is incapable of assuming states manifesting
the functional characteristics that account requires (Fodor 1968, p. 235).
The latter quotation is interesting for several reasons. First of all, Fodor wants
to bring in some constraining factors that can discern functional explanations from
a type of anything goes theories. Yet, he admits that the demarcation criterion he
presents is highly disputable, and therefore he acknowledges that the criterion is
probably too strong, or maybe even wrong. A moderated version could therefore be
that if the explanation contradicts common sense, either among ordinary people or
scholars, the explanation has to be rejected. This implies anyway that there must
exist some criteria based on which some explanations can be refuted, and as far as
these criteria exist, each one of them will count as a sufficient reason for refuting the
explanation. This is not the same as saying that the theory is falsifiable in a logical
sense. The refutation can for example be based on a common sense decision made by
a certain group of stakeholders. However, this decision could also be derived from
obvious facts. Although both criteria may count as sufficient reasons for refuting the
theory, they have different statuses from a logical point of view. In the first case, the
refutation could, for example, be based on good consciencewhat a group regards as
reasonable or not. This type of refutation could be a consequence of some practical,
religious or even juridical reasons. These can all be compelling, but not for logical
reasons. Thus, from a logical point of view, a refutation on this background is not
given by necessity. A refutation derived from obvious facts on the other hand is given
by necessity for logical reasons (Hempel 1966):
H0 : Catalysts do not have any effect on the disproportionation of hydrogen
peroxide to water and oxygen;
As the evidence shows: Added manganese dioxide makes that hydrogen peroxide
reacts rapidly;
H0 is not true.
In other words, in the case of catalysis, the catalyst counts more as a sufficient
reason given by necessity, compared with a refutation based on some sort of agreements. The aspect of necessity is, in other words, rather related to a question about
degrees than a question about eitheror. The reason is that the hypothesis (H0 ) and
the observed situation are two incomparable spheres given by thinking and sensation, respectively. This points at the problem with both falsification and verification,
specifically that the general hypothesis and the particular observation will never coincide, and a hypothesis can neither be completely confirmed nor completely refused.
The traditional argument against falsification, which says that there is an infinite
amount of hypotheses that can be related to and therefore explain an event can also
be applied to confirmations. If one hypothesis is rejected or confirmed, there are
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still an infinite number of hypotheses left because infinity minus one, or even minus
thousands, still equals infinity. The hypothesis that is not falsified is not necessarily
more correct than the other that is falsified. However, when it comes to statements
belonging to each one of the two spheres, they are comparable individually. One
fact may contradict the other, and because of the principle of contradiction, we have
to choose one or the other. The same is true for theories as long as they contradict;
then we have to make a choice. The same is also true when different theories are
both confirmed. The rule is often that we choose the simplest one, which is solely
a pragmatic criterion. Thus, this choice can be made on different bases, and the
point here is that we experience an explanation as more or less likely owing to its
level of necessity, but sometimes a low level of necessity is sufficient for accepting
the explanation. This is what happens when we choose the simplest theory or when
Murphys Law is applied, for example.
Fodors presentation of functional explanations demonstrates the same fact,
specifically that explanations may be of a great variety and represent different degrees
of likeliness. According to him, they are understood very widely, and he does not
make any distinction between different types either. Thus, functional explanations
are close to a category that may be labelled as anything goes. There may exist
some constraining factors that can narrow this down, and if so, these may serve as
sufficient reasons for refutation. Yet, the reasons Fodor presents are not given by
necessity, but rather given by common sense based on certain beliefs or values. In
this respect, Fodors presentation of functional explanations has not made us wiser
when it comes to functional explanations given by necessity. This is probably why
some rather refer to functional analysis than functional explanations. According
to Cummins, functional analysis is the application of property analysis to dispositions/capacities (Cummins 1983, p. 28), which in science implies the following: to
ascribe a function to something is to ascribe a capacity to it that is singled out by its
role in an analysis of some capacity of a containing system (Cummins 1983, p. 28).
In other words, nothing is given by necessity in a functional analysis. The researcher
has to define the role of a capacity owing to an unspecified context. In this respect,
functional analysis is referring to a quite loose understanding of the effect as an explanation of the cause. Yet, this type of explanation is not only characterising Fodors
discussion of functional explanations but also seems to be a proper understanding of
functionalism in general: an unspecified direction of causality in which both the
effect may explain the cause and the cause may explain the effect.
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Schopenhauer
In this respect, every decision is based on a certain reason, which is regarded by
someone to be sufficient to say that it is both reasonable and meaningful. This is
very much the foundation for the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer to build a complete philosophy on the principle of sufficient reason. In his terms, this principle is
formulated quite simply as Nothing is without a reason for its being (Schopenhauer 1903, p. 5). Although Schopenhauer has been accused for not being a very
83
reliable philosopher, his method for investigating this principle is highly relevant in
this context. As the foundation of his method, he applied what he calls the law of
homogeneity and the law of specification (Schopenhauer 1903, p. 1). These two
laws, or rather strategies we may say, imply that it is important to highlight and
specify distinctions between phenomena. However, this does not stand in opposition
to the fact that the phenomena are to be regarded as related to each other in a certain
way, like in nature, where exemplars are collected into species, species into genera,
and so on (Schopenhauer 1903, p. 1). These two laws, which more or less guide the
intellectual activity, make the discussion sensitive to distinctions and connections at
the same time. Yet, the principle of sufficient reason is a principle that emphasizes
the latter, namely connections, but opens up for the former, namely distinctions.
The four reasons Schopenhauer ended up with, specifically becoming, knowing, being and willing, could have been relevant in this context, but not at this
stage of the discussion. The same is true when it comes to both Leibnizs and Wolffs
use of the principle of sufficient reason. When it comes to these three philosophers,
they are applying the principle as a basis for their ontology, although Wolff admits
that there is a psychological need for bringing in a sufficient reason to explain a
certain act or behaviour (Wolff 2005, 70 ff.). In other words, the principle of sufficient reason is regarded as an overall principle that provides (1) logical inferences,
(2) explanations in natural sciences, (3) explanations in humanities and (4) a general
understanding of something. Accordingly, keeping in mind Schopenhauers method
by regarding this in terms of the laws of homogeneity and specificity, we may find
out if there are any distinctions and concurrences here.
On this background, we may conclude that there are at least three different types
of reasons. The first one is (1) necessary reasons, out of which the most obvious
appearances are connected to causality in physics, specifically theoretical physics.
Gravity is theoretically regarded as a necessary condition for the fact that the apple
will fall to the ground if the stem detaches from the branch. The second and third
would be the two different types of sufficient reasons. One is (2) sufficient reason
given by necessity. This is best exemplified by the catalysts role in a chemical
reaction. The catalyst is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for having a
chemical reaction, but it is sufficient for enforcing and intensifying the reaction. The
catalyst is a sufficient reason by necessity because it always enforces and intensifies
the chemical reaction by its presence, but as there may be other metals or aspects (like
temperature, certain wave frequencies in the air or in the water etc.) that can provide
the same catalytic effect, it is not a necessary condition. The last type of reason is
just (3) sufficient reason, which is an open principle, whose purpose is to provide
an understanding of a situation or an event based on the statement that Nothing is
without a reason for its being. All these three types of reasons share some similarities
in the sense that they define the conditions for our understanding and consequently
belong to a common category. In this respect, the law of homogeneity covers them.
Yet, on the other hand, they are in principle quite different and operate on different
levels of precisions, which make them also to be covered by the law of specificity
(Table 4.1).
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Type of explanation
Characteristics
1
2
Causal (mechanical)
Functional
3
4
Intentional
Catalysis
5
6
Functionalism
Understanding
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relationship between cause and effect. This is a crucial distinction because a common
sense understanding of a scientific explanation is that the connection between cause
and effect is to be specified. However, what this investigation has demonstrated so
far is that catalysis is a type of explanation in natural science that operates with
an unspecific connection between cause and effect. Yet, this is not sensational in
natural science. As long as theoretical complementarity is applied, like when light
is understood both as a sort of wave and a sort of particle at the same time, the
understanding of light as such is still an open question. However, this is no problem
in practice. We can still find out the distances to stars by treating the light as waves,
and we can analyse the lights energy by treating it as if it consists of particles. In this
respect, there are unspecified connections between cause and effect, but we accept
this as the understanding of light anyway. This is why all the six types have to be
included as scientific explanations.
If we now compare the six different types of explanations with the three different
types of reasons, we may hopefully end up with an increased specification of the
explanations. This will tell us the explanations level of precision as well. Although a
(1) causal explanation is not as applicable as we would like it to be, there is no doubt
that it represents the strictest type of understanding with a high level of precision in
those cases where it occurs. This type of explanation satisfies both necessary reasons
and sufficient reasons given by necessity. Gravity is both a necessary and a sufficient
reason for the fact that the apple will fall to the ground if the stem is detached from
the branch: without gravity, the apple will not fall.
When it comes to (2) functional explanations it is not that easy to put it into a proper
category. Yet we have already made a distinction between functional explanations
and functionalism. This implies that functional explanations have to be reserved to
how it is applied in biology in terms of natural selection. Because of the presentation
given in this chapter, causality forms the basis also in functional explanations in the
sense that mutations represent the cause for why a certain organism has obtained
beneficial properties. These properties may also not be beneficial for the organism,
and if so, the organism will become extinct. In this sense, a functional explanation
presupposes blindness in the sense that it is not the end that explains the survival of
a species, but a random occurrence of a mutation combined with a randomly given
environment. This blindness presupposes, of course, an abundance of individuals,
which is certainly the situation for some species, but not necessarily for all. For this
reason, Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini (2011) accuse Darwinism for committing an
intentional fallacy by stating, evolution is a process in which creatures are selected
for their adaptive traits (p. xvii) on the basis that evolution is a process in which
creatures with adaptive traits are selected (Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini 2011,
p. xvii). In other words, the fact that some species by necessity have developed
beneficial characteristics by means of random mutations and natural selection does
not imply that all species by necessity have developed beneficial characteristics solely
by random mutations and natural selection. There may be several other explanations,
and the condition, specifically the necessary abundance of individuals, may not have
existed. In this sense, the causality in functional explanations is not to be regarded as
a necessary condition given by necessity in all cases but still appears as a sufficient
reason given by necessity in those situations in which it is reasonable to be applied.
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87
political system had to be approved by King Oscar II, and he was rather reluctant
to this reform. In this sense, the king could have been a sufficient reason by necessity, but Johan Sverdrups resistance caused him to not be one. Several individuals
and the whole Norwegian population contributed to force the king to approve, and
in this sense, almost each individual within the Norwegian borderlines contributed
to this, but we do not have any records telling us what each one of them actually
contributed. The whole Norwegian population therefore represented a sort of reason
for why the king was forced, but it is more diffuse. Therefore, the pressure from the
whole Norwegian population was sufficient to make a change, but it is hard to specify
exactly how there should be a connection between each individuals opinion and the
kings decision. In other words, by being nicknamed The father of Parliamentarism
in Norway, Johan Sverdrup was regarded as a sufficient reason without being the
only reason for the political change. In this sense, he was an important factor, and
probably the most important factor along with a lot of other unspecified factors, like
the peoples will for example. Because of all the other factors, but Sverdrup as the
most specific, Sverdrup could be regarded as a sufficient reason, but not in a strict
sense and therefore without logical necessity.
Some similar aspects are also recognizable when we talk about (4) catalysis.
According to the density functional theory, the catalysts impact on the chemical
reaction may be explainable. What is recognizable is the fact that the catalyst is a
third and not so definable part in the chemical process. In this sense, the catalyst
counts as a sufficient reason for making the reaction stronger and more efficient. The
certain metal applied is not necessary but rather sufficient because there may be other
metals or even other factors that will trigger the same type of reaction. The same could
be said about the process of decision-making in the earlier example from Norwegian
history, namely that a certain individual takes the decision, but there would be a lot
of other factors that have influenced upon it. In this respect, the individual would be
the direct cause to the decision made, but very often it would have been triggered
by a lot of different factors, like colleagues, as well as quite peripheral factors like
a certain mood or whatever. Yet, these factors would represent a great variety and
are quite unpredictable in the sense that it would be impossible to decide which of
those two factors that actually set off the certain decision on exactly that day. Hence,
the psychological situation is analogous to the chemical situation in some respects,
but not in all. The difference is of course that it is hard to decide which factor that
appeared as the compelling force triggered the very decision. The reason is that the
factors involved are human beings, and each one of them has a free will that can go
in different directions. The same is true for the decision-maker as well, of course.
One may narrow down the environment, but the unpredictability will still be there
because the individuals have free wills, which make the situation very different from
a chemical process.
On this background, catalysis may refer to two separable situations. One is in
chemistry, in which a specified metal or circumstance has a demonstrable impact on
a certain chemical reaction. In this situation, the catalyst counts as a sufficient reason
for making the chemical reaction stronger and more efficient. It is also predictable in
the sense that by bringing in this metal or factor, the chemical reaction will always be
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intensified. The other situation may also appear in chemistry in the sense that there
may be different catalysts and factors that can trigger a specified chemical reaction,
which does not appear without the catalysts. In this situation, we do not know exactly
the causal sequences in the sense that the catalysts seem to represent a type of cause,
although they are untouched at the end of the chemical process. In this sense, the
catalyst can rather be regarded as a constraining factor in which the causal sequences
are highly unclear, but still count as an explanation for the efficiency of the process.
This is a situation that can be comparable with a psychological situation, like in
decision-making as mentioned. However, these two situations are still discernible in
the sense that the first situation indicates that the catalyst is a sufficient reason given
by necessity, whereas the other is a sufficient reason not given by necessity.
What is called (5) functionalism is of a very different type of explanation. We
actually do not know very much about the causal sequences, and if we are able to
trace some, there must certainly be many others as well. Thus, the only thing we can
deal with is the effect and not the cause itself. As may be obvious, these represent
a group of explanations that are neither logically nor intellectually fully satisfying.
We nonetheless accept them as a type of sufficient reason, but not in a logical way. In
this context, the term sufficient reason given by necessity is reserved for a situation
in which the reason is given as if it is by logical necessity: A by necessity always
implies B, but B does not by necessity always imply A. So when the reason is not
given by necessity, we are not dealing with reasons as result of logical inferences, but
rather with reasons as a psychological need, so to speak. This is the need for making
meaning out of an situation and this is what Ernst Cassirer calls mythical thinking,
which has a free selection of causes at its disposal (Cassirer 1955, p. 46). Yet,
according to Cassirer, this does not contradict the empirical thinking, which makes
an unequivocal relation between specific causes and specific effects (Cassirer
1955, p. 46) in the sense that empirical thinking also is a sort of mythical thinking :
Thus taken abstractly, both the mythical and the scientific explanations of the world
are dominated by the same kinds of relation: unity and multiplicity, coexistence,
contiguity and succession (Cassirer 1955, p. 60). However, thinking in causes
and effects is different from a pure mythical thinking, and they represent different
aspects in our understanding of the world. It is also a requirement to make distinctions
between different forms of understanding the world, to exactly obtain different sorts
of meaning. On this basis, it is meaningful to make a clear distinction between
(2) functional explanations and (5) functionalism. Yet, owing to the two laws of
specificity and homogeneity, they neither exclude each other nor appear as identical.
They have different forms in the sense that the mechanical cause and effect is more
closely related to the logical notion of necessity, whereas the latter has a free selection
of causes at its disposal and is detached from any logical criteria of necessity.
On this background, it is interesting to quickly again bring in the retrospective
look at some aspects of the appearance of functionalism and functional explanations
in the history of psychology. So far, functional explanations are narrowed down and
are to be defined in terms of natural selection as it is presented in Darwinism. Thus,
the conclusion in this chapter is to make a distinction between functionalism and
Darwinism. If we go back to the one that is regarded as the founder of functionalism
in psychology, namely James Rowland Angell, we will see that he did not make any
distinctions between functionalism and Darwinism: functional psychology [. . .]
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has been increasingly in evidence since Spencer wrote his Psychology and Darwin
his Origin of Species (Angell 1907, p. 62). By referring to the Origin of Species,
he is referring to the mechanism of natural selection and specifically functional
explanations. Yet, this is not specified, like it is not in James1884 article on emotions
either. On the one hand, James also talks about Darwin as the one who has presented
a universal understanding of development (James 1884, p. 190 f.), but on the other
hand, he is also referring to Darwins work on emotions (James 1884, p. 190; Darwin
2009). Those two works of Darwin must be said to be different in the sense that
the latter does not discuss natural selection, but rather focus on bodily forms of
expressions as a basis for explaining emotions. This is the aspect John Dewey was
pursuing when he aimed at bringing Darwins principles as to the explanation of
emotional attitudes, and the James-Lange theory of the nature of emotion [. . .] into
some organic connection with each other 10 years later (Dewey 1894, p. 553).
This connection is more or less fulfilled in Deweys discharge theory of emotions,
which tells us something about the relationship between functionalism and functional
explanations. My proposition at this point is that the phenomena referred to the
principle of direct nervous discharge (the response to an idiopathic stimulus) are
cases of the failure of habitual teleological machinery, through some disturbance in
one or more of the adjusted members of the habit (Dewey 1894, p. 560). In other
words, the inhibition in achieving intended goal is producing emotions, which are
expressed in a bodily reaction. This includes, by necessity, some teleological aspects.
Yet, the teleology in this situation is to be defined in terms of certain intentions. In
other words, functionalism in this situation does not include efficient causes, like we
found in functional explanations, but rather intentional causes.
In this retrospective perspective also behaviourism is interesting in the sense
that especially B.F. Skinner referred quite frequently to Darwin (Skinner 1976).
Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini (2011) make a great point out of the coincidences
between Darwinism and the theory of operant conditioning : In fact the two theories
are virtually identical: they propose essentially the same mechanisms to compute
essentially similar functions under essentially identical constraints (p. 3). They
continue: both are about how traits in a population change over time in response
to environmental variables (p. 5). They both also deny mental causes, and in this
respect Darwin was right [. . . but] Skinner was wrong (p. 13). It is in this respect
Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini can state that Skinner commits an intensional (with an
s) fallacy. Skinner presupposes a separation of behaviour and intentions and regards
them as independent entities, whereas they are in fact two sides of the same coin and
cannot be separated at all. When it comes to behaviour, it is completely dependent on
intentions, and in this respect, it is explained by mental causes. Fodor and PiattelliPalmarini endeavour to persuade the reader that Darwin also committed the same
fallacy. Yet, the argument is not as strong and persuasive, although their arguments
make sense because the theory of natural selection presupposes an abundance of
individuals to create favourable mutations, and it is not very likely that they can be
traced back to the development of higher primates. This does not logically exclude
the possibility of natural selection as an explanation for the existence of these species
though.
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Conclusions
The aim of this chapter was to investigate to what extent catalysis can serve as an
explanatory term in psychology. The conclusion is that catalysis in chemistry has
to be regarded as something different from catalysis in psychology. Yet, the term
can also be used in psychology, but if so, it refers to something else than what is
referred to in chemistry. The difference is based on a nuanced understanding of
sufficient reasons, which is used in two different meanings in the literature. On
the one hand there is a logical understanding of sufficient reason, which implies
that by sufficiency a specified reason is given by necessity. On this background,
one may say that catalysis in chemistry forms a sufficient condition for enhancing
the chemical reaction, whereas catalysis in psychology rather counts as a sufficient
reason without any compelling factors given by necessity. In this respect, there are
no clear differences between the use of catalysis and functionalism in psychology.
Several philosophers have applied sufficient reason in a not so strict meaning to
have a criterion for meaningful explanations. One of them is Schopenhauer. His
law of specificity was applied to make distinctions between the explanations and
the criteria applied to specify them. The distinction between sufficient reason and
sufficient condition is one of them. Similarly, the law of homogeneity was also
applied, not only for saying that there is a connection between sufficient reason and
sufficient condition but also to make a connection between the different explanations.
Thus, there is a continuous line between the explanations and their reasons, which
also results in overlaps between them. Therefore, catalysis in psychology must be
understood in this perspective, which makes that it may appear as a metaphor as well
as that it adequately explains influences circumstances and situations may have on
individuals or a group of people.
This is a sort of connection, which was also traced between functionalism and
functional explanations. Functionalism was brought in because the process of catalysis is normally explained in terms of the functions of the catalyst. Yet, it was
demonstrated that functionalism could be distinguished from functional explanations in biology and intentional explanations in social sciences and humanities. The
latter two forms of explanations are more strict and specified in the sense that it
is possible to trace and pursue the parts in a series of causes. This is not the case
in functionalism, which is rather a way to make meaning out of something that is
not characterized by an explicit and traceable causal sequence, and therefore is very
close to a general understanding. Hence, when catalysis is applied in psychology,
it is primarily used in the latter meaning, which is a situation where there are some
constraining factors, but where the causal sequence is impossible to specify. On this
background, we have dealt with six different forms of explanations and evaluated
them in terms of sufficient reason, sufficient reason given by necessity and necessary reason. This can be illustrated in a table in which the X will show which
forms of explanations are satisfying which criteria (Table 4.3).
The brackets signify that the explanation just partly satisfies the criterion of being
a necessary reason. This emphasizes the problems with putting these terms into
such strict categories as the table represent. Because the terms are rather empirical
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X
X
X
(X)
Necessary reason
X
X
X
(X)
X
X
(X)
than theoretical, there are no strict boundaries between the categories. They are to
be regarded as stations on a continuous line, which is continuous because of the
law of homogeneity, but the stages are also possible to discern because of the law of
specificity. In this sense, the table does not take into account the law of homogeneity,
but rather emphasizes the law of specificity. On this background, there are some
similarities between the different sorts of explanations, and also between catalysis
applied in chemistry and psychology; however, these similarities do not exclude or
contradict emphasising the distinctions as well. In other words, there is no problem
to apply all the six types of explanations, but one has to be aware of the fact that they
are different and represent different levels of precision.
References
Angell, J. R. (1907). The province of functional psychology. Psychological Review, 14, 6191.
Aristotle (1990a). Physics. In M. J. Adler (Ed.), The works of Aristotle (trans: Hardie, R. P. and
Gaye, R. K.) (Vol. 1, pp. 259358). Chicago: Encyclopdia Britannica.
Aristotle (1990b). Metaphysics. In M. J. Adler (Ed.), The works of Aristotle (trans: Ross, W. D.)
(Vol. 1, pp. 499630). Chicago: Encyclopdia Britannica.
Beckstead, Z., Cabell, K. R., Valsiner, J. (2009, October). Generalizing through conditional analysis:
Systemic causality in the world of eternal becoming. Humana Mente, 11, 6580.
Cabell, K. R. (2011). The systemic conditions of catalysis: What psychology can (and cannot)
learn from chemistry? Paper at the 14th Biennial Conference of the International Society for
Theoretical Psychology, Thessaloniki, 27 June-1 July 2011.
Cassirer, E. (1955). The philosophy of symbolic forms (Vol. 2: Mythical thought). New Haven: Yale
University Press.
Cummins, R. (1983). The nature of psychological explanations. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection: Or the preservation of
favoured races in the struggle for life. London: J. Murray.
Darwin, C. (2009). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. London: Harper Perennial.
Davison, S. G., & Sulston, K. W. (2006). Green-function theory of chemisorption. Dordrecht:
Springer.
de Jong, H. L. (2003). Causal and functional explanations. Theory and Psychology, 13(3), 291317.
Dewey, J. (1894, November). The theory of emotion. (I.) Emotional attitudes. The Psychological
Review, I(6), 553569.
Elster, J. (1979). Forklaring og dialektikk. Oslo: Pax.
Elster, J. (1994). Making sense of Marx. Studies in Marxism and social theory. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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Part III
Chapter 5
The scientific understanding of the body, as developed in the medical and biological
sciences, has never distanced itself from its basis in Cartesian sensory mechanics, the
belief that the world reaches us through the mechanical (physicochemical) workings
of the sensory system. And yet, the problem of how mechanical processes could possibly transform themselves to thoughts and ideas has never been decently answered,
although metaphorical talk of programming or information processing may have
created the illusion that the tools for a solution were now at hand. To get out of this
impasse, we shall have to challenge the basic premise for these ideas; the belief in
sensory mechanics as an exhaustive explanation for how the outer world enters our
mind; instead of sensory mechanics we shall have to take sensory semiotics as the
point of departure in the life sciences. The world around us reaches us through sign
processes, semiosis, i.e., our lives do not play out in a mechanical body but in a semiotic body. Biosemiotics, the sign-theoretic or semiotic approach to the study of life
and evolution is based on the understanding that biochemical processes are organized
in obedience to a semiotic logic (Sebeok and Umiker-Sebeok 1991; Hoffmeyer 1996,
2008a). Molecular structures are not just chemical entities; they are also potential
sign vehicles mediating communicative activity between cells, tissues, and organs
of our body or between bodies.
This semiotic reframing of our fundamental ideas of life and organic evolution
has obvious consequences for our understanding of that peculiar species of animals
to which the authors as well as the readers of this book belong. One important consequence is that the human genome cannot be considered a master plan or controller
of human development. As will be shown in this chapter, the genome is better understood as a semiotically controlled scaffolding system. However, as a scaffolding
system, the genome is only the most basic form; multiple semiotic scaffoldings of a
more and more overriding range are built on the top of the genetic scaffolding system, and most important in the context of cultural psychology, semiotic scaffolding
systems painlessly bridges the mindbody gap, being in their function as controllers,
J. Hoffmeyer (!)
Borgergade 42, 5 tv, 1300 Copenhagen, Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]
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essentially somatic and social, in one and the same process. The three instances or
events brought together in a sign process, the sign vehicle (e.g., smoke), the object
(e.g., fire), and the interpretant (e.g., fear), mayand most often dobelong to
different hierarchical levels, as when a certain taste of crumbs of a madeleine cake
dissolved in a cup of tea releases a strong emotional bodily memory in a person of
long forgotten childhood Sunday mornings. Here, a certain combination of tasteprovoking molecules constitutes the sign vehicle. The forgotten Sunday mornings is
the object to which the sign vehicle refers, and the interpretant is the sudden feeling
that Marcel Proust in his famous novel expresses in these words: And at once the
vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity
illusorythis new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me
with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. . . . (Proust
19131927).
This, of course is a perfect example of what Jaan Valsiner called semiotic catalysis:
the sign process here acts as a catalyst for the production of an unexpected insight, that
might not otherwise have come to mind, an insight, furthermore, that has no intrinsic
relation to the sign vehicle itself, the mixture of molecules releasing its production
(Valsiner 2000; Kull this volume). As we shall see, this explanatory principle may
be generalized to cover processes at cultural levels.
Needless to say, a semiotic understanding of life processes runs counter to deep
ontological intuitions not only in the scientific society but also in the humanities.
Before we can proceed with the biosemiotic analysis, it may be necessary to consider
the legitimacy of these intuitions.
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We know about the world because we are in constant interaction with it, not just
because our sense apparatus picks up signals from it, and this simple fact has farreaching implications for the everlasting standstill between science on the one hand
and transcendental philosophy or phenomenology on the other hand. The fact that
we can project our bodily experienced causality into the world at large and derive
trustworthy and nonfalsified understanding from it allows us to abductively reach the
strong hypothesis that the world is in a deep sense of the same kind as is life. One
important implication of this is that natural science cannot uphold its ingrained taboo
against final causation, anotherperhaps even more importantis that the claim of
transcendental philosophy or phenomenology for a distinction between observable
phenomena and indefinable noumina, becomes seriously weakened: if causality is
basically rooted in bodily experience the idea of the thing-in-itself (das Ding-an-Sich)
loses much of its substance (see later).
Ever since Francis Bacons days science has considered it a deadly sin to explain
the workings of nature in anthropomorphic terms: . . . human understanding is like
an uneven mirror receiving rays from things and merging its own nature with the
nature of things, which thus distorts and corrupts it wrote Bacon in the Novum
Organum (Bacon 2000/1620, p. 41). The truth of this warning notwithstanding,
it should be noticed that while a taboo against anthropomorphism in science was
both rational and legitimate in Francis Bacons own time, when humans were still
thought to be the direct creations of God, it obviously became absurd from the
moment Darwinism was accepted. According to a Darwinian understanding, humans
were themselves products of nature and the very existence of human mental life,
and the purposes implied thereby, would thus be in downright contradiction to the
taboo against anthropomorphism and final causation in natural science. That some
philosophers and scientists have felt it necessary to adopt the position of so-called
eliminativism, the belief that mental life is an illusory or meaningless concept, speaks
volumes of how deeply the taboo against final causation is rooted in the scientific
ontology. Apart from the absurdity of denying the reality of human mental life,
eliminativism itself ends up in absurdities; the pursuit of knowledge is a purposeful
activity, and yet eliminativism could hardly exist without it.
Had scientists and philosophers been open to Charles Sanders Peirces semiotic
and evolutionary philosophy, this discussion might have come to follow other tracks.
According to Peirce, the problem of final causation in scientific explanations is
essentially rooted in the absence of a clear distinction in the Cartesian tradition
between two things that should never be confounded: the concept of purposive,
consciously conceived end causes which in a strict sense has validity only in the
human world and a general principle of final causation: It is a widespread error to
think that a final cause is necessarily a purpose. A purpose is merely that form of final
cause which is most familiar to experience said Peirce (Peirce 19311958, Vol. 1,
p. 211; italics added), or in other words, purpose is the conscious modification of
final causation (Peirce 19311958, Vol. 7, 366; italics added). Psychological end
causes, such as the distinct purposes I might have in writing this text, are in Peirces
thinking just a special subcategory of the much broader category of final causes, and
these, according to Peirce, are at play in any sort of goal-oriented activity in nature,
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as well as in culture. A final cause is simply the general form of any process that
tends toward an end state (a finale).
An example of a natural law that embraces this form of a final causation is the
2nd law of thermodynamics, often called the entropy law. This law does not
stipulate how exactly entropy is going to increase, but it does stipulates that every
change taking place in our universe must necessarily imply a global increase in
entropy (although locally entropy may often be decreasedby being exported to
the environmentwhich is the trick that keeps living systems alive). We are so
used to thinking in the reductionist scheme of classical physics that it perhaps feels
odd to ascribe causality to a principle like the entropy law, and yet in a modern
understanding it is exactly the irreversibility described by this law, which accounts
for the perpetual energy transformations that cause not only the organic life on Earth
but also the whole universe to evolve. In his recent book, Incomplete nature, the
American anthropologist and neurobiologist Terrence Deacon outlines a possible path
that may have led from a prebiotic world, governed by thermodynamic lawfulness,
to the appearance of systems exhibiting, what he calls teleodynamic properties, i.e.,
systems in which causal processes have been ordered so as to exhibit consequenceorganized features1 (Deacon 2012a). Through computer simulation he has managed
to construct a model that does in fact develop to perform as a teleodynamic system.
If Deacon is right, it must be concluded that life and final causation isat least
potentiallyinherent in the fundamental physics of our universe and rather than
tabooing final causation right away we should make a distinction between acceptable
and nonacceptable kinds of final causation.
When the tornado Sandy caused major destructions in New Jersey and NewYork, it
was obviously not because Sandy wanted to take revenge on the poor New Yorkers
or otherwise spoil their life. Likewise, when a monarch butterfly in October sets out on
its migratory flight down from New York State to Mexico it is not due to any specific
wish the butterfly might nourish. And yet, while an explanation in terms of finality
may be appropriate to the butterflys behavior, it is impermissible for the tornado. The
difference is that the butterfly is a living system and as such it exhibits what Deacon
calls ententional properties. By the term ententional Deacon refers to phenomena
that are intrinsically incomplete in the sense of being in relationship to, constituted by,
or organized to achieve something non-intrinsic. This includes function, information,
meaning, reference, representation, agency, purpose, sentience and value (Deacon
2012a, p. 549). The migration of the butterfly is presumably more or less directly
caused by information in the sense of its genetic setup that causes specific metabolic
changes in response to certain particular conditions in its environment.
One of the few general trends that can be ascribed to organic evolution is the
tendency towards the production of species exhibiting more and more semiotic competence or freedom in the sense of increased capacity for responding to a variety
1
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With our fingers, arms, legs, etc. and through the means of thought and imagination, we expose the things before us to our curiosity and volition. If a Kantian
would claim that the pencil on the table in front of me cannot in principle be known, I
must answer that I can surely manipulate it and feel its form, hardness, temperature,
and so on, and by doing so, I establish the missing loop in the sensory-cognitive
scheme; I do not just sense the pencil mechanically, for my knowing the pencil does
not start in the retina, and it does not end up in the brain, rather it flows back and
forth through an indefinite number of loops where the pencil is integrated into the
movements of my fingers and thus into a world of immediate as well as memorized
bodily experiences and back again to neuronal circuits in the brain forming a continuous and branched set of loops. My interaction with the pencil is historical and
semiotic, not mechanical. As the philosopher of science Tyrone Cashman has put it
what assures us that our images are in fact about the object in the world is that our
sensory images track the changes in the world that the hands initiate. What assures
us that our constructed concepts of what the world is like are truly about the world
is both the way the concepts guide action, and the way that, through this ability,
they can be falsified by the results of manipulation in experiment (Cashman 2008,
pp. 5657).
The teleodynamics exhibited by living systems places cognition solidly in the
stream of bodily semiotics, and phenomenology and science is challenged in symmetrical ways by this new understanding. The taboo against final causality (science)
and the rejection of the possibility to know the thing in itself (phenomenology)
are interconnected errors reflecting a general failure to recognize the fundamentally
semiotic nature of life and cognition.
What is needed is an ontology of semiotic realism. The activities of living creatures are always end-directed; they all depend on a capacity to anticipate dangers
and to anticipate where and when resources of different kinds might be accessible.
To achieve this organisms produce internal models of significant parts of their surroundings, or Umwelts to use the expression the Estonian-German biologist Jakob
von Uexkll introduced (Kull 2001). Although the Umwelts of animals may seem
extremely limited in both spatial and temporal variety, when compared to our own
human Umwelts, they nevertheless usually serve them well in making life-saving
choices of action. Even a bacterium that chooses to swim right instead of left, because thousands of molecular receptors sitting in its cell membrane tells it that this
is where most nutrient molecules are likely to be found, is in fact making a kind of
anticipation. While it swims along, the bacterium continuously measures the number
of hits between its own receptor molecules and the nutrient molecules in the medium,
and as long as the number of hits per second is increasing it will proceed forward
in the same direction. Should the frequency of hits start decreasing, the bacterium
will eventually stop moving forward and instead start tumbling around, which then
in time may bring it to move forward in a new and perhaps more favorable direction. It seems very likely that this molecular recognition mechanism is the earliest
precursor of all processes of cognition in the life-sphere. One might perhaps object
to calling it cognition at all, but rather than quarrelling on definitorial questions, we
should recognize that no matter what we call it, this mechanism is indeed a kind of
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been used in many different ways, but a reasonable understanding of the concept in
this context would be that information is a measure for a deviation from expectations.
So what the biologist should have said would be, rather, that the input from the
medium combined with the bacteriums own swimming movements has caused an
alteration in its state of expectation. He could not of course have said this, though,
for such a statement would conflict with the taboo against final causation; and in
a way, he would be right, for expectations are loaded with human psychological
implications which represent a kind of finality that does not belong to bacterial life.
There is no need to introduce psychological language here, suffice it to use the much
more parsimonious semiotic language; the bacterium does not receive anything, it
actively searches the area (swimming), and eventually alters its course by interpreting
relevant signs, which in this case are the measured changes in concentration of
nutrient molecules. Any number of other chemical changes may take place in the
medium and yet remain unknown to the bacterium, as long as they do not belong
in its recognized Umwelt. The bacterium, in other words, actively selects those, and
only those, events in the milieu that are meaningful to it. Information, as generally
understood in biology, is much too poor a concept for describing the process involved.
Sensory Semiotics
The little girl looks at the red strawberry and thinks goody!. She does this, of course,
because she has earlier tried to eat a strawberry like this and enjoyed it. But we will
have to start our analysis somewhere, so why not right here, at this moment, when she
sees this red strawberry? The reflected light from the strawberry reaches her through
the eyes lens and is projected upon the retina where 130 million photoreceptors (rods
and cones) are ready to catch the light signals and send them to local ganglia in the
outer layer of the eye. A significant amount of processing of the visual signals takes
place already at this local level and a condensed version is successively transmitted to
the brain via the optic nerve. Part of the further processing is taken care of by a small
almond shaped area in the limbic system called the amygdala that plays a decisive
role in the appraisal or biasing of the visual inputs. The amygdala receives and sends
signals directly from and to the visual system, reacting to visual stimuli without the
involvement of consciousness (Siegel 1999, p. 133). Processes such as these may
be involved in the strange sense of belief with which we sometimes unconsciously
evaluate our experiences.
In this description, we have moved a long way from the traditional sensory mechanical scheme. And yet, terms such as signals and processing keep us inside a
fairly mechanistic frame of thought. Are these signals to be conceived of as unambiguous packets of some informational stuffwhatever that would be? And is
the processing anything else than the kind of algorithmic symbol manipulation that
computers can do so easily for us? As long as these questions are not answered, it
remains difficult to understand how a signaling activity no matter how complex
could possibly end up as an experience of desire in the mind of a small girl. We are
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here confronting the so-called hard problem of consciousness (Chalmers 1996), and
I shall not pretend that a semiotic understanding will give us any easy solution to
it. However, while an explanation in terms of mechanistic or informational models
leaves us with a downright impossible problem, the semiotic model points us to emphasize relational phenomena that, in principle, are independent of the substantiality
of the related entities, and this opens new channels of explanation.
A sign process is a triadic relation whereby something called the sign vehicle
(the sound of an ambulance for instance) is referring someone to an object (the
need for stepping on the breaks) through the formation in the body and mind of a
mediating process called an interpretant. It is important to notice here that the
interpretant is a relational process inside the interpreter (be it a human or some other
receptive system), a process whereby the perceived sign vehicle becomes related to
the object, in such a way that it somehow mimics the sign vehicles own relation to
that same object. Thus, the interpretant formed in the body and mind of a human
person hearing the specific warning sound of an approaching ambulance is the process
whereby this person becomes aware of the need for stepping on the break. A semiotic
understanding of mental processes therefore does not require us to commit the usual
error of misplaced concreteness; sign processes are never rooted in particular entities
or processes, but are always just snapshots of the fluent open-ended relational
dynamics of entities and processes. Furthermore, sign processes easily cross gaps
between hierarchical levels. Thus, the social implications which may derive from one
and the same mechanical process inside a persons ears is fully dependent on what
goes on inside that particular person. The sound of an ambulance may for instance
cause a traffic accident as a friend of mine told me had happened to her when she,
a minute after she had seen her 8-year-old daughter from the cars window walking
peacefully along the sidewalk of a busy street, heard the sound of an approaching
ambulance and, irrationally frightened, bumped into another car parked along the
street. In semiotics, there is no such thing as a compulsory link between cause and
effect. A given sound may be judged insignificant, or it may release a pressing of the
break, or it may even cause you to bump into another car.
A detailed semiotic analysis of the girls goody! experience would include an
enumeration of the long chain or web of sign processes in which the interpretant in
one process is acting as a sign vehicle provoking the formation of a new interpretant
at the next more comprehensive level. In the course of the process, the whole scale
of contextual relations are drawn into the process, comprising not only the now-andhere (impulses from other senses) but also memorized material (the girls former
experiences with this category of visual impressions), and all of it must continuously
be calibrated according to new visual, olfactory, auditory, or touch inputs that she
might receive, and also according to her own motoric interaction with the objects
of her field of vision (even if she does not move, small involuntary movements of
the eyes focus, saccades, nevertheless continuously need to be integrated). Both
cognitive and motoric activity becomes initiated through this chain of interpretants
produced at more and more overriding levels (exclamations like goody!, or reaching
out for the strawberry). Our sensing must be considered one open-ended loop of
interactions between memory, sensory impulses, and motoric activity.
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Experienced Worlds
Now, one might ask the $1 billion question: at what point in the semiotic process
should we talk of genuine experiences? To attempt an answer to this question, let
us make a side trip to the animal world and pose the question: does a chimpanzee
experience its world? Knowing well enough that neither a yes nor a no to this
question can be decisively proved (as long as chimpanzees do not speak), it seems
very unlikely that the answer should be a no. First, because chimpanzees are so
much like ourselves that it seems illogical to think that they should be deprived of
that dimension of life which undoubtedly is the most important dimension of our
own human life, our experienced life. Second, because there are now numerous wellstudied examples of behaviors in chimpanzees that skilled ethologists do not shy away
from likening to well-known human behaviors such as showing empathy, morality,
or cheating (Bekoff and Pierce 2009). It is not easy to imagine someone cheating on
you if this someone, does not have the faintest experience of your existence.
If we step further back along the evolutionary path and consider fish, reptiles,
birds, and mammals we can actually point out a graded series of growing cognitive
competence (Hoffmeyer and Stjernfelt in press; Hoffmeyer in print), and logically
it becomes rather impossible to point out a definitive step before which there is no
sentience, but after which sentience is present. In general, the rather gradual character
of evolutionary change logically points us to a more-or-less view rather than an
either-or view (either the animal has an experienced world, or it has not). Since
the experiential world is multidimensional, this more-or-less must of course also be
understood in a multidimensional sense. Thus, even in fish we find behaviors that
seem to imply a kind of social intelligence that would be hard to explain in the total
absence of sentience.
Let us take a look at the sophisticated relation between cleaner fish and their
clients as discussed in Hoffmeyer and Stjernfelt (in press). Cleaner fish get their
livelihood by eating and thus removing parasites from other fish called clients. In
addition to the parasites, the cleaner also likes to eat the more nutritious body mucus
of their clients which, understandably, maddens the client fish which may visibly
jolt and dart off when cleaners bite them. A trade-off situation then develops
105
between cleaners and clients in which the clients attempt to avoid cleaners that
have previously cheated upon them ormore remarkably perhapswhich have been
observed cheating on other clients (Bshary et al. 2002). Full-time cleaners such as
the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatu s may have about 2,300 interactions per day
with clients belonging to over 100 different species (Grutter 1996). Bshary et al.
lists a number of behaviors found in cleaners and clients that may be likened to
behaviors more usually observed in primates: categorization, cheating, punishment,
manipulation through tactile stimulation, and so-called altruism. Thus, cleaners can
categorize their 100-or-so client species into types that may be cheated and types
that are not so prone to cheating. Clients, on the other hand, may punish (inflict
expenses upon) the cleaners, which would seem to imply an amount of individual
recognition (probably by scent).
Rather than concluding for or against fish having experiences or sentience, I think
our fast growing knowledge of the surprisingly sophisticated cognitive capabilities
of fish and animals in general points us to abandon the idea of sentience as a unitary
phenomenon. There are many kinds of sentience, and our own human kind of sentience is just one example in a multigraded series. A snake for instance has probably
no idea whatsoever of the prey animal it is chasing, instead it has different modalities
such as things to be searched for, things to be stroked, and things for swallowing
(Sjlander 1995).
As a consequence, we must understand the establishment of experiences, such as
the goody! with which we began this discussion, not as residing in some finished
or final state of mind but as an emergent glimpse of recognition followed by a
stream of new glimpses in a continuous flow embedded in the processes whereby
the girl interprets her world, i.e., in the flow of semiosis. Our experiences (and those
of animals) are always embedded in an emotional state of some kind and without
operating with a directionality of ones life, that is, without implying final causation,
sentience simply becomes incomprehensible. There will always be a reason behind
sorrow, sadness, worry, joy, happiness, fear, anger, etc., and this reasonwhich does
not itself need to be conscious and probably most often is notlocates the experience
in the temporal directionality of our organismic strive (to use the term, that Darwin
himself used in Darwin 1972/1859, p. 71).
If we think of an emotion as a subjective reaction to a salient event, characterized
by physiological, experiential, and overt behavioral change (Siegel 1999, p. 123), we
might perhaps think of the origin of experiential life as rather narrowly connected to
the (evolutionary) origin of emotional life. Needless to say, the taboo against anthropomorphism has made the ascription of emotions to brute animals a risky affair2 .
Here, we must take care to distinguish between emotions and feelings although such
a distinction is in no way easy or simple. Primary emotions are spontaneous bodily
2
As is often the case, Darwin himself had a clearer voice. In The Descent of Man he writes quite
explicitly: The fact that the lower animals are excited by the same emotions as ourselves is so well
established, that it will not be necessary to weary the reader with many details. Terror acts in the
same manner on them as on us, causing the muscles to tremble, the heart to palpitate, the sphincters
to be relaxed, and the hair to stand on end (Darwin 1981/1871, Chap. 3).
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J. Hoffmeyer
reactions such as sadness, anger, fear, surprise, or joy that come to us without interference of consciousness, and which are accompanied by well-defined physiological
patterns that are also to some extent measurably present in animals seemingly exhibiting similar emotional reactions. Young birds, for example, that duck their heads
in the nest when a hawk is passing over the nest are experiencing the same hormonal
response as we see with fear in humans. Feelings, on the other hand are emotions
that are consciously dealt with to produce context dependent nuances. What complicates the matter, of course, is that feelings often produce further secondary emotional
responses that then trigger off secondary feelings in an infinite temporal loop of interaction between our cognitive life and our emotional life. As evidence for emotional
response patterns in mammals and birds is fast growing in these years (see Bekoff
and Pierce 2009 for a survey), it seems increasingly farfetched to claim that emotions
are not present in species with lower cognitive capacity. Again, we should adopt a
more-or-less view rather than an either-or view.
Let me suggest that we see semiosis, emotion, and experiential life as a graded
series where semiosis is a fundamental characteristic of life as suchlife without
semiosis is unthinkable; emotions are a somewhat less fundamental property but
most likely some preliminary kind of emotion must be at play in every multicellular
organisms where a fast coordination of body parts is necessary in response to danger,
or food, etc., since such coordination would presuppose a capacity for producing
an instantaneously propagated emotional wave throughout the body3 ; genuine
experiences, on the other hand, probably only occur in species possessing a central
nervous system. The important point in the present context is that semiosis, emotion,
and experiences are not thought to be essentially different categories, but rather to be
a succession of more and more sophisticated elaborations of the same basic theme of
teleodynamic existence. Considered in this way, the shift in perspective from sensory
mechanics to sensory semiotics as the basis for perception opens up new fascinating
agendas for studying the bodymind interplay.
Semiotic Scaffolding
In the biosemiotic perspective, the genome is not seen as a master plan for the
organism, the way traditional biology sees it. The fact that, say, a snail genome will
lead to the appearance of a snail-type living system and a wolf genome will lead to the
appearance of a wolf-type living system, has implanted the conception in the minds
of biologists that the genome controls the ontogenetic process. But this metaphor of
control is far too strong. Genes are not control-units but semiotic modulators
they frame the biosemiotic integrations inside the body. In fact, the functional role of
the genome very much is to act as a highly sophisticated digitalized inventory control
3
One might perhaps think of this as a sudden wake-up glimpse, a little like when the pocket
calculator is switched on (although we do not claim any emotional component in the pocket
calculator).
107
system, a system that not only contains the specifications necessary to produce all the
bodys protein and RNA molecules but also a number of switches and locks by which
an agent may access the archives. Thus, if a given enzyme is needed in a tissue, cells
will turn on the switch that opens the particular lock normally keeping the coding
region of the responsible gene from being transcribed. When enough of the enzyme
has been produced, the switch is turned off again. So, if a given enzyme is needed,
say a peptidase, the cell will click down the menu for enzymes, pick the submenu for
peptidases and select a suitable one among the different kinds of peptidases on offer,
depending on the kind of tissue and/or the concrete situation. The cellular machinery
will then start off the process of operating the switches and keys corresponding to
this particular gene (RNA splicing and other modifications included).
The most important factor that has been turned around in the semiotic description of the process relative to more traditional informational descriptions is that
agency here resides with the cell, the tissue, or the organism, not with the genetic
systemnot at the level of a macromolecule (DNA)4 . Harvard geneticist Richard
Lewontin expressed clearly why this is necessary, when he stated that: genes do
nothing in themselves (Lewontin 1992)5 (it follows that Richard Dawkins much
famed concept of selfish genes is outright nonsense). Language use in modern
biology is profused with hidden homunculi (to use Terrence Deacons expression
(Deacon 2007, 2012a)6 , and biosemiotics is needed precisely in order to make
explicit those assumptions imported into biology by such unanalyzed teleological
concepts as function, adaptation, information, code, signal, cue, etc., and to provide
a theoretical grounding for these concepts (Kull et al. 2009).
But the genome is only the most basic level in the web of semiotic scaffolding
mechanism that controls the cooperation between the estimated 100 trillion cells
that make up a human body. Each of these cells are ultimately autonomous units that
in their whole construction are tuned to follow internal schemes towards proliferation. Yet, mysteriously, all these cells manage to cooperate in life-long functional
patterns or else we get ill. The mystery is hidden in the infinitude of semiotic
interactions linking cells, tissues, and organs together into stable functional modules. Throughout evolution, new scaffoldings have been built on top of those already
operative. Evolution is primarily about the establishment of successful semiotic scaffolding devices and genetic mutations are just elementary tools in this process that
may often not rely on modifications at the genetic level at all. The genome, thus is
only half the story, the other half being the semiome, the entirety of semiotic tool
4
That anyone could imagine DNA molecules to possess agency is a total mystery to me.
It often takes more than a dozen of different protein molecules to (1) unwind the threads of the
double helix, (2) fix the position of the gene in the correct spatial position relative to other, more
or less distant, locations on the DNA string, (3) attach the polymerase enzyme at the right location,
(4) initiate the transcription, and (5) stop the process at the right place and time.
6
a homunculus argument as one in which an ententional property is presumed to be explained
by postulating the possession of a faculty, disposition or module that produces it, and in which
this property is not also fully understood in terms of non-ententional processes and relationships
(emphasis Deacons; p. 64).
5
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J. Hoffmeyer
sets available to the species: the means by which the organisms of a species may extract significant content from their surroundings and engage in intra- or interspecific
communicative behavior. The semiome defines the scope of the organisms cognitive
and communicative activity (Hoffmeyer in print).
The human semiome is different from that of other animals mainly in being deeply
embedded in linguistic practices. Most often, the difference between human cognition and animal cognition has been explained by reference to our supposed higher
general intelligence. Following the work of Terrence Daecon (Deacon 2012b) we
shall instead base our discussion on the peculiarities of the human linguistic semiome.
As Deacon tells us: Language is dependent on a widely dispersed constellation of
cortical systems, each of which can be found in other primate brains, but evolved for
very different functions (2012b, p. 34). In the terminology of the present chapter,
part of what happened in human evolution was an unprecedented loosening of the
genetic scaffoldings stabilizing the cognitive roles of a range of modules in our brain.
The adaptation to language required our brains to become essentially dedifferentiated allowing cognitive functions to be scaffolded through symbolic communication
rather than by genetic predetermination.
109
nobody did foresee the use of these new media to catalyze the series of mass protests
in North African and Mediterranean nations that came to be known as the Arabic
Spring. The catalyst in this case was not the phone as such or the social media but
the grasping by huge population groups of a new semiotic scaffolding mechanism
allowing for fast and anonymous spreading of knowledge and documentation.
References
Bacon, F. (2000/1620). Novum Organon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bekoff, M., & Pierce, J. (2009). Wild justice. The moral lives of animals. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Bshary, R., Wickler, W., et al. (2002). Fish cognition: A primates eye view. Animal Cognition, 5,
113.
Cabell, K. R. (2009). How to order a baby: Confusions and constructions of a little scientist in the
Freudian world. Journal of Integrated Social Sciences, 1(1), 6592.
Cabell, K. R. (2011). Catalysis: Cultural constructions and the conditions for change. Journal of
Integrated Social Sciences, 2(1), 112.
Cashman, T. (2008). What connects the map to the territory?. In J. Hoffmeyer (Ed.), A legacy for
living systems: Gregory Bateson as precursor to biosemiotics (pp. 4558). Dordrecht: Springer.
Chalmers, D. (1996). The conscious mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Darwin, C. (1972/1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation
of favored races in the struggle for life. London: J. M. Dent & Sons.
Darwin, C. (1981/1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Deacon, T. (2007). Shannon-Boltzmann-Darwin: Redefining information. Part 1. Cognitive
Semiotics, 1, 123148.
Deacon, T. (2012a). Incomplete nature. How the mind emerged from matter. New York: Norton.
Deacon, T. (2012b). Beyond the symbolic species. In T. Schilhab, F. Stjernfelt, & D. Terrence
(Eds.), The symbolic species evolved (pp. 938). Dordrecht: Springer.
Grutter, A. (1996). Parasite removal rates by the cleaner wrasse labroides dimidatus. Marine Ecology
Pregress Series, 130, 6170.
Hoffmeyer, J. (1996). Signs of meaning in the universe. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Hoffmeyer, J. (2008a). Biosemiotics. An examination into the signs of life and the life of signs.
Scranton: University of Scranton Press.
Hoffmeyer, J. (2008b). From thing to relation. In J. Hoffmeyer (Ed.), A legacy for living systems:
Gregory Bateson as precursor to biosemiotics, (pp. 2744). Dordrecht: Springer.
Hoffmeyer, J. (2010). Semiotic freedom: An emerging force. In N. H. Gregersen & P. Davis (Eds.),
Information and the nature of reality: From physics to metaphysics (pp. 185204). Cambridge:
University of Cambrige Press.
Hoffmeyer, J. (in print). The semiome: From genetic to semiotic scaffolding. Semiotica, special
issue edited by Timo Maran.
Hoffmeyer, J., & Stjernfelt F. (in press). The great 2 of semiosis. In K. Kull, J. Hoffmeyer, & A. A.
Sharov (Eds.), Biosemiotic approaches to evolution. Dordrecht: Springer.
Kant, I. (2003/1787). Critique of pure reason. New York: Dover Philosophical Classics.
Kull, K. (2001). Jakob von Uexkll: An introduction. Semiotica, 134, 159.
Kull, K., Deacon, T., et al. (2009). Theses on biosemiotics: The Saka convention. Biological Theory,
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Lewontin, R. C. (1992). The dream of the human genome. The New York Review. May, 28, 3140.
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Chapter 6
The aim of this chapter is to find the place for the concepts of semiotic catalysis
and semiotic scaffolding in the conceptual system of general semiotics. Following
Kenneth Cabell (2012), we find it reasonable to distinguish between four partly
overlappingas if Borgesiantypes of catalysis: chemical catalysis (if the catalyst
reduces the activation energy of the chemical reaction), enzymatic catalysis (if the
catalyst is enzyme), autocatalysis (if the process is intensifying itself), and semiotic
catalysis (if the catalyst is a sign process).
We start from the question on the semiotic aspects, as these appear in enzymatic
catalysis close to the lower semiotic threshold.
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this or that activity, which is considered to belong to the class called fermentative. Contemporary definitions of the term are often no less cautious: enzymes are
the biological catalysts that specifically catalyze chemical reactions in living cells
(Kendrew and Lawrence 1994, p. 325).
What is the reason to be cautious? In what sense are the enzymes not just chemical
molecules like any other?
In case of inorganic and simple organic molecules, the structure of the molecule
determines the reactions that the molecule can enter. Accordingly, the nomenclature
of these molecules corresponds to their structure. If we know the structure, we
can identify the name, and all the features are thus connectable with the particular
structure.
In case of enzymes, the situation is radically different. The reactions that can be
catalyzed by an enzyme molecule are not determined by its primary or secondary
structure. The tertiary structure (spatial structure) of the enzyme molecule can say
something about the substrate it can catalyze, but the tertiary structure is greatly a
result of the local environment of this big molecule, and not just determined by its
primary and secondary structures; additionally, an enzyme may consist of several
large molecules, which constitutes its quaternary structure. And what the enzyme
does may depend very much on the actual place where it happens to be located in
the cell. As a result, the structure of an enzyme has no direct bearing on the function
of the molecule. This is particularly true for the primary structure as stored (in a
premature version) in the sequences of DNAin genes.
The nomenclature of enzymes also differs from the usual chemical nomenclature.
The names are given according to the function, and not according to the structure
of the enzyme. For instance, the enzyme called ribulose-biphosphate-carboxylaseoxydase, abbreviated as Rubisco, is the one that can catalyze the reaction between
ribulose-biphosphate and CO2 .
The story becomes even more fascinating by the finding that Rubiscothe enzyme
which every plant leaf hasis different in every plant species, or even in most plant
genets. Like any other enzyme, it has many forms. Thus, the name Rubisco denotes
simultaneously billions of molecules of different structure; and there is no way to
say how many different structures belong to Rubisco. And if anybody will have a
molecule with a new structure, there will be, in principle, no way to identify it as
Rubisco, other than to put it into a plant cell and look whether it will catalyze the
reaction Rubisco usually does. And if it does not work in the tested plant cell, it may
still work in some other plant species of the present or past or future. The task to
describe all possible structures of a particular enzyme seems to be unsolvableat
least due to combinatorial complexity. Walter Elsasser (1998, p. 49 ff.) has called
this type of features of living systems the immensity. The case is obviously even
more fundamentalthis problem is nonalgorithmic (Kauffman 2012, p. 37).
Thus, contrary to the names of usual molecules, the names of enzymes denote
their function and not at all their structure. Despite the many functions to be found
in a cell, the number of these functions is very small in comparison to the number of
different structures via which these functions can be carried out.
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If there would not be any enzymatic activity in an organism, the chemical compounds would not react. Enzymes mediate almost all chemical reactions in living
organisms. The reactions they carry out are such which almost do not perform spontaneously. Without enzymes, the dead organisms would not decay, and no ecological
cycles would be possible.
In order to understand the origin of the enzymatic network that participates in
all biological reactions, it is important to know that the functional specificity of
enzymes is not absolute. Despite that their names usually refer to one single function,
and despite that most of the enzymes in a cell actually provide just the catalysis of
one particular reaction, all enzymes are potentially polyfunctional. They can also
catalyze a range of other reactions, although with much lower efficiency, or such
reactions are excluded because there are no other appropriate substrates available at
the location in the cell where the enzyme in question happens to be situated.
From an evolutionary point of view, and slightly simplifying the story, one can say
that enzymes have appeared as stochastic sequences of aminoacids; some of them
happened to catalyze some reactions. In a closed cell, most of the reaction chains are
closed, i.e., cyclic. Due to this, feedback effects appear. For instance, when a product
is in excess, it may inhibit the production of enzyme molecules involved in its own
synthesis, and vice versa, when the product is in deficit, more corresponding enzyme
molecules are produced. Thus, the cell itself may have selected which molecules to
take into use and which ones to be forgotten for the evolutionary story.
What was said earlier about enzymes holds true for most of the proteins of a
cell. In addition to the enzymes which catalyze the metabolic reactions (enzymes
sensu stricto), there is a large number of different regulatory proteins, transcription
factors, transport proteins, protein receptors, etc. Also, there are RNA-compounds
which function very much like enzymes, and which are also classified according to
their function; these are tRNAs and ribozymes.
Enzymes make regular bonds between certain sites of nucleic acids and the reaction they catalyze. Note that there does not exist any chemical or physical reason
why a particular site (a particular primary sequence) of DNA has to be connected
to certain particular biochemical reaction in the cell. Indeed, this relation made via
enzyme is arbitrary. This is arbitrary as any other code relation. The life of a cell
looks very much as the action of catalyststhe enzymes and alike.
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Thus, if there would be no life, the element cycling would stop. In this sense, life
is catalytically closed (see also Kauffman 2012, p. 35). Life requires life. Life is its
own mediator.
Taking into account Sebeoks thesisthat life process is semiosis (see Kull et al.
2008, p. 43; Kull 2012b), we could reformulate it as: semiosis is the general catalyst.
There are (at least) three corollaries to the same rule:
a. Omne vivum ex vivolife is always from life (Redis rule; this is true only after the
origin of life, of course); a general formulation of this rule sounds omne signum
ex signumeach sign is from a sign (see Kotov and Kull 2011); it is this same
aspect of closure that Juri Lotman (2005/1984) sees as the basis for semiosphere;
b. Semiosis involves scaffolding and is dependent on scaffolding (Hoffmeyer 2007;
see Kull 2012a);
c. Semiosic systems are relational systems (signs are never alone)or, any semiosic
system is dependent on catalytic relation between signs.
The general statementa rule of lifestates that semiosis is dependent on catalysts
that are themselves produced by semiosis. Thus, it turns out to be possible to specify
the general rule that semiosis is the general catalyst, since the catalyst as a temporal
product of semiosis can be separated from semiosis and manipulated independently.
The specific catalysts have been an obligatory component of life since its origin
(Cavalier-Smith 1987). These catalystsenzymes and ribozymesare exclusive
products of living cells themselves. The network of enzymesproteomeis both
responsible for the gene expression pattern and the presentation of this pattern.
For life itself, as well as for semiosis, of course, catalysis is necessary but not
sufficient, neither autocatalysis nor enzymatic catalysis, nor these together. The condition for semiosis is code pluralitythe coexistence of several incompatible codes.
Code-relation is certainly different from nonsemiotic catalytic relation. However,
in case of semiotic catalysis, we may presume that relation between the semiotic
catalyst and the relation catalyzed by it is a code-relation.
115
Jaan Valsiner first speaks about the role of catalysis in the context of typology of
causality in psychological processes (Valsiner 2000, p. 74 f.). He also makes a reference to Kurt Lewin (1927) who uses the term konditional-genetische Bestimmungen
(Lewin 1927, p. 397). Cabell and Valsiner (2011) make an excellent review of the
concept of catalysis aiming its application in psychology (and possibly in semiotics).
There seem to be couple of particular reasons why the concept of catalysis looks
promising for Valsiner and his coauthors. They pay attention mainly to the following
features of catalysis:
a. Different type of causality, nondirect causality; Valsiner (2000, p. 75) states:
Since developmental models cannot be context-free, notions of direct causality
are not sufficient for the study of development. Let us call context-bound causality
models examples of catalyzed causality. Catalysed here is a term to refer to
conditions that need to be present for a particular causal linkage to occur, and
the absence of which does not allow the causal process to lead to an outcome.
[. . .] The notion of catalysed causality retains the relevant context-dependency
of developmental phenomena. [. . .] Models of catalyzed causality are usable in
sciences that deal with living systems.
b. Regulatory aspect, a regulatory function of catalysis (see, e.g., Beckstead et al.
2009, p. 75 f.); signs as catalyzers can both inhibit and activate (Mattos and
Chaves 2012);
c. Contextual aspect; catalysts are the means via which the context works;
d. Mediative aspect; as in sign processes, catalysts can mediate processes;
e. Qualitative mode; catalytic relations are seen as relations that allows to build a
model on purely qualitative basis.
Some more aspects are described in a recent review by Cabell (2012).
Chemical catalysis just changes the speed of existing processes. In case of the
crucial phenomena of semiotic catalysis, the reaction rate is not really important.
Instead, as for almost all bioorganic reactions, the presence of an enzyme is required
in order to have any reaction at all. In case of enzymatic catalysis, the primary aspect
is therefore not energetic but informational. Thus, the role of semiotic catalysis is
primarily qualitative.1
Semiotic Scaffolding2
Jaan Valsiner has mentioned that scaffoldinga narrow concept used largely after
Jerome Bruner and others since 1970sis a version of catalysis (catalyzing child
development through setting up support conditions at relevant moments of relating
with environment). In their uses of scaffolding, the clarity of catalysis (enabling but
not determining) has never been quite clear, given the quasi-Vygotskian orthodixy
of human being is social. With that, scaffolding can easily become a form of social
1
2
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determination. But it need not . . . in any case the catalytic story there is not clear,
not exemplified.3
Indeed, scaffolding is a concept already used in Lev Vygotskys works, later
developed by Jerome Bruner (Vygotsky 1986/1934; Wood et al. 1976; see also Foley
1994), Andy Clark, and others. For instance, Clark (2008) speaks about language
as scaffolding. Wimsatt and Griesemer (2007) provides an approach to culture from
developmental biology, using the concept of scaffolding.
Semiotic scaffolding has been one of central concepts and themes in Jesper
Hoffmeyers work, particularly in his writings after 2005 (Hoffmeyer 2007, 2013).
For instance, he writes: The genome is not controlling ontogeny, it scaffolds it (just
as books do not determine culture, but they certainly scaffold it) (Hoffmeyer 2013);
The network of semiotic interactions by which individual cells, organisms, populations, or ecological units are controlling their activities can [. . .] be seen as scaffolding
devices assuring that an organisms activities become tuned to that organisms needs
(Hoffmeyer 2007, p. 154).
Jesper Hoffmeyers role here has been (1) to observe that scaffolding in this sense
is always a semiotic scaffolding, and (2) to demonstrate that semiotic scaffolding is at
work in all levels of semiosis, from the origin of life forward. This entails something
very important and fundamental for the whole of semiotic theory.
The way Hoffmeyer describes semiotic scaffolding is in terms of its instructional
bearing; he generalizes this important concept, and illustrates it with many examples.
However, to specify the definition of semiotic scaffolding, stating more clearly its relationship to semiosis and code, would give us a central concept for general semiotics.
It is possible, and fruitful, to develop Hoffmeyers formulations and to conclude
that semiotic scaffolding is a general result and function of semiosis. Semiosis as
an active meaning-seeking-making process results often with the building of some
relatively static or even quite solid structures that somehow embed in themselves
the findings of that active searching-event of semiosis. The resulting structure is a
scaffolding. It canalizes further behavior. It is the frame for habits.
Scaffolding is the building for the development of codes; thus it looks almost like
a codea code, too, being always a product of semiosis. What differs between code
and scaffolding is their functionality. Codes can be described just as correspondences,
whereas scaffolding always has a helping-supporting task or function. Habit, as a
product of semiosis, is always, to a certain extent, instructional. Semiosis is a learning
process that produces scaffolding that forms habits that results in codes.
Scaffolding, thus, being a product of semiosis, and semiosis being a process that
takes place in an indeterminate situation of incompatibility that life permanently creates and carries on, is a relational semistable setting. Scaffolding can be reproducible,
but this is not its universal feature. Thus, the role of the genome is secondary here
(Hoffmeyer and Kull 2003, pp. 262263).
Scaffolding is a reduction of degrees of freedom (as noted by Wood et al. 1976,
p. 98, and as early as Bernstein 1967), a constraintand this is how scaffolding
works, the reason it is useful.
3
Jaan Valsiners letter to the author from Dec. 30, 2012. See also Valsiner 2005.
117
Thus, we may think of semiosis as a process that results in building scaffolding for
further semiosis. Semiosis itself may be seen as collaborative learning: the process
whereby at least two codes that are mutually incompatible meet and interact.
Semiotic scaffolding is thus so universal a feature of semiotic structures that we
cannot even imagine a sign relation without it. Scaffolding is the way to keep and
canalize communicational processes.
Hoffmeyer generalizes the notion so that we can think of the whole of an organisms body as a scaffolding. The body is scaffolding. Scaffolding is what results from
learning. Semiosis produces scaffolding that support semiosis.
Now, turning back to the semiotic catalysis, it occurs, that catalysts in living
systemsin organisms and culturesare just special kinds of scaffolds. This seems
to contradict Valsiners remark above, saying that scaffolding is a kind of catalysis.
Let us try to resolve this problem.
In case of semiotic catalysis, the catalyst has to be a sign. A scaffold, produced
by semiosis, may be a sign, but there are also scaffolds that influence on an organism or culture or any other semiotic system without being themselves signs, i.e.,
by nonsemiosic means. Like a chemical catalystwhich may not be a semiotic
catalystmay change the speed of some metabolic pathway.
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K. Kull
In its extreme, a sign may become very rigid, which means that the plurality of
meanings has decreased and can ultimately collapse into a single meaning. Then the
process becomes automatic (mechanical) and semiosis itself disappears. Thus, the
meaning disappears, because meaning, strictly speaking, can never truly be single
meaning is always multiple. A monosemic sign is sometimes called signal, which is
not a true sign. However, when meaning is gone, the relation built by semiosis, as
built-in into a material structurea code relationmay still be there.
Semiosis designs and produces new structures. Semiosis produces new codes
the correspondences that cannot be deduced from general physicochemical laws,
because these codes are local and historical, these are combinations from an immense number of possibilities that come about only due to life. Built environment,
rigid structures of organisms body, tools, and machinesthese are all examples of
products of semiosis. These are artifacts that are made by life, the structures that
cannot even appear otherwise than being created by life. These include codes that
may stay there for a while even without any semiosis involved. These can function
on scaffolding further semiosis.
Meaning appears only due to a contact between code relations. A contact between
(incompatible) codes which activates semiosis, requires a living system. This is
because semiosis assumes a mechanism of learning, i.e., a mechanism that can
create new codes (therefore to restore and to reproduce), which is just a feature of
living systems.
The incompatibility as a fundamental precondition for semiosis is a phenomenon
that appears exclusively in semiosic systems and due to code-plurality. Two codes
are two codes if their simultaneous application would lead to logical incompatibility
(controversy being a special language-bound case of it). Such phenomena do not
existcannot existoutside of the life-bound systems, because only these can create
codes. The incompatibility situation itself is the source of indeterminacy, the source
of freedom.
Sign is a multiple code relation. There are different types of signs as dependent
on the type of relation created, which is dependent on the type of the mechanism
of learning involved. It seems reasonable to distinguish between four major types
of relations, and accordingly of signs, and of the mechanisms of learning that are
responsible for the formation of particular type of relation:
a.
b.
c.
d.
From these, (a), which is obviously based on trial-and-error learning, and (b), which
is possible due to associative learning or conditioning, are common in all nonhuman
animals; (c) is connected with social learning (also with empathy and emotions) and
can be found in many vertebrates; (d) is mainly connected with language capacity,
i.e., with humans.
Since semiotic catalysis is catalysis via signs, i.e., via a relation, it can lead in each
case to one of these four types; or, other way around, sign relations themselves are
119
of qualitative catalytic type, which means that this classification can also be a classification of catalytic relations. However, we foresee here a rich field of distinctions
possible.
Although, when applying this simple division, semiotic catalysis can be one of
these types: iconic, indexical, emonic, or symbolic. In our human conscious situation,
we notice mainly the latter twoemonic and symbolic. The first twoiconic and
indexical relationsare truly biological and nonconscious, thus usually not included
into the descriptions of cultural semiotics but playing a large role in biosemiotic
models.4
Some Implications
If semiotic systems are products of sign processes, the semiosphere being the stream
of semiosis, the sign flow web, and the interaction between sign processes also taking
place via sign processes, then a major problem to understand the changes in the sign
flow is to understand how a sign process can influence other sign process. According
to Jaan Valsiners deep statement, signs influence other signs mainly by catalysis.
From the semiotic point of view, the expression semiotic catalysis in its broad
sense just states that semiosis is carried on by signs. Signs are (semiotic) catalysts
for semiosis.
Sign relations themselves are of qualitative catalytic type. It can be hypothesized
that signs influence something else only like catalystsi.e., not directly, but via
enablement, either as promoters or as inhibitors (or rather as connectors).
Semiotic catalysis is different from chemical catalysissemiotic catalysis is a
qualitative relation, whereas chemical catalysis concerns the quantitative aspects
(reaction rates).
Semiotic catalysis and chemical catalysis may cooccur, they may appear as complementary aspects of the same process, but they may also occur independently. For
instance, the chemical catalysis that occurred on Earth before the origin of life did
not involve semiotic catalysis, because there was no agency that could make a qualitative distinction. On the other hand, a solution of logical controversy in a human
dialogue with the help of a textbook as a catalyst could be an example of a purely
semiotic catalysis, in which, the chemical catalysis is irrelevant. An enzyme in a
signal transduction pathway of a cellular membrane, however, can be an example
where one and the same catalyst is simultaneously a chemical catalyst and a semiotic
catalyst.
Semiotic dynamics can be seen as streams of semioses, either in an organism, in
ecosystem, or in culture, i.e., in all forms of mind. Semiotic catalysis is the process
that changes the stream, whereas semiotic scaffolding stabilizes itstill both being
products of semiosis itself.
4
Note that what has usually been called iconic in the earlier cultural semiotic discourse is
emonic according to the terminology used here.
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K. Kull
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Part IV
Chapter 7
The present chapter explores the conditions and processes through which culture is
reconstructed and diffused within and between social groups. The approach explored
here differs from the majority of contemporary approaches to cultural transmission
(e.g. memetics) in that it (a) focuses on an investigation of the complex dynamics of
concrete single cases, (b) aims to explore the transformation of culture rather than
simply predicting the likelihood of transmission, (c) highlights individual and group
agency in this process, as well as (d) the history, traditions and norms particular
to different social groups. To sketch out this holistic approach, I revisit the ideas
of early diffusionist anthropology, in particular, the framework developed by Frederic Bartlett in his unjustly neglected book Psychology and Primitive Culture. In
his framework, culture is conceptualized as heterogeneous, systemic and changing
patterns of activity mediated by both individual and group processes. Furthermore,
any society must be conceptualized in time, existing in a state of tension between
stability and change, conservation and construction. A major catalyst for change is
culture contact, whereby new cultural elements are introduced into a social group
from outside, simulating constructive efforts to integrate them into its ways of life.
As with the study of cultural dynamics itself, to understand early diffusionist
ideas, they must be placed in historical and social context. Thus, this chapter begins
by providing some background in Cambridge anthropology between 1890 and 1912.
It was in dialogue with this background that Bartlett developed his own diffusionist
approach in psychology. The chapter proceeds to outline Bartletts framework for
exploring cultural dynamics, according to which the investigator should focus on
the systemic conditions that shape individual and group responses; these conditions
include a whole individual, belonging to a particular social group and acting in a
particular social and material environment. This framework is then applied to the
study of cultural contact (where groups are in intimate contact with one another) and
cultural borrowing (where foreign cultural elements are carried by single individuals
B. Wagoner (!)
Department of Communication and Psychology,
Aalborg University, Kroghstrde 3, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]
125
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B. Wagoner
to a receipt group). The results of these intercultural contacts will depend on a number
of factors, including the symmetry of relationship between the groups concerned and
the social organization particular to them. Finally, a discussion is made of how this
framework can be extended so as to apply it to contemporary society.
127
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Rivers Diffusionism
Rivers greatly enjoyed his time doing research in Torres Straight and afterwards devoted himself to the emerging discipline of anthropology through further fieldwork
in Melanesia, Egypt, Australia and southwest India. Within the course of his investigations, he came to increasingly question the assumptions of cultural evolution. In
1911, he gave a lecture to the anthropology section of The British Association for
the Advancement of Science explaining his conversion to a diffusionist perspective.
The diffusionist approach had itself migrated to England from Germany, where it
was first developed by Ratzel, Graebner and Schmidt. This approach saw a groups
culture as being result of contact between different cultural groups rather than an
independent evolution. For instance, a societys transition from figurative to geometric decorative art designs would be explained through the history of contact with
another group that had a convention of more geometric artistic designs, rather than
by an evolutionary tendency as Haddon had done.
The diffusionists argued that a groups history of cultural contacts provides a
better guide to how a culture had developed than a uniform evolutionary norm. The
cultural evolutionary approach often led to erroneous conclusions about a groups
cultural history. For example, it said that a group believing in mana (an impersonal
129
supernatural force) was at the most primitive stage and would progress in the next
stage to animism. Rivers (1911) points out that in some Melanesian groups he had
worked with, it was likely that the earlier religion was animistic and that this was
replaced when the natives came into contact with a group believing in mana. What
cultural evolutionists considered to be the more primitive form of religion had in fact
been imported from outside replacing what they considered to be the more advanced
cultural form. Furthermore, elements of a groups culture may also internally devolve
if they lose their functional significance: Rivers (1912) shows how different South
Pacific groups lost the art of making canoes, pottery or the bow and arrow.
Rivers also argued that cultures were not as unitary as the evolutionists made them
out to be. Multiple different cultural beliefs and practices could coexist in the same
society. For instance, in Melanesian society, Rivers (1914) found several different
customs of disposing of the dead, which for him illustrated a history of diverse
cultural contacts. Even more, some cultural forms only arise out of the interaction
between two groupsthat is, they did not exist in either group before their meeting
and interchange. Following psychoanalytic theory, Rivers said that groups developed
cultural forms that were compromise formationsbringing together two different and
often conflicting cultural practices in a new cultural form. A societys culture must
then be seen as the result of a blending of different peoples. The question for him
becomes what are the factors involved in the transmission and transformation of
culture between peoples.
One important conceptual move was to see culture as having different levels,
from social structure at the deepest level to material culture at the shallowest
level, and language occupying a middle position between the two. Material culture
could be easily changed when one group recognized a superior element of culture in
the otherthe quick adoption of European firearms by primitive people is a good
example of this. This kind of cultural change requires only a few migrants carrying the
cultural item with them. By contrast, social structureincluding marriage customs,
kinship patterns and group sentimentshas a far more deep-seated character and
changes only with the intimate blending of two peoples or the most profound political
changes. As such, it is with social structure that we must begin the attempt to analyze
culture and to ascertain how far community of culture is due to the blending of
peoples, how far to the transmission through mere contact or transient settlement
(Rivers 1911, p. 395).
This emphasis on social structure in Rivers theory was itself influenced by contact with the ideas of Durkheim and his sociological school. This influence helped
Rivers to make a departure from the individualist psychology of cultural evolutionism. Durkheim argued that out of group interaction emerged social forms that were
irreducible to individual processes within the group. He made the analogue with the
properties of H2 O: hydrogen and oxygen are flammable on their own but put together
as a molecule they can put out a fire. Just as properties found at the molecular level
cannot be predicted from the atomic level, so too properties of groups cannot be
predicted from the individuals in them. These group properties (such as customs,
values and traditionsin short collective representations) exert a determinate influence on the thought and behaviour of individuals in the group. While recognizing
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the importance and autonomy of social facts, Rivers (1916) would not separate
sociology and psychology as sharply as Durkheim; instead, he saw the two fields as
developing a number of connections and mutually enriching one another.
Rivers also retained a more psychological perspective in his belief that individuals
would regress to more primitive levels of functioning under certain environmental
conditions. The physiological basis for this was demonstrated in well-known experiment by Rivers and Head (1908): Rivers severed a nerve in Heads arm and over a
period of 5 years detailed the return of sensation to it. They found that first a holistic all-or-nothing sensitivity returned (i.e. protopathic sensibility), which registered
blunt pressure on the skin but was completely insensitive to stimulation with cotton
wool, to pricking with a pin, and to all degrees of heat and cold. Later, localized
sensitivity (i.e. epicritic sensibility) returned and suppressed the influence of the
former. Following the neurologist Hughling Jackson, they thought the former was
evolutionarily a more primitive response. Likewise, on the Torres Straight expedition, Rivers had recognized that the islanders performance on a task was worse
when they were fatigued or during certain times of day. These studies and others led
him to emphatically reject the more radical Durkheimian position of Lvy-Bruhl,
who claimed that the thought processes of primitives were entirely different from
Europeans (see following text).1 Individuals from any culture could regress to more
primitive functioning under certain environmental conditions, such as fatigue or in
the extreme case of war.
He also rejected the functionalist argument that culture was always beneficial for the society
concerned. As a psychiatrist who treated shell-shocked soldiers, he knew that extreme conditions
such as war clearly lead to pathological functioning.
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The job of the psychologist is then to explore the conditions under which certain responses occur. The conditions set up by the social group to which the individual is a
member are always present and of central importance. In stressing social conditions,
Bartlett was attempting to avoid the pitfalls of the cultural evolutionary approach,
which explained culture by speculating about its origin in purely individual psychological processes. For example, the folk story had been explained as the outcome of
an individuals contemplation of nature or like the dream, springs from one or two
deep-seated individual needs, or desires, or wishes (p. 58). Both Fraser and psychoanalysis adopted this form of explanation. These explanations fail firstly because it
is normally impossible to discover the absolute origin of a folk story and secondly
because they ignore inescapable social influences. For a folk story to be transmitted
or maintained within a primitive community, it must be performed to an audience.
The storyteller must make an appeal to their interests and ways of thinking in order
to retain and bolster his own prestige. This dynamic facilitates conservation of the
story when it is retold within a particular community. However, when a folk story
spreads from one community to another, it is usually transformed in order to appeal
to new audiences. Bartlett uses Boas (1901) work on Native American folk tales
to illustrate how the same story morphs into different forms as a function of the
community to which it enters. He shows how the storys characters, their relations to
one another and the moral conveyed change from one community to the next. In all
this, we find that it is not the institution that is derived from the story but the story
from the institution (Bartlett 1923, p. 61).
Even outside the direct presence of the social group, the individual is unconsciously influenced by his or her groups cultural patterns or conventions. Bartlett
gives the example of the Dahomey artist, who is convinced that he is creating a new
design. In fact, the artist is following a number of conventions, such as the need to put
a kink in each curve, rather than making them smooth, and for the figure to possess
a certain harmony of outline and balance of parts, which are characteristic to the
social group he belongs (p. 12). Thus, we cannot fall prey to thinking of individual
experience and action in pre-social terms, outside the traditions of his or her social
group:
It is only if we interpret individual to mean pre-social that we can take psychology to be
prehistoric. The truth is that there are some individual responses which simply do not occur
outside a social group. To look for these outside such a group is to court failure, and leads
inevitably to speculation and guess-work. (pp. 1213)
The notion of the social used here is markedly different from contemporary psychologys use, which tends to focus exclusively on interactions between individuals,
ignoring the broader socialhistorical context. By contrast, social scientists up to the
early decades of the twentieth century defined the social as the norms, values and
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B. Wagoner
traditions specific to different social groups; properties that could not be reduced to
the individuals in the group (Greenwood 2003). All groups have conventions that are
in many cases unique to them. Scientists can use a groups conventions as legitimate
starting points in their analysis without having to explain them in themselves, as
cultural evolutionists had done.2 The methodology for such an approach becomes
the intensive study of particular social groups and their mentalities. Bartlett (1923)
argues that general theory should be developed from the careful analysis of concrete
single cases rather than simply in the abstract. He also practices what he preaches:
Psychology and Primitive Culture is replete with extensive discussions of primitive cultures from the North America, Africa and Southeast Asia, demonstrating
Bartletts wide reading in anthropology. These studies are worked with in their complex uniqueness in order to generate principles for describing and explaining cultural
dynamics at a general level.3
The notion of tendency implies a dynamic relation between an individual and his or
her environment, similar to what other theorists have called a transactive approach.
Bartletts tendency was an extension of McDougalls instinct, discussed in his An
Introduction to Social Psychology (1908), which for many years was the most widely
read source on the subject, especially in England. Inspired by Darwins evolutionary
theory, McDougall made instincts the central ingredients of his psychology. For
him, instincts were innately determined psychophysical dispositions, which provide the drive behind the human minds purposive character. They should not be
understood in terms of a rigid behaviour sequence, but rather flexible patterns taking
shape in particular environments. Through the instincts, he aimed to give motivation
(the active part of the mind) its rightful place in the discipline of psychology.
2
Compare Wittgensteins (1958) comments on the nature of customs: If I have exhausted the
justifications, I have reached bedrock and my spade is turned. Then I am inclined to say: This is
simply what I do.
3
In this respect, Bartletts approach is in step with idiographic principles of theory building (see
Salvatore and Valsiner 2010).
133
Bartlett was sympathetic to McDougalls approach but criticized him for his focus
on creating an exhaustive list of instincts rather than emphasizing how they combine
in individual and group behaviour. Bartlett is content to work with an incomplete
set of instincts in his analysis of culture and only adds others when it becomes
necessary. He extends McDougalls instincts to create a typology of tendencies,
which includes:
(a) instinctive tendencies, (b) other tendencies, also innate, but particular to the individual
himself; (c) derived or constructed tendencies which, in the course of experience, are built
up on the basis of (a) and (b). In the last class perhaps the most important of all are the
tendencies to reaction which an individual absorbs or takes over directly from his social
group. (Bartlett 1927, p. 198)
Bartlett called the first group fundamental tendencies, because they provide the
foundation on which the other tendencies are constructed. The fundamental tendencies are innate and shared by all human beings. Examples are flight, repulsion,
curiosity, pugnacity, construction, suggestibility, imitation, feeding, parental and
gregarious instincts. Some fundamental tendencies are immediately social, requiring
a group for their expression (e.g. suggestibility), while others are not. Two different classes of the fundamental tendencies are particularly important to Bartletts
approach and will require more detailed explication.
First, the social relationship tendencies include dominance, submissiveness and
primitive comradeship. When there is asymmetry of power and status in a social
relationship, the higher-status individual or group takes on the dominance or assertive tendency, while the lower-status actor takes on the submissive tendency. The
dominant actor has influence through command and by making an impression on the
other rather than being an expression of their way of thinking. In contrast, primitive
comradeship is expressed in symmetrical social relationships. Here, influence moves
freely from both parties without force from either. Elsewhere, Bartlett calls this tendency friendship and persuasiveness. This group of tendencies is distinctly social
in that they require a group for their expression. They are present in the relations
between groups, between individuals in a group, and in an individuals relation to
his or her group (e.g. a leader).
A second class of important fundamental tendencies includes conservation and
construction. The conserving tendency provides a basis for the continuance of institutions, just as . . . constructiveness gives us a basis for the formation of institutions
(p. 42). These tendencies are interesting in that they suggest situating individuals
and groups dynamically in time. Stability is maintained through conservation that
is oriented to the past, while change is brought about through construction which
is oriented to the future. Conservation is supported by a tendency of preferring the
familiar to the unfamiliar (p. 41).4 At a group level it is upheld by collective sentiments towards established group symbols, such as religious objects, titles, uniforms,
etc. By contrast, the construction tendency looks forward and is responsible for the
4
This phrase is taken over directly from McDougall (1908). In Remembering, Bartlett changes it
to the more active making the unfamiliar familiar. The revised phrase in turn becomes central to
Moscovicis theory of social representations.
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creation of new cultural forms and social organization.5 In short, conservation and
construction are the dynamic mechanisms of stability and change.
The last class is the derived tendencies, of which I will only mention a subset that the individual takes over directly from his social group. These bring into
Bartletts framework the inescapable influence of group conventions. Bartlett says,
[These tendencies] cluster about a groups established institutions and act directly
as determining factors of individual social behavior (p. 29). He calls them the group
difference tendencies to make an analogue with individual difference tendencies
groups, like individuals, have different mentalities. In Remembering, Bartlett renames them the groups preferred persistent tendencies. It is important to note that
he does not see these tendencies as necessarily opposed to biological tendencies, but
rather as constructed from them. At the same time, he is emphatic that they are not
reducible to individual processes.
The typology of tendencies is useful for analytic purposes but it is important
to keep in mind that the tendencies always operate together as a dynamic system.
For example, if fear is called into play in a social setting in which the prevailing
tendency is primitive comradeship, it is likely to lead to panic, group disintegration
or stampede. By contrast, if the social relationship tendency is that of dominance the
constructive [tendency] is likely to be immediately aroused, and therefore definite
social mechanisms of persecution and cruelty, hardening into social institutions will
appear (p. 39). These examples describe the hierarchical organization of different
tendencies 6 , but there may also be conflict between themfor example, between
the tendencies of curiosity and fear, comradeship and dominance, or conservation
and construction, to name a few. When the antagonism among tendencies is strong
the opposing tendencies will have their expression limited to a particular sphere of
activity or a recognized period of time. Social limitations on the expression of sexual
or violent impulses in certain contexts are obvious examples of this. On the other
hand, weak antagonism between tendencies tends to lead to their integration in new
cultural forms, sometimes called compromise formations (see previous text). For
instance, friendly discussion between people with different points of view is highly
conducive to the construction of new ideas. Lastly, tendencies can mutually reinforce
one another in positive feedback loop without becoming integrated into a new form.
Group Organization
Characteristic groups and institutions grow up within the spheres of activity to which
specific tendencies are limited within a society. These groups function to maintain
5
The concept of construction would later become central to Bartletts (1932) theory of remembering,
in which memories are not merely registers of the past but are constructed in order to meet current
demands (see Wagoner, 2014).
6
Bartletts idea of the hierarchical organization of tendencies has parallels with Valsiners (2007)
notion of regulation through semiotic hierarchies.
135
the tendencies in question and guide their expression. Bartletts (1925a) definition
of a group puts tendencies at its core:
A group is any collection of people organized by some common appetite, instinctive or
emotional tendency, need, interest, sentiment, or ideal. The essential character is the organization, and one of the best general ways of differentiating one group from another is by
reference to the different typical organizing tendencies that are at work. (p. 347)
Out of the sentiment group a third type of group can develop, called the ideal group.
This group is practical and intellectual in its workings, though it retains a basis in
feeling. Bartlett saw an example of this type in expert scientific groups and the League
7
Bartlett (1937, 1943) argued that a groups psychological possessions can best be brought to light
with psychological methods, such as his method of serial reproduction.
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B. Wagoner
of Nations (renamed The United Nations). Unlike the sentiment group, which looks
to the past, the ideal group is oriented primarily to the future. In other words, it is
more constructive than conservative. The sentiment maintains what has been and
is, the ideal seeks to determine what will be. Nearly all vigorous and effective groups
within the modern nation are mainly ideal groups; all nation groups are at present
mainly sentiment groups (p. 365).
The sentiment and ideal groups also differ in the type of leadership they support.
The leader in the sentiment group garners his or her prestige through the institution.
This is done with the use of institutional symbols, such as uniforms, titles, badges
and modes of address, which elicit group sentiment. These leaders have difficulty
deviating from the traditional requirements of their role and thus lack flexibility. By
contrast, the leader of the ideal group acquires his or her position as a result of his or
her practical insight and ability to weave different factions into a common pattern.
In short, they are of the constructive and comradeship type.
Every group in a society develops its own institutions, which express and maintain
the tendencies that differentiate it from other groups. The group receives a certain
reputation and prestige within the broader community that are passed on to its
members. Thus, we need to consider the relations between groups. A reputation
means that certain abilities and qualities immediately spring to mind when persons
of that group are seen. This in turn makes members of the group more likely to
display and exaggerate the abilities and qualities in question, such that they become
conventionalized attributes of the group. Leaders within the group tend to most
strongly display these attributes. A feedback loop emerges between the expectation
of the community and display by its members, especially the leader. Such a stabilized
social organization will be resistant to change. Even if the broader community tries
to drive the groups tendency out of social life altogether, the groups tendencies will
simply go underground and only come to the surface again in moments of crisis, as
can be seen in sudden religious revivals and outbursts of persecution. In the next
section, we will consider what happens when two cultures come into contact and
how these group dynamics shape the result.
137
group, and on returning home bring with them foreign cultural elements, which they
often try to introduce into the life of their home community. Finally, intercommunication involves two neighbouring groups that are in regular contact with one another,
assuring the steady flow of culture between them. It thus occupies an intermediate
position between contact and borrowing. Bartlett does not elaborate on it.
Diffusion of culture by contact takes different directions depending on a number
of factors, such as the social relationship tendency of the group (e.g. being inclined to
peace or war), the groups numerical proportions, differences in physical and cultural
endowments (i.e. whether one group is perceived to have a superior culture), and
the proportion of the sexes. The most important of these are the social relationship
tendencies. When the two groups share an attitude of primitive comradeship, the
result is likely to be the blending of culture. Knowledge gained of the others culture
will tend to lead to its adoption. In Rivers(1914) work, he described how Melanesian
society had incorporated a number of different ways of disposing of the dead through
the various waves of contact with other people. By contrast, dominance of one group
tends to lead to the displacement of the other.
There are, however, different types of dominance that need to be differentiated.
The most extreme form of dominance is due to force of numbers leading to the
extermination of the other. A more psychological form of dominance is when one
group is perceived to have the more superior culture, in which case the other group
will readily adopt it. However, the adoption tends to happen at the surface level of
culture (i.e. material culture, ceremony and designs) and not to the deeper level of
social organization and the interpretation of these different elements, which will be
resistant to change. Moreover, this adoption will be selective; it will depend on the
particular tendencies in operation in the group, which are expressed as the groups
distinctive cultural patterns. These patterns grow and adapt to incorporate the new:
It is because the group is selectively conservative that it is also plastic (Bartlett
1923, pp. 151152). Thus, the group retains stability through its flexibility.
Finally, one group might force the other to relinquish its culture to be replaced
by the culture of the dominant group, which the other does not see as superior.
This has generally happened with European efforts to convert primitive groups to
Christianity. In this process, the primitives culture does not altogether disappear, but
is driven underground or the old is retained by becoming the backdrop upon which
the new cultural material (e.g. Christianity) is superimposed. For example,
Years after the Spaniards had conquered New Granada . . . when the native Indians were
all accounted Christian, and had taken over the religious paraphernalia of their conquerors,
secret Indian shrines were sometimes found. In one of these was discovered, offered to the
overthrown idols, the cap of a Franciscan friar, a rosary, a priests biretta, and a Spanish
book of religious precepts. The new material had been assimilated, but its predominant,
though hidden significance preserved the past. (Bartlett 1925b, p. 5)
This processes lead to the formation of symbols. Symbols are different from signs in
that they have double or multiple meanings (Bartlett 1924). They carry both a face
and an underlying hidden value. The latter is generally characterized by sentiment,
which helps to give symbols whatever stability they possess. In the previous quotation
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the cap of a Franciscan friar, a rosary, a priests biretta, and a Spanish book of
religious precepts stand for the hidden value of old religious beliefs.
Diffusion by borrowing takes a different route. Here, an individual travels to
another group and assimilates elements of that culture on the basis of his or her
particular personality. The personality of the individual borrower is itself the result
of a combination of different tendencies, including those taken over directly from
the social group to which the individual belongs. Diffusion by borrowing is more
influenced by individual psychological processes than diffusion by contact. It is
personality that determines which aspects of the foreign culture are lifted out and
brought back to the individuals own group, as well as how the individual borrower
relates with their home group once they have returned to it. When the individual tries
to introduce the new element of culture to his or her group, a new special group
will typically develop around the new item. This group then often comes into conflict
with the wider group as it attempts to extend its sphere of influence. Bartlett gives
the following example:
John Rave, a member of the Winnebago group, was a man of strong religious bias. Travelling
eastwards from his home he came into touch with a new religious cult centering about the
eating of the drug peyote. He took over many of the new practices, and returned to his
home, where he introduced them amongst his friends. Subsequently the cult spread widely
throughout the community, with Rave as a ceremonial leader. Outwardly novel, the cult
represented in the main the persistence of the old. A fire mound was used. It was called
Mount Sinai; it took the place of the old sacred mound of the Buffalo Dance. The Bible
was introduced. On the face of it the Bible was new, and carried the prestige of a higher
civilisation. In actual fact it was treated exactly as any item of the old Winnebago ceremonial
regalia had been treated. Raves religious interest had been attracted by the new customs;
his strong conservatism had placed them in close relation to the old practices. And his
interpretations then became current owing to his position in the community. (Bartlett 1924,
pp. 281282)
Raves personal interest in ceremony was the mechanism that lifted the peyote out
of the foreign group and brought it back to his home group. In his home community,
Rave formed a special group around the peyote. Conflict with the community started
when Rave wanted to expand the borders of the peyote cult. The expansion of the
group required increasing its prestige within the wider community, which involved
incorporating old cultural patterns into it and thus leading to the formation of symbols.
For example, the fire mound took the face value of Mount Sinai and the hidden
value of the old scared mound of the Buffalo Dance. When the community rejected
the new cult, Rave became more hostile to the old traditions, which paved the way
for a more aggressive innovator named Hensley, who introduced the bible into the
cult. The growth of the cult into a new cultural pattern was not planned by any
single individual; rather it involved the unconscious weaving together of a number
of scattered influences. Bartlett (1923, 1928, 1932) calls this complex process social
construction or social constructiveness, which we will return to later.
139
The exception to this is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were highly ritualized and changed
little over thousands of years.
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B. Wagoner
notes again that a process of elaboration often precedes and works in consort with
it. Changes seen in decorative art and alphabetic script through time are prototypical examples. Retention of apparently unimportant elements was frequently found in
Bartletts (1932) own experimental results. These retentions tended to exert a decisive
influence on the direction of change the material underwent. Again, close parallels
can be made with the diffusion of decorative art described by Haddon (1894).
Perhaps the most interesting in the list is the process of social constructiveness,
which we have already encountered in the discussion of diffusion by borrowing. This
points to the fact that groups not only have a past but also a prospect (i.e. a future
orientation). Culture is transformed not only in the direction of already existing
cultural patterns but also positively in the direction along which the group happens
to be developing (Bartlett 1932, p. 275). The general outcome is usually the welding
together of cultural elements from diverse sources into a new cultural form or social
organization. This is what happened with the peyote cult described above, and is how
Bartlett (1925a) characterized ideal groups, which become particularly important in
modern society (see following text). Bartlett (1932) even characterizes sports teams
as socially constructive in their creative and dynamic response to new challenges
in the game. The concept of social constructiveness thus synthesizes diffusionisms
focus on spread of culture and cultural evolutions focus on the progressive growth
of culture from within (see Bartlett 1928).
141
Bartlett accepts Lvy-Bruhls Durkheimian argument for the need to include social
causes in ones analysis but is critical of his way of doing this. Firstly, Bartlett (1923,
p. 289) comments, the error . . . is not that the primitive or abnormal are wrongly
observed, but that the modern and normal are hardly observed at all. He goes on to
say that Lvy-Bruhl compares the primitive to the scientific expert or philosopher
rather than the everyday thinking of modern people. Secondly, primitive societies
contain a variety of different thought styles, which change in relation to the topic (e.g.
death, war, food, art). In other words, the same tendencies found in primitive society
can also be discovered in the modern society, though not necessarily in the same
contexts and in relation to the same material. The notion of causality illustrates this
point: Causal links says Lvy-Bruhl, which for us are the very essence of nature,
the foundation of its reality and stability, have no interest for the primitive man: he is
swayed by a kind of a priori over which experience exerts no influence (quoted in
Bartlett 1923, p. 289). Examples of establishing links and not establishing links in a
causal chain can be found in both the thinking of primitives and modern people. The
range of thinking styles found in both cultures makes the sharp distinction between
them untenable. As such, Bartlett argues that the basic processes of thought are the
same for both primitives and moderns but that their differing life conditions lead to
the greater influence of certain tendencies:
There are . . . two great differences between primitive and modern mental life. First the
contents dealt with are different, and secondly the tendencies which deal with them are
differently arranged. We, at our level, are perhaps less closely dominated by immediate
vital needs, for the means of which these are to be secured have become to a large extent
a part of the regular organisation of society . . . we less readily yield ourselves to the sway
of freely associated images, more often try to use some formulation which claims general
and objective validity. But when the savage thinks, he thinks as we do. When we follow the
flight of images our progress has the same characteristics as his. (Bartlett 1927, p. 202)
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Bartlett also mentions the ascendency of a particular kind of leader in the modern
world, which he calls representative man. This leader stands in for his group in the
negotiation with other representative men over policy that affects all their groups.
Representative men are necessary in modern society because of the ever larger social
groups that must be coordinated. The representative man tends to be of a diplomatic
type, who expresses his group rather than impresses it (p. 261). He is generally of
the comradeship rather than dominant type in his relation with other representative
men and members of the group he represents. Any decision or contract arrived at by
the group of representatives is binding for all the groups to which they stand. Often a
group breaks these contracts leading to accusations of deceit and immorality by others, but this outcome can also be explained from a social psychological perspective.
Bartlett (1923) points out that the behaviour of the representative man in the group
which concludes the bargain, and his behaviour in the group which has elected him,
are conditioned by different sets of factors (p. 260). The traditions regulating the
group of representational men are not the same traditions regulating his behaviour
with regard to his own group, and being of the comradeship type, he is highly swayed
by both influences.
This insight has important implications for and parallels with contemporary theories of globalization. Robertson (1992), for example, argues that we need to simultaneously consider localization
alongside globalization. He combines the two processes in his invention of the term glocalization.
11
Late in his career, Bartlett did publish a number of other articles and speeches on different
aspects of modern cultural diffusione.g. national and international social groupings (Bartlett
1947a, 1947b), globalized culture (Bartlett 1955), and the cinema (Bartlett 1960).
143
With regards to education, Bartlett describes the efforts made by the Bolsheviks
to make the largely illiterate masses literate so that they would be in a position to
replace old habits with new ones deemed correct by the Communist party. These
efforts, however, resulted in stimulating intellectual curiosity beyond the Party ideology, as Bartletts theory of groups would predict. Thus, in the interests of retaining
uniformity of opinion, totalitarian regimes combine education with strict censorship, dramatic persecution and many forms of repression. Ultimately, Russia began
to prefer more visual propaganda, such as film, picture posters and art, which according to Bartlett (1932) are less likely to stimulate analysis and critical distance
than words. Italian and German Fascists developed similar tactics for totalitarian education, rewriting schoolbooks, controlling the press and pitching their message to
the lowest intellectual level. These efforts were particularly systematic in Germany.
In any social organization, the propagandist must pitch his or her message so that
it connects up with the publics already existing tendencies if their efforts are to be
successful, although education might be put in the service of creating new tendencies.
There will always be certain aspects of a groups beliefs that are highly resistant to
change while others are more open to itBartlett (1943, 1946) called these the
hard and soft features of culture, respectively. A thorough understanding of the
particular culture background of the audience is needed to identify where propaganda
can be successful. This makes it much easier to create propaganda for the home group
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B. Wagoner
than a foreign group as currents in the culture can be much more easily intuited
in the former case. Even in the home group the message will often be transformed
in the process of communication. An extreme case of this is where the propagandist
spreads rumours within a population (i.e. a whisper campaign). The problem with
this is that while rumours are easy to start, they are difficult to control; they readily
transform in their transmission, often in surprising directions, as Bartletts (1932)
serial reproduction experiments themselves show. In the end, they may have the
opposite effect to the one intended by the propagandist.
In addition to whisper campaigns, Bartlett analyzes a number of different methods used by the propagandist in order to shape public opinion. Some of these are of
general utility when used in a certain way but nevertheless come with limitations.
For example, humour can be successfully used if the propagandist is sufficiently
acquainted with currents within the culture of his audience. For it to be effective the
message must be pitched just beyond what has already become a routine joke, so
as not bore or offend the receiver. Another frequently successful method is the use
of statistics. Even though the assumptions made about them are usually wrong, the
use of statistics succeeds because numbers operate as symbols that have the aura of
scientific fact. Symbols of all kinds can be highly potent in that their hidden value
produces effects without the person ever becoming fully aware. For instance, the
Italian Fascists put images of a club, fist or, particularly, square jaw next to verbal
content to convey authority. There are other methods of propaganda, however, that
often completely fail because of their assumption that the public is of low intelligence and forgetful. For example, lying and distortion generally only produces the
desired effect in the short term, as it is likely to be called out by counter-propaganda,
destroying propagandists group credibility in the future. Other methods that pitch
to the lowest intelligence, such as constant repetition and avoiding argument in preference for simple declarations, run the risk of boring their audience, so that they pay
little attention to the message.
Bartlett argues that democratic propaganda operates with a different set of principles than totalitarian regimes: It allows for dissenting views, avoids the lie and
focuses on long-term rather than short-term effects. Moreover, rather than keeping
the publics intelligence at a low level and trying to get the bulk of people to accept
wide generalizations without criticism, democratic propaganda allows for the free
interplay of different points of view, so as to stimulate intelligence and independent
thoughtBartlett (1923) had earlier described this in relation to modern culture (as
already discussed). Bartlett finds parallels between democratic propaganda and modern advertising, in that, in both, multiple different messages are available and thus the
sender must persuade the receiver. In short, while the democratic propagandist tends
to be of the persuasive type, the totalitarian propagandist is dominant in relation to a
submissive audience. Bartlett clearly favoured democratic forms of propaganda and
even rather optimistically believed in the power words to settle difficulties that arise
when interdependent larger groups come into contact (Bartlett 1947a, p. 36).
145
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References
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Bartlett, F. C. (1924). Symbolism in folk-lore. In Proceedings of the VIIth International Congress
of Psychology (pp. 278289). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bartlett, F. C. (1925a). Group organisation and social behaviour. International Journal of Ethics,
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Bartlett, F. C. (1925b). The social functions of symbols. Australasian Journal of Psychology and
Philosophy, 3, 111.
Bartlett, F. C. (1927). The psychology of the lower races. In Proceedings of the VIIIth International
Congress of Psychology (pp. 198202). Grningen: P. Noordhoff
Bartlett, F. C. (1928). Social constructiveness: Pt. 1. British Journal of Psychology, 18, 388391.
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Chapter 8
The possibility to use the notion of catalysis to develop a semiotic cultural psychology
is important. However, this task is not easy since the transposition of a concept from
one discipline to another is not easy. We believe it is essential that the complexity of
the human being is preserved and understood as a subject in relation to and developing
within the socio-cultural world.
The concept of catalysis used in chemistry and in biology refers to the conditions
necessary but not sufficientby means of a catalystto help in two different ways:
(1) the production of chemical substances which could not be produced without the
presence of catalyst and (2) the change in the reaction rate that could not take place
without the presence of the catalyst (Valsiner 2007; Cabell 2011; Cabell 2010).
The catalyst has the same abstract function in both disciplinesfunctioning as a helper
in the reaction process. The way in which the catalyst helps in the reaction process is
by activation. In psychology, the catalyst or the catalytic agent activates other mediating
functions required for the reaction process. In chemistry the help comes from providing
resources (energy) that activate the reaction. Although the outcomes of the catalytic process
in both disciplines are similar, they slightly differ. In psychology, catalysis enables production
of novel meanings and enables the regulation of other meanings. In chemistry, catalysis aids
in producing novel chemical substances and aids in changing the rate of reaction. (Cabell
2011, p. 3)
149
150
(a point-like sign, a field-like sign, or a hypergeneralized sign1 ) in which the psychological system provides the conditions necessary to enable the production and
regulation of other meanings in the stream of consciousness of the person.
A catalyst enables the production of new meanings through the activation of
other mediation mechanisms and regulation mechanisms within the system (e.g.,
promotion and inhibition) (Valsiner 2007; Cabell 2011).
The innovative importance of this concept is that researchers can renounce the old
concept of linear causality and the use of causeeffect that has dominated psychology
throughout the epistemology of modern science.
Catalysis is a concept that introduces the researcher to the systemic and circular
causality toward a complex vision of the dynamic interaction between organism and
environment.
The before and after of a phenomenon are no longer states with different ontological status but are modalities of same phenomenon that are interconnected with
hierarchical levels of different extension and generalization. This enables research
of a phenomena in a different way then what is typically performed. A psychological phenomenon is always embedded in a process taking place over time and in an
ecological setting.
How can the semiotic catalytic perspective preserve and help understand the system of subjectivity? How is a semiotic catalyst able to create conditions that favor
the development of psychological processes that occur over time, but without the
ability to determine imperatively the direction of the trend?
Similarly, another question that also demands discussion, is what, how, and
when a semiotic catalyst such as semiotic agent becomes active. If we believe that
a semiotic catalyst predisposes the appropriate conditions for the implementation
of a process then we feel the need to ask ourselves what predisposes the necessary
conditions to activate the working of the catalyst.
Autocatalysis (Deacon and Sherman 2008; Kauffman 1995; Lotman 2000;
Valsiner 2007; Cabell 2011) is a phenomenon based on processes of recursivity
and self-regeneration Autocatalysis requires at least three parts (two catalysts and
one molecule) that react in a way that is mutually generating. The catalytic process is assumed to be the original transition from inorganic material to the organic
world allowing for the initial conditions of the emergence of life. However, the
1
Point-like signs are static and stable conceptions/representations of something. The most common
example of a point-like sign is a word. [. . .] Therefore, we can identify the presence of a catalyst
in the form of a point-like sign by a particular word that provides the conditions necessary for
regulated change (Cabell 2010, p. 28). [. . .] Field-like signs are mental conceptions/representations
structured in space and time and represent through the embeddedness of something in relationship
to its (spatiotemporal) environment. For example, the notion of identity can be viewed not as an
entity (I am X) but as a field-like sign through which catalytic processes can take place (Cabell
2010, p. 30). [. . .] Hypergeneralized signs allow for symbolic generalization and symbolic linkages
with the indefinite and indefinable. They provide a representation of the totality of life experiences
in a form that is overwhelmingly indefinable, and yet actively operating (and many times regulating)
in the psychological functions of the individual (Cabell 2010, p. 31, emphasis added).
151
152
of the subjectivity of a person requests that the complexity, the potential, and the
vastness of its relational links are integrated and interacting with each other and that
can be achieved in concrete terms.
We believe that the way to relate the complexity of the human being with the
worlds complexity is through emotion. We use the catalytic metaphoras a reconceptualization of chemical catalysis (Cabell 2011)to expose our idea of how
emotion is a process of creating a context that activates various semiotic processes of
meaning making and predispositions to act. This process of contextualization is an
affective way of constructing, weaving, and maintaining relationships with other people in the world of becoming. Such affective processes catalyzeactivesemiotic
fields in order to create lived experience, intersubjectivity, and cultural ground.
Building a Context
We define emotion as a primary psychophysical experience activated by stimuli
of context, and also as the main component of the human relationship with the
environment which generates the elaboration of emotional symbolization of events
(Carli and Paniccia 2003; Salvatore and Zittoun 2011; Salvatore and Freda 2011;
Freda and De Luca Picione 2012).
Emotion is not only an effect or a reaction to stimuli but also a process of immediate
orientation of ones actions. Emotion, therefore, does not concern the evaluation of
a single, discrete object or event but is rather a field of experience and guides the
process of interpretation and meaning making (Salvatore and Freda 2011). Emotions
acts as a catalytic process that ensures the conditions of semiosis and facticity of
being-in-the world.
The debate on the role of emotions in human life is ancient and unresolved due
to the irreconcilability of physicalist, neurophysiological, cognitivist, phenomenological, psychoanalytic, etc. positions. Although generally the term emotion is
understood as a conscious experience and a recognition of affective states (Valsiner
2001), in this work we use this term in reference to its Latin etymology of ex-movere
namely to push out, to move toward, meaning to refer to emotion as a process
of construction of a context, as a condition in which it is possible exert an action
and a process of meaning making. We prefer the use of the term emotion to that
of affect just to focus on the aspect of catalytic predisposition for every semiotic
process, although we are aware that this could cause confusion and ambiguity for the
turbulent history of this term in several disciplines. However, the lack of a definitive
agreement and a constant evolution in time of the meaning of this term is a clear sign
of how it continues to arouse the interest of scientists, scholars, theologians, philosophers, psychologists, and thinkers, precisely because it is an essential constituent
dimension of the action and thought of the human being.2
2
Here, we avoid entering in the debate about whether the emotion is inherent in every living being.
153
The use of the term unconscious in this work is not in reference to representations that are
repressed and relegated in some alleged region of the psyche. The term unconscious refers to
a specific modality of semiosis according to the principles of condensation, displacement, absence
of the concepts of space and time, lack of denial (Freud 1915) whose extensive study by Matte
Blanco have made possible to draw the principles of symmetry and generalization (Matte Blanco
1975, 1989) of affective semiosis (Carli and Paniccia 2003; Salvatore and Zittoun 2011, Salvatore
and Freda 2011, De Luca Picione and Freda 2012). In this way, the unconscious is not a region
of a reified psychic system but is a modality of a specific process of meaning of the experiences
that Freud called primary process (no temporal relationship of before and after, no denial, lack
of distinction between reality internal and external reality; Freud 1900, 1911, 1915).
4
According Matte Blanco, the ways of working of unconscious are the principle of generalization
and the principle of symmetry. The former states that the unconscious system treats an individual
154
and produce homogeneity between the parts of a given relation. Such a process of
affective semiosis transforms relations of contiguity between the signs in relations of
identity and comes to confuse the part with the whole (Matte Blanco 1975; Salvatore
and Freda 2011; Zittoun and Salvatore 2011; De Luca Picione and Freda 2012).
The process of asymmetrization instead deals with specific perceptive activity.
It works by identifying differences. It operates according to the principles of Aristotelian logic system (the principle of identity, the principle of non-contradiction, the
principle of the excluded third; Matte Blanco 1975). The logic and semantic relations
sustain rational thought in whom the position of the terms of any relation are not
changeable and cannot be inverted without affecting the truth value of the proposition
(Matte Blanco 1975; Salvatore and Freda 2011; Salvatore and Zittoun 2011).
The two psychological modalities (emotional and perceptual) are never absolute
but always interdependent and mutually interacting at different levels of proportion.
The processes of categorization, generalization, and abstraction are the result of
collaboration and fusion of these two semiotic processes.
The reciprocal influence of perceptual and emotional processes allows the construction of the subjective context in which it is possible to act, to symbolize
experiences, to interact with others. In fact, through the symmetrization and asymmetrization of signs, e can identify a semiotic field in which it is possible to establish
relations with the world and at the same time to allow a compromise between
continuity and discontinuity of experiences.
Lets give an example. A glass is an object that can have an almost unlimited set
of functions but its precise use is defined by the creation of a contextual semiotic
field in which the glass is made usable. The use of glass as a tool to drink, or to
water the plants on the windowsill, or as a container for pens on the desk, or stored
in the cupboard as remembrance of a gift to mark a special occasion, etc. is defined
by a process of specific relations between a subject and an environment that results
in a contextual frame of action and symbolization. This contextual frame is the
delimitation of a specific set of possibilities that guides the actions and thoughts of
a person and is achieved through the organization of a temporary semiotic hierarchy
with different levels of generalization and abstraction (Valsiner 2001, 2006, 2007;
Branco and Valsiner 2009; Cabell and Valsiner 2011).
The glass is made a specific object-sign (for drinking, to water, to contain, to remember, etc.) through a process of semiotic pertinentization that the subject realizes
acting moment by moment in his context. The glass has a number of potential uses,
virtually endless, but it shows itself only under a specific use defined by a subjective
dynamic of contextualization which is created by the symbolopoietic emotional work.
thing (person, object, concept) as if it were a member or element of a set of class which contains
other members; it treats this set or class as a subclass of a more general class, and this more
general class as a subclass or subset of a still more general class, and so on. The latter states that
unconscious system treats the converse of any relation as identical with the relation. In other terms,
it treats asymmetrical relations as if they were symmetrical. From this, some consequences can be
deductible. When the principle of symmetry is applied the (proper) part is necessarily identical to
the whole. When the principle of symmetry is applied, all members of a set or of a class are treated
as identical to one another and to the whole set or class (Matte Blanco 1975).
155
By catalysis, we mean a process that brings together the becoming of the context and of the
subject. What we are defining psychological catalysis is rather the creation of a field of semiotic
spacetime continuity realized through corporeity (namely, the possibility of a percipient and affective body) of the subject. Von Uexkll (1926) defines that every reality is a subjective phenomenon.
In this sense, the psychological catalysis can be understood as a process of construction of an
umwelt. Through catalysis, the environment is transformed in a relevant and salient context for the
perceptual/operational structure of the subject (Freda and De Luca Picione in press).
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157
over time. The form is given by the relation between the systemic complexity of
the subject and the systemic ecological complexity. The form is namely a dialectic
and tension-filled organization that cannot be reduced to the precise definition of the
boundary of a figure. The form is a dynamic, flexible, temporary space, which tries
to repeat itself (because once it has emergedthrough the interconnection of processes of symmetrization and asymmetrizationit exerts an attraction, constitutes a
memory, performs a recursive process of the general organization of the processes
of development in the field).
The form is the relational process of subjectivity that is configured moment by
moment through the dialectic between the figure and the background. Thinking in
terms of form also means emphasizing the importance of the relationship between
the whole and its parts. In fact, the psychological processes are not made up of single
parts (single ideas, single representations, single remembrances, single associations,
single meanings, single behaviors) but are complex organizations in which what can
be isolated as a single part is a phenomenological dimension that only makes sense
in wider developmental trajectories (De Luca Picione and Freda 2012).
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159
continuity conditions and maintains the phenomenal domain. Lets consider the possibility of continuity and discontinuity of the persons life made possible by being
part of a family/group/community/society. Likewise, we can assume a similar point
of view to consider an organ within a body, a cell within an organ, etc.
A part cannot exist without being part of a whole. Each level of semiotic action has
its own specific domain of freedom which is ensured by the stability and continuity
offered by the upper levels that have a temporality of development generally wider,
more extended and slower (from an asymmetric point of view).
In this sense, we have not only a causality that goes from top to bottom and that
determines the behavior of the parts of the underlying layers, but also a lower level
that through its domain of freedom can achieve innovations influencing the other
level.
Once introduced into a certain level of the meaning-making process, an innovation
that has taken on a certain level of stability (that is, has set up a new form) causes a
change in the hierarchy semiotics. That is, creating the semiotic condition extends
the novelty at higher levels through generalization. This occurs when a subject is
capable of signifying a specific experience (through a symbolopoietic process of
redundancy and circularity of reflexivity and emotionality).
The introduction of a novelty is always a phenomenon of rupture of a semiotic
continuity and as such it generates a cascading effect between all levels. The temporary nature of a semiotic hierarchy (Valsiner 2001, 2007; Freda et al. in press) that
supports the development of a process of meaning of experiences is the effect of a
causal circularity that is realized through movement upward and downward.
However, the two movements are not indifferent and homogeneous. In fact, the
introduction of a novelty to a specific level acts along two different directions: (1)
the novelty acts on the higher levels of meaning through a new generalization which
arranges the renegotiation of the continuity and the discontinuity, and (2) instead, the
novelty acts on the lower levels generating new information that directs processes
of more concrete and specific meanings. So we have a chain reaction that makes
generalizations as a synthesis of new continuity and simultaneously novelties that
break the present continuity generating discontinuities. Such processuality ensures
that the boundaries between levels are not defined, established, and clear but are
areas of translation of meanings (Lotman 2005).
We have not understood causality as a deus ex machina, that is, a transcendent mind
that teleologically organizes the future, nor a strong causal principle of etiological
law that determines the behavior of the parts of the lower hierarchical levels. There
is an ecological and systemic circularity but this circularity is not linear and is not
indifferently bidirectional. The recursive causal processes in both directions (upward
and downward) ensure the continuity conditions (through new synthesis) and the
conditions for the introduction of discontinuous novelties (generating ruptures).
In extreme synthesis, we can say that the catalysis of the morphogenetic field of
semiosis occurs through a function of pertinentization on each semiotic level. In this
case, we must not think, however, the isomorphism is a simplistic and trivial repetition
of a pattern over time and across different levels, but it is a process of translation
160
161
162
Conclusion
In this work, we discussed the catalytic process as a semiotic process of transformation of the field. This is the precondition that allows the realization of semiotic
processes of signification and action (semiotic function of pertinentization). Catalysis
is a process that acts in temporal terms (mediating between continuity and discontinuity) and spatial terms (the relationship between the parts and the whole, and between
the inside and the outside). Catalysis in psychological terms is understood as a process of contextual pertinentization triggered by emotional/perceptual relationship of
a subject with his relational environment.
According to the perspective taken in this chapter, we have defined emotion as a
psychophysical process of semiotic activation (symbolopoiesis) and organization of
relations according to specific operating modalities (symmetry and generalization),
believing that it always works in interaction with the perceptual processes (aimed at
identification of differences and asymmetries).
Catalysis, in our view, creates a contextual activation of a morphogenetic field of
semiosis, which regulates the relationship between the parts and the whole (between
the signs and their organization) and the development over time of the process of
meaning making (in terms of continuity and discontinuity/rupture).
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Part V
Chapter 9
Young peoples transition to adulthood is one of the most critical moments in the
life course, when several psychosocial transformations simultaneously pervade the
relationship of the person and their cultural context. As young people develop, they
start to navigate new spheres of experience that can bring significant ruptures to
their sense of self-continuity (Zittoun 2011, 2012a). For instance, a sense of selfdiscontinuity can emerge when young people enter the world of work and start to
question what they are able to do (their knowledge and skills), their position in
relation to others in the new contexts as well as their identity and the meaning of
their actions.
The notion of youth transitions that we are going to elaborate here comes from
ideas developed in the field of cultural psychology (Valsiner 1997, 2007; Zittoun
2006a, b, 2007, 2012a) and Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans 2001; Hermans
and Kempen 1995; Hermans and Hermans-Jensen 2003; Hermans and HermansKonopka 2010). The aim is to go beyond traditional approaches to the phenomenon
of transition as a linear sequence of events organizing individual pathways. These
approaches usually emphasize young peoples movements between institutions and
formal settings (i.e., from school to work, or from university to the labor market) or
from one social role to another (i.e., adolescent-adult, student-worker). However, instead of privileging an outcome view of transitions, in this chapter we will advance a
more systemic and dialogical perspective of youth transitions, focusing on transition
processes (instead of outcomes) and on the occurrence of simultaneous ruptures in a
young persons life (Camarano 2006; Sato 2006; Zittoun 2012a). We will also stress
the centrality of semiotic mediation and the relevance of adopting a new perspective
of causality (i.e., catalytic causality) in psychology in order to understand human
transition experiences, and the different ways in which individuals configure their
E. de Mattos (!)
Rua da Graca, 411, 1201, Graca, Salvador, BA 40150-055, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
A. M. Chaves
Instituto de Psicologia Aristides Novis,
Universidade Federal da Bahia, St. #2,
So Lzaro 40210-730, Salvador, BA Brazil
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_9,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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168
own selves through positioning and repositioning along the life course (Hermans
and Hermans-Konopka 2010; Valsiner 2008; Zittoun 2007, 2008, 2012a).
Although youth transitions have traditionally been associated with institutional
and structural markers of development, emphasizing the sequencing of events leading
to young peoples entrance into the adult world (Elder 1998; Camarano, 2006), recent
studies of transition phenomena focus on the processes rather than on outcomes
(Carugati 2004; Valsiner 2008; Zittoun 2006a, 2012a). Developmental transitions
therefore are regarded as multifaceted and mediated by the production of signs,
involving catalytic cycles of innovations, that allows for a qualitative reorganization
of human experience (Cabell 2010; Beckstead et al. 2009; Zittoun 2012a) and of
the self-system (Cunha et al. 2012; Hermans and Hermans-Konopka 2010). Such a
perspective highlights the processes of semiotic mediation through which both the
young people and the culture they inhabit are mutually constituted.
In this chapter, we want to elaborate on a dialogical semiotic approach to youth
transitions as a process of self-regulation that occurs through catalytic cycles of
innovation within a specific time frame, involving the search for integration across
life spheres as well as across time, mediated by dialogical relations with significant
others acting as catalyzing agents. This chapter has three sections. The first section,
A Semiotic-Dialogical Approach to Youth Transitions draws on the perspectives
of cultural psychology and dialogical self -theory to highlight a new understanding
of youth developmental transitions, focusing on the role of catalytic cycles of innovation and more specifically of catalytic agents in the production of self-regulation.
The Role of Catalyzing Agents in Youth Transitions presents a case example that
illustrates how a young womanthroughout a developmental time frame that goes
from 16 to 23 years of agenegotiates significant meanings of herself and her world
and performs a new relevant synthesis in her self-system. The Dynamics of the Selfin-Motion demonstrates and elaborates on the dynamics underlying the processes
of self-regulation leading to new life trajectory.
169
Along these lines, semiotic mediation can be seen as the process of construction
of meanings that is at the core of human experience of the world (Abbey 2012;
Valsiner 2008, 2012; Zittoun 2012a). In their relationship with the world, people are
constantly creating meanings ahead of time about themselves and the world through
the use of signs (Valsiner 2007). Therefore, meaning-making can be regarded as
process through which a person internalizes signs that are available in the collective
culture, recreating them from ones own personal experience, and then externalizing
them (Zittoun 2006a, 2012a). In this process, the person creates (or develops) a
psychological or subjective domain of experiencing the world that organizes
personenvironment relationships (Zittoun 2012b).
Developmental processessuch as youth transitionstake place through
changes occurring simultaneously at multiple levels of experience. The person is
situated in a particular historical and social context, constantly negotiating a set of
values, beliefs, and meanings, which create certain limitations but simultaneously
offer certain possibilities for ones development (Valsiner 2008). These elements
circumscribe and channel opportunities as well as limits in peoples life trajectories,
directing them to certain paths that are possible in their particular socialhistorical
time and setting. Elements being channelized, however, are not static, they are not
just resources that are there to be selected, collected or used. They are in a permanent transformation and present themselves to the person in dynamic or agentic
ways, through personother interactions in everyday life.
A young developing person is in constant interchange with the environment, and
with social others present everywhere, continuously creating and recreating mechanisms of regulation of personother relations. Semiotic mediation is the process by
which such regulation takes place. As people create new meaningsi.e., signsto
regulate their experiences in the world, they produces a personal culture that directs their developmental trajectory (Valsiner 2000). Semiotic mediation operates
through emergence of novel formsi.e., through catalytic cycles of production of
innovation (Valsiner 2006, 2008). Recent theoretical conceptions suggest that semiotic mediation is a general term that encompasses several different processes that
can be understood using a general scheme of systemic causality similar to the process of catalytic synthesis. Along these lines, semiotic mediation may take the form
of a cycle of production of innovation much the same way as a new component is
synthesized in a chemical cycle of catalysis. (Cabell 2010; Beckstead et al. 2009;
Valsiner 2004, 2008).
Catalyzing processes facilitate the emergence of specific signs in the self-system
that may act as promoters or inhibitors of development (Beckstead et al. 2009;
Mattos and Chaves 2013; Mattos 2013; Valsiner 2008; Valsiner and Cabell 2012).
The promoting regulatory function is particularly relevant for facing future needs
and meaningful adaptation of the person to ever-new life circumstances. Signs are
conceived of as promoters of generalized meanings that emerge as fields loaded with
affection, and work at a higher level in relation to the flow of everyday experience
facilitating the creation of meanings in anticipation to the actual experience, and
preparing the person to face the unforeseeable (Valsiner 2004). Moreover, promoter
signs are able to act at a higher level than the ambivalent relations between personal
170
meanings that constitute the self-system of the person at any given time, operating
changes in these relations (Valsiner 2004). However, further theoretical explorations
are still needed to clarify the role of catalytic processes in the synthesis of promoter
signs that may regulate youth transitions.
Much of current theoretical discussions about the role of catalysis in promoting
self-regulatory processes point to a set of conditions or to an atmosphere that indirectly aids, supports, and enables other psychological mechanisms and functions
to operate. Catalytic models may indeed be capable of showing the dynamic interactions of individuals, conditions, contexts, and catalytic agents. Yet the role of
catalytic agents in this process needs more clarification.
171
appropriating signs that are available in the collective culture, as well as recreating
them from personal experience. Transition processes are triggered by ruptures or discontinuities that occur when people face situations that question what they take for
granted, their existing operating meaning-fields or semiotic sets (Zittoun et al. 2012).
Therefore, as argued by Zittoun, a semiotic dynamic is created to help the person overcome ruptures and reduce uncertainty when one negotiates, modifies, and transforms
cultural and shared meanings in a personal way, creating new semiotic sets which
organize and (re)structure ones personal culture. However, although Zittoun and
colleagues advance important concepts related to youth transitions, their emphasis
rely on young peoples selection and use of symbolic resources and youth participation in different spheres of experience, but do not explicitly reveal the dynamics of
self-regulation over time and the role of catalyzing agents in this process.
Along these lines, we want to propose here, the idea that social others are equally
relevant in youth transition processes, not only because they function as resources
but also because they may operate as catalyzing agents for self-transformation.
Our idea is that in contemporary urban cities, as young developing people increasingly become participants in diversified spheres of experience (i.e., family, school,
work, religious groups, and eventually youth collective groups), their interactions
with social others substantially increase, and may contribute to an intensification of
their sharing of specific activities and cultural values, beliefs and meanings. Therefore, significant others may temporarily act as direct catalyzing agents in transition
processesfacilitating new synthesis in youthsself-configurations. Under these circumstances, significant others have a dynamic role and can be regarded as temporary
embodiments of the catalytic function that take on the catalytic function and enable
a specific direction for change. They do not merely act as resources for youth
transitions, they actively catalyze such transitions.
In this chapter, we expect to contribute to the current theoretical discussions
about youth transitions specifically by exploring the role of catalyzing agents in this
process. Although semiotic catalysis can be generally regarded as a set of conditions
or an atmosphere that indirectly aids, supports, and enables other psychological
mechanisms and functions to operate (Cabell 2011), I will advance the idea that
significant others may temporarily act as direct catalyzing agents in the life of youth
facilitating the emergence of promoter signs capable of operating a new synthesis
in their self-configurations. By acting as temporary embodiments of the catalytic
function, significant others may enable a specific direction for change. As catalytic
processes come into play, catalytic agents may facilitate the emergence of promoter
signs, and may anticipate the result of their regulatory functions in the self-system
by showing this desired result in advance to the young person, before it actually
occurs. The person, then, is able to foresee what one might become in the future,
anticipating ones own jump from past to future in the present moment. In this
movement, an individual regulates ones own development by building promoter
signs that may operate as meaning bridges between past and future experiences,
projecting oneself into the future, and orienting further actions towards change and
reconfiguration.
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In this chapter, we will focus on a case study, mapping the emerging tensions
between I-positions and showing how these tensions evolve over time, because we
believe that an ideographic view is the best methodological approach to reveal the dialogical tensions and the dynamics of the self-in-motion as well as scaffolding within
the dialogical self. We suggest that young peoples positionings and repositionings
are activated through external as well as internal (self-reflective) scaffolding, and
that the role of catalyzing agents is crucial in these processes fostering the emergence
of new I-positionsor betterof promoter self-positions. Our aim is to show how
self-regulation processes are activated and contribute to the emergence of novelty
and to the shaping of alternative developmental trajectories. We seek to elaborate on
how young people are constructing and negotiating their self-in-motion, transforming
their self-configurations while shaping their future, making the mechanisms through
which catalytic cycles of production of meaning take place explicit, and highlighting
the role played by catalyzing agents in this process.
Case Example
The study presented here was designed as a longitudinal qualitative study of multiple
cases (Stake 2006). It was structured in three rounds of in-depth interviews with six
afro-descendant youths who participated in a youth apprenticeship program developed by an NGO (nongovernmental organization) in the city of Salvador, Bahia,
Brazil. During the first round of data collection, the youths were 1819 years old;
in the second round they were 2021, and in the third round, 2223. We will report the case of Jane and focus on her experiences between 15 and 23 years of age.
Interviews took place at the NGO headquarters and lasted about two hours. Data
were digitally recorded and subsequently transcribed. Main themes explored during
the interviews were: significant changes and challenges experienced, work experience and family relations, and educational experiences. At the end of each interview
the participant completed an activity of timeline construction. Other forms of data
collection involved the follow up of updates in Janes profile on the social website,
Orkut (created and managed by Google) for about eight months between the second
and the third interview.
The present analysis focuses primarily on youth relations in the dimensions of
family and workbecause these are significant spheres of experience established by
literature among Brazilian youth at this age range (Dayrell 2010; Sarti 2004). The case
exemplifies the dialogical semiotic approach to youth transitions, emphasizing the
dynamics of the self-in-motion, i.e., self-configuration and reconfiguration over time,
exploring the persons negotiations of new self-positions among different spheres of
experience and across time, highlighting the role of significant others (e.g., Janes
coworker and supervisor Helena, and Janes grandmother) as catalyzing agents of
changes in Janes system of values and identity. Following the presentation of the
case, we will articulate the analysis with theoretical perspectives.
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Jane
Jane is an afro-descendant young woman who lives with her parents and sister in
a poor neighborhood in the city. Her father is an auto mechanic and her mother
is a housekeeper. In the following presentation we will highlight the role of two
significant others (her work supervisor Helena, and her grandmother), acting as
catalyzing agents of transformations in Janes self-system
First Interview: I wont be able to do it all. In the first interview, Jane told us
about the ruptures her family was going through after her father was severely injured
in a work accident and had to stop working for a while. During this time her family
went through a lot of financial hardship, because her father stopped earning and could
not get a pension from the government. Jane was 16 years old when she searched
for a way to contribute to support her family. She sought the apprentice program at
an NGO, and started working at the library of a private university. She thought this
was a turning point in her life, because the survival of her family depended almost
exclusively on her earnings and on the help provided by her grandmother (who owned
the house in which they were living).
When she started to work, she felt people [coworkers] made a distinction because [she] was an apprentice. They didnt treat [her] as a real employee at the
company. When someone from outside asked who she was, her supervisor always
said that she was a young apprentice. She did not like the way she was treated,
which made her feel uneasy and uncomfortable. However, soon Jane met Helena,
who worked for the human resources department of the university and built a strong
mentor-like relationship with her. Helena was frequently contacted by Jane to help
solve problems and clarify doubts. Jane explained that Helena trusted [her] more
then she trusted her own self, as Helena always encouraged Jane to perform new
tasks and try new things. However, in spite of Helenas support, Jane regarded herself as insecure and overly worried about everything. But Helena repeatedly tried
to remind Jane of her capacity to accomplish new things. With the passage of time,
Jane started to feel more confident and began to value things [she] was doing, and
learned to commit to what she was doing. When her contract as an apprentice expired (at the age of 18), she was hired by the university to work at the administration
office. She said that she learned what responsibility means, and explained that she
understood responsibility as the capacity to commit to something that [she was]
doing, to know that what [she was] doing was something important, something that
was making [her] grow, that will influence [her] future.
With her transition to the world of work, Jane could now help [her family]
with everything, particularly paying for their expenses, providing needed financial
support. She formally became her familys main provider, as she was the only
person at home with regular earnings. During her first year of work, however, Jane
used to give all the money she earned (around US$ 200 per month) to her mother.
Jane said she did so because her mother knew better what to do with it, and she
could manage the money better than Jane herself.
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Regarding her dreams for the future, Jane remained dependent on the significant
others perspectives, dreaming her mothers dreams. She told us that she wanted to
fulfill [her] mothers dream to have a house of her own. As her family was living in
a house lent by her grandmother, Jane wanted to earn money to buy a house for her
mother.
Second Interview: I cant think much about the future, I can only think about
now. When Jane was 21, she told us about another relevant change in her life, her
transition to a new job function: working at the universitys administration office.
As Jane started to perform more complex tasks, she took on more responsibilities.
Progressively, she gained more self-confidence and became one of the people with
more responsibilities in her work department. She said she was feeling more competent and started to know [she] was doing a good job, and became better adapted
to work. She recognized that Helena had played a big part in her transformation,
but at the time of this second interview, Helena had left the company, and Jane was
working under the supervision of Joana, who also acted as mentor, encouraging Jane
and giving her support in her job activities. But, Jane said she had become more
independent of adult influence, acted with more freedom, and started to do things
by [her]self, not relying so much on adults advice and opinion. She stopped doing
what adults told her to do. She said that her situation at work had reversed, because
she had started to give advice to her less experienced colleagues. She became a sort
of mentor to them, much the same way Helena had been to her. Jane told us that
people began looking for [her] help to solve their problems, and she started to feel
not only responsible for herself but also for others.
Although Janes life changes at this time were marked by gaining more responsibility at work, the kind of responsibility she was taking at the job did not immediately
transfer to the family sphere. In her family life, Jane felt desperate and swamped in
financial debts. By the time of Janes 20th birthday, another significant rupture happened in her familyher mother got very sick, and Jane had to manage her family
money and home expenses tasks her mother used to do. This process, however, was
very complicated because Janes family was again relying almost exclusively on her
earnings to survive. Her father could not work but wasnt receiving a government
pension. Jane began to have money problems, and accrued debts from her credit
cards. She said she had to manage everything in [her] life, and this was a lot of
work, demanding a lot of effort. As money debts started to pop up, she felt it was a
big challenge to live on her earnings.
During this difficult time, Jane started to grow closer to her grandmother, a powerful woman that seemed be the central figure in the family life. Her grandmother
was a mother-in-saint,1 a priestess of the Brazilian African-oriented religion called
Candombl. Jane started to visit her grandmothers temple often and to take part
1
A mother-in-saint is a priestess of the Brazilian Afro religion, Candombl. The word comes
from the title Ialorix in African language, where Iy means mother and Orix means a deity
or ancestral spirit. The mother-in-saint run temples are where several rituals and cult practices take
place throughout the year (Matory, 2005).
176
in the religious rituals. She told us she was being initiated into the religion by
her grandmother, learning religious principles and values, and performing tasks in
the preparation of rituals, such as cooking and cleaning the temple. She regarded
this proximity to the Candombl religion as something [she] inherited from [her]
grandmother. She also revealed that, some time ago, she started to have dreams and
forebodings that she didnt know the meaning, of. Then, her grandmother told Jane
that, according to the assumptions of their religion, these dreams could be seen as a
calling from the Saint, implying that one of the divinities of Candombl wanted
to be praised and honored by Jane, and that she had inherited this task from her
grandmother, who used to do the same.
As Jane explained, it was necessary for her to be initiated by her grandmother in
the Candombl religion in order to understand what was happening to herself and
to praise the saints according to the rituals. Jane pointed out that her grandmother
already knew [Jane] had inherited this [task] from her, because it was a family
thing. But in the past, her grandmother had not wanted any family member to get
involved with the religion, because she said it demands a lot of responsibility. As
an initiate, Jane would have to take responsibility not only for herself but also for
others, as her grandmother herself had.
Jane explained that her incursions into Candombl caused some conflicts with her
mother, who did not want Jane to take on that kind of responsibility. However, Jane
talked to her father, and he said he had nothing against her participation. Janes father
told her: Do you really want this? If you want it, you can go. Then she decided: I
want it, then Ill go. And since then, her mother was increasingly accepting of the
idea of her involvement with Candombl.
Regarding her relationship with the educational sphere of experience, Jane finished high school and tried to enter the university. She took the exams to get accepted
into a public university three times (each time, for a different course: psychology,
library, and communication), but failed. She reported that she didnt feel prepared,
because she couldnt think much about the future, [she] could only think about the
[here-and-] now. Working was her priority.
Third Interview: I can take charge of my own life now. At the third interview,
Jane had just turned 22 years old. She said that a significant change in her life this
time was the fact that she became more responsible, and had learned to organize
[her] finances. She was dealing with her finances more competently: she paid off
all her debts, cut up her credit cards, and paid for everything in cash. She started to
account for her expenses, taking notes on everything she was paying for, and to limit
her expenses, buying only what she really needed. She learned to control herself,
and began to do everything the right way.
Talking about other changes in her life, she also said she had become more able to
control her impulsivity towards others. She learned to deal better with other people,
to listen to what they had to say. She had learned to let go when people said things that
she did not like to hear. Sometime earlier, she had been aggressive and explosive,
giving unreflective responses to other peoples commentaries, as if she could not
177
control what she was going to say. But now she was calmer and didnt want to enter
in a dispute with others for small things. She gained more control over attitudes and
behavior.
These changes significantly affected Janes relationship with her mother. She
thought they could deal better with each others differences, as her mother became
better able to acknowledge Janes own space, to understand that she had to have a
space for [her]self. Jane reflected that, some time before, her mother always wanted
Jane to agree with her opinions. But now, her mother became more able to listen to
and respect Janes thoughts and opinions. They were in less disagreement with each
other, because Jane was better able to let go when her mother wanted to take a stand
or to argue with her. And, as Jane did not want to get in disputes for small things
any more, she could let [her] mother discover for [herself] what might be right or
wrong (thus, Jane talked here in a reverse positionas-if referring to a child).
She said she was now taking care of her mothers money. She had opened a sort
of a savings account for her mother, and every month she deposited some amount of
money in this account, and gave her mother some more to spend on herself. Therefore,
regarding management of family money, their positions had reversed. Reflecting on
the advantages of saving money, Jane said she thought some people make plans
to buy something with that moneyprojecting herself into the futurebecause
some people are not able to save money, and spend their money as soon as they need
somethingas she used to do in the past. And she thought this could be a good way
for her mother to save the money to make home improvements she had wanted for a
very long time.
Jane said she felt like an adult at the time of this interview, because she could
assume her life for [her]self, she could say what [she] wants, what [she] can and
cannot do because she was responsible for [her]self. Jane reflected that this was
a difficult [task] to achieve because there were several people that influenced her
lifesuch as her motherand who used to tell her what to do, and she usually
accepted whatever was told, but now she felt liberated. She could act based on her
own decisions, and if something went wrong, she could take the responsibility for
her mistakes. Therefore, Jane thought she could take charge of [her] own life, as
she was not only responsible for [her]self, but also for others. Talking about what
she considered an adult to be, Jane reflected that being an adult involved taking
responsibility for others, helping others, and feeling that not only does your own
life depend on you, but other peoples lives can also depend on you.
During the third interview, Jane also reported changes in her educational experience. She passed a very difficult exam to enter a public university and will study
pedagogy (education). She said she had felt prepared [for the exam] because this
time she had studied more. Now she can make plans for her future, and wants to
continue studying and working at the same company for some time. She will arrange
her work shift at the company in order to fit her university schedule, as she had gained
more stability in her job. She said she now felt that she has plans for [her own] life,
only for [herself] and that she wanted to have a place of [her] own. She told us
that now she could dream about the future and she was seeking to be happy (see
Table 9.1).
Family
Religion
Integration
A meta-position: initiated (in
across
Candombl); integrates:
different
responsible worker + responsible
spheres of
student + responsible money
experience,
manager/provider +
religion + family + I-responsible (person)
education + work
Work
Dependent-daughter X provider
Family
Apprentice X, unskilled-youth
(mutual in-feeding)
Work
Spheres of
experience
Emerging ruptures
Table 9.1 Synthesis of emerging ruptures and tensions between I-positions in Janes self-system
Description
178
E. de Mattos and A. M. Chaves
179
Analysis
Janes trajectory shows how self-regulation emerges in a process of dialogical scaffolding among different spheres of experience, leading not only to positioning and
repositionings within the self-system but also to transformations in meanings and
values systemand more specifically in the meaning of responsibility as a central
value in Janes self-system. Her case highlights the dialogical tensions and the dynamic movements of the self-in-motion, across time and among different spheres of
Janes life. It shows how external and internal scaffolding are build upon dialogical
exchanges with significant others present in central spheres of experience, acting as
catalyzing agents of change.
The first interview (that took place when Jane was 18 years old) captured self
dynamics when there was a significant rupture in Janes life as a result of her fathers
work accident. Family life was at that time the central sphere of Janes life experience,
around which her self-system was organized. As her family experienced that rupture
and faced financial hardship, Jane and her family were put in a situation of great
vulnerability, and she sought the apprentice program as a way of helping support
herself and her family. Janes dominant I-positiondependent daughteremerges
out of her dialogical exchanges in her family, especially with her mother. This Iposition creates a meaning-field that reflects how Jane experienced the family as a
sphere of close proximity and bonds among people, where everyone cares for others
and worries about others wellbeing. In this sense, the dependent daughter I-position
voices how Jane counted on her family for help and support in times of need, and that
parents should act as supporters of childrens needs as well as the reverse, children
should support their parents in times of necessity. It also reflects a value system of an
adolescent/young woman conforming to the opinions and orientations of her parents.
Her mother and grandmother are dominant figures in her family life as well as in her
personal life. In Janes nuclear family, her mother is the one who guides the opinions
and actions of her father, her sister, as well as herself. As Jane explains:
My mothers decisions are those of my father as well. She is the one who has the final
word. If she says something, my father always goes with her [opinion]. He works and is the
[family] provider, he does everything, but the salary is hers [to spend]. Therefore if she says
go, everybody has to go with her. [. . .] If she has a thought, she expects [me and my sister]
to conform to this thought.
180
181
Yet a decisive turning point was the recognition she gained through her dialogical
encounters with Helenawho trusted her, and demonstrated more confidence in
Jane than she could have for herself. Helenas anticipated recognition of Janes
qualities provided the catalytic condition Jane needed to start reconfiguring herself as
someone capable of performing new job functions successfully. Only after Helenas
recognitionand more specifically, only after being imaginatively put by Helena
into a more powerful positioncould Jane position her own self that way. She
could voice these meanings for herself and feel empowered. Reflecting on these
transformations, Jane told us she learned to be more confident, but still [felt] a
little insecure, sometimes, indicating that the new emerging position as responsible
worker was not yet fully consolidated.
In the family sphere, however, Jane was still operating mostly from the position of
dependent daughter. Although a new position was emerging in her family sphere as
wellthe position of providerthis new I-position remained latent. Jane recognized
that she was the only person contributing to her family expenses, but contradictorily
she gave all the money to her mother to manage, because she regarded her mother
was more capable of doing that then she herself was. Therefore, the provider position
seemed dissociated from the stream of Janes experience within her family, remaining
as a latent or hidden I-position, subsumed in a self-system where the dependent
daughter was dominant.
Janes decisions regarding her future were postponed or suspended by her shared
living experience, where the present was the best possible choice, due to the constraints existing in her immediate context. In this constraining environment, Jane
was mostly caught in the here-and-now meaning field of life experience, and could
not project herself much into the future.
182
a significant dispute between two powerful opposing positions to dominate the family
sphere: dependent daughter X provider, one reflecting her old self configuration and
the other, a new alternative position.
At this time, however, debts with credit cards started to appear, and Jane felt
desperate and swamped. The new responsibilities she held at work did not seem to
transfer to her family life. Jane felt that it took too much work to manage her life.
By using the word work to refer to the ambivalences emerging in the family sphere,
Jane was possibly trying to integrate within the psychological space two significant
spheres of her life experience (work and family). She might be trying to find a sign to
mediate or to integrate her work experience (now characterized by responsibility and
the ability to perform) and her family experience (characterized by her irresponsible
use of credit cards and inability to manage financial expenses). However, as she could
not yet find a meaning bridge to integrate these two spheres, and as they seem to
remain dissociated from each other, the tension grew and found expression through
body symptoms, such as hives (urticaria), and foreboding dreams that made her feel
terrified.
Therefore, although Jane gained significant foothold in the workplace, there was
a growing tension between different spheres of her life experience. Despite the newfound prominence of her work life, the central sphere continued to be her family,
and ambivalences between I-positions that dominate the two spheres became more
relevant. Specifically, there was a growing tension between the responsible worker
positionwhich dominates the landscape in the work sphereand the irresponsible
money manager positionthat begins to dominate family life. With ambivalence
growing out of different spheres of her life experience, Jane tried a new meaning
loop as a way to reach for self continuity.
183
Jane that she had inherited some of her qualities as a religious woman. When she
learned about Janes symptomsespecially about her foreboding dreams, of which
Jane herself did not know the meaning, the grandmother told Jane that they were
due to a calling from the Saint. In the religious tradition of Candombl, when
one of the divinities calls a person, it means that she is supposed to praise the
divinity by adhering to the religious practices. The fact that the Saints were calling
Jane, then, implied that she had to be initiated into the religion in order to start
making offerings to the Saint and performing related rituals as a way to respond to
that calling. Interpreted by her grandmother, the calling from the Saint had a
powerful effect on Jane, who felt compelled to be initiated and to start taking on
some of the responsibilities associated with Candomblto take responsibility for
the spiritual wellbeing of otherseven against her mothers wishes.
From a dialogical-semiotic approach to the self, it is possible to understand the
intricate interplay among Janes I-positions that emerge by these exchanges. To
overcome ambivalences between different spheres of experience, Jane tries a new
meaning loop. She gets closer to a powerful significant other: her grandmotherthe
central figure in her primary sphere of experience (i.e., family life). Her grandmother
then took the role of a catalytic agent for change. It is by the anticipated recognition
and acknowledgement coming from her grandmotherwho interprets her symptoms,
and gives meaning to something that Jane herself does not know the meaningthat a
new promoter position can emerge and come to the foreground of Janes self-system,
beginning to integrate different spheres of Janes life. The grandmothers proximity
and her interpretation of the meaning of Janes symptoms function as a condition for
new transformations in Janes self-system. Much in the same way that Helena had
done in the work sphere, Janes grandmother recognized Janes potential to become
someone in the future that at that moment she was not yet, guiding the emergence of
a new promoter position in Janes self-system.
The promoter position as initiated emerges in these dialogical relations, and knits
together the positions of responsible worker and provider, by giving a new amplified
meaning to the responsibilities Jane has to assume in the different spheres of her
life. The position initiated carries a sense of spiritual responsibility that emerges
as a powerful way to interweave different senses of responsibility across Janes
life. On the one hand, Jane could redefine the sense of personal responsibility she
has built in the work sphere, through dialogical exchanges with Helena, and that
made Jane capable of assuming new work functions, and even to start helping coworkers with their tasks. On the other hand, she could also redefine her interpersonal
responsibilities in the family sphere and become responsible not only for herself, but
also for others, that is, for her parents and for her sister, by becoming more organized
with expenses, reversing roles, and assuming responsibilities that originally belonged
to her mother, and even taking care of her mothers money by creating a savings
account for her.
Therefore, what happened through this new meaning loop was the development of
her capacity of self-regulation by the emergence of a promoter sign that functioned
as a meaning bridge across different spheres of experience. After the emergence of
a powerful promoter position that emerges in the religious sphere of experience,
184
185
relations with the grandmother lead to the development of another promoter positioninitiated (C), characterized by an amplified or expanded perspective on
responsibility: spiritual responsibility. This new promoter position acted as a powerful self-regulatory sign that integrated different spheres of Janes life (work, family,
religion), and provided continuity across time (pastpresentfuture), since it emerged
as a sort of inherited quality passed through generations.
186
(her spirituality), Jane could reposition herself in the present moment as well as
towards the future, which became populated by alternative ways of being (she has
become a university student, began to have dreams of her own, and was seeking to
be happy).
As illustrated by Fig. 9.2, Jane could forge a life trajectory that had a certain
direction, as a result of emerging differentiation at bifurcation points.
As we can see in Fig. 9.2, emerging differentiation at specific bifurcation points
of a young persons life trajectory (1st and 2nd rupture) can be seen as meaningloops that bring out new promoter positions to operate in the self-system. Triggered
by dialogical relations with significant others who acted as catalyzing agents (i.e.,
Helena and Janes grandmother), these promoter positions became prominent in the
landscape of different spheres of life. However, emerging differentiation may bring
in new tensions, because development is not a peaceful, tautological movement.
Development occurs through catalytic cycles of innovation that are capable of interweaving various spheres of experience as well as time perspectives. In Janes
case, initial meanings and positions built in the work sphere were amplified and
knitted ambivalent meanings and positions from other spheres of experience. Janes
initial perspectives of beingher initial self-version that was operating at the time
of the first interviewwere reconfigured to a new time perspective that included
both her inherited past (the spiritual qualities she inherited from her grandmother)
and her future to come, as possible becomings, possible comings-into-being or
alternative ways of beingthat include professional life as well as spiritual life.
187
This movement of internal scaffolding within the dialogical self, begins with
exchanges with significant others acting as catalyzing agents and not only as resources for the self. These dynamics take place simultaneously between different
spheres of experience, and between different levels of experience (i.e., from more
concrete meaningsconstructed in everyday fields of experiencetowards more
abstracted and hypergeneralized meanings). Janes recurrent meaning-loops show
that, in order to overcome ambivalences she had to search for signs at a higher
level of generalization, such as interpersonal responsibility and spiritual responsibility. Overcoming uncertainty emerges through building meaning bridges as
Jane reaches for hypergeneralized signs to act as promoters of her development,
integrating multiple spheres of experience, designing a new life trajectory.
The active role of catalyzing agents was crucial in Janes transformations. Catalyzing agents such as Helena and Janes grandmother facilitated the emergence
of a new synthesis in Janes self-configurations, as they enabled the emergence of
promoter self-positions. We suggest that these significant others can be regarded as
temporary embodiments of the catalytic function, as they embody, in interactions
taking place at specific windows of time, the contextual conditions that may organize higher levels of experience. These significant others, therefore, may that take
on the catalytic function and enable a specific direction for change, anticipating
certain types of recognition the person may get in the future. Specifically, only after Helenas and her grandmothers recognition and acknowledgement of alternative
positionsonly after being imaginatively put by these women into a more powerful positioncould Jane position her own self that way, voice these meanings for
herself, and feel empowered.
This analysis, therefore, illustrated how catalyzing agents may operate between
the micro- as well as mesogenetic levels of a young persons development, fostering
the emergence of promoter self-positions, helping to create meaning bridges between
past and future (projected) positions, and validating these new meanings in a broader
context, giving a social framework to personal events happening in a life trajectory.
Along these lines, we suggest that catalyzing agents might play an active role in
transition to adulthood, especially when youth undergo processes of rupture transition
in their developmental pathways, affording social recognition of young peoples new
emergent meanings, and helping youth become more resourceful and empowered.
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Chapter 10
In this chapter our aim is to show how the concept of catalysis, as taken from
chemistry, can be used to understand psychological experiences and specifically
how individuals cope with situations of psychological ruptures in their lives, such as
that of immigrating.
Moving and living to a country other than ones own brings individuals into
contact with different meanings about the social world they inhabit and about themselves, and changes their habitual ways of relating with other people. Immigrants
often encounter stigmatizing meanings with regards to their identities (ethnic, migrant), which they strive to negotiate (Deaux 2006; Timotijevic and Breakwell 2000;
Verkuyten 2005). As they deal with these meanings about themselves they engage in
redefinition of their identity (Chryssochoou 2004) and in self-transformation (Gillespie et al. 2012; Kadianaki 2013). The change of the sociocultural environment often
demands acquisition of cognitive and social skills and redefinition of cultural ethics
and routines as well (Knafo and Schwartz 2001; Kwak 2010).
In this chapter we will examine how people experience the ruptures of immigrating
and how they sustain themselves psychologically to deal with these ruptures. How can
the concept of catalysis be relevant to our examination then? As we will demonstrate,
a catalytic framework enables the understanding of both the conditions that bring
change and support the emergence of new psychological phenomena as those induced
by psychological ruptures.
Catalysis, as understood in chemistry, is a process that provides the conditions
necessary for a chemical reaction to occur; it sets the conditions for a qualitative
change to occur in an organism, a system (Cabell 2011). Witzemann (1943, p. 179)
defines a catalyst in chemistry as an extraneous substance that somehow causes
I. Kadianaki (!)
Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Kallipoleos 65, P.O. Box 20537,
1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
e-mail: [email protected]
T. Zittoun
Institut de psychologie et ducation, University of Neuchtel, Espace Louis-Agassiz 1,
2000 Neuchtel, Switzerland
e-mail: [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_10,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
191
192
a reaction to take place that would not take place in the same way or to the same
extent in its absence in finite terms, and which is usually not permanently changed
in the events in which it takes such a part. Catalysis thus describes those conditions
that support, constrain or direct reactions to take place, through the activation of
regulators, namely, promoters or inhibitors, leading to certain chemical outcomes.
In transferring the concept into psychology, Cabell (2010) has talked about semiotic catalysts and regulators, relating thus the concept to semiotic mediation: the
idea that human existence is organized by socially constructed and personally internalized semiotic means-signs of different kinds (Valsiner 1998, p. 234). We build
on the concepts of catalysts and regulators and connect them, as the following section will show, to the notions of rupture and symbolic resources used to understand
psychological transitions and development (Zittoun 2006). Studying the uses of symbolic resources intends, precisely, to examine processes by which meaning-making
is facilitated, accelerated and oriented thanks to peoples uses of complex semiotic
mediators in forms of regulators (Cabell 2011; Zittoun et al. 2003). Here, we go further in the analysis of ruptures and uses of symbolic resources as catalytic processes.
Doing so, we hope to enrich both the understanding of catalytic processes and the
study of uses of symbolic resources.
As we will argue, a catalytic framework provides a contextualized and systemic
understanding of the conditions under which psychological phenomena occur and the
processes (and not solely the outcomes) of qualitative change of the psychological
system, which in our case, are induced by immigration.
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Events experienced as ruptures are, thus, synonymous to the destruction of existing meanings, of ways of defining oneself, and of acting, until they are treated as
meaningful. As a consequence, ruptures are followed by periods of transition, which
can involve: (1) a redefinition and repositioning of the self, for example, in the case
of immigration, the movement to a new social milieu confronts people with new
social others who perceive them in different ways than their home communities; (2)
the mobilisation of social, practical, and theoretical skills to permit new ways of conduct, for example, moving to a new country invites new language skills and actions,
which will permit people to deal with the non-habitual demands of everyday life; and
(3) construction with symbolic elaboration of events, experiences, emotions to allow
self-continuity and consistency (Zittoun 2006). Thus ruptures invite the activation of
mechanisms that will regulate psychological processes of transition. Consequently,
we suggest that ruptures introduce new meanings in the system constituted by the
person and the immediate spheres of experience; it is the introduction of such meaning which might induce the destruction of the sense a person previously conferred
to a situation. Hence, a situation of war introduces new meaningabout the importance of enrolling, sacrificing ones life for ones nation, the beauty of battlesin
peoples environment, which in turn can disrupt the sense people were conferring to
their daily lives. In that sense, experienced ruptures can be seen as catalysts.
When ruptures occur, and meaning systems bottom-out, some process must be
activated in order to start re-building and re-producing the meaning system. It is the
semiotic catalyzers function to activate re-producing and synthesizing mechanisms
to rebuild the meaning system. The catalyst, then, coordinates the mechanisms in
the system to re-frame the mind and re-build its meaningful system (Cabell 2011,
p. 10).
Drawing on chemistry, Cabell (2010, p. 27) differentiates two types of semiotic mediators: semiotic catalysts and semiotic regulators. Semiotic catalysts are
processes induced by a rupture, which provide the directional flavoring that
supportbut do not act directly onthe enablement or disablement of ongoing
psychological processes (. . .) and providing the support for the direct and active
operation and employment of semiotic regulators (and other mediating devices).
Semiotic regulators are intra-mental devices that are actively and directly used on
the ongoing psychological processes or extra-mental devices that are actively and
directly used to cultivate the personal-cultural or the collective-cultural field (Cabell
2010, p. 37).
We will be focusing here on these extra-mental devices that can act as semiotic
regulators. These can be cultural elements such as a song, a movie, a book, which are
abundant in the lives of individuals. Provided that people have the mastery of some
of the semiotic systems and conventions by which these objects are built, they can
experience them: they can read fiction, dance traditional dances or enjoy listening
to a song. When these experiences acquire a particular, personal sense, these can be
seen as becoming symbolicthey touch the personthe person resonates with
the character, is moved by the melody, is transported by the colors of a painting,
etc. Finally, when the person is using the cultural elements or some of its semiotic
components in relationship to something else, with a form of intentionalitya novel
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to remember a place, a song to regulate ones mood, a thought about visiting some
placethen, he uses it as a symbolic resource (Zittoun 2006).
We can thus distinguish different degrees of mediation offered by cultural elements: as semiotic elements, they allow the person to experience a general meaning
that is socially sharede.g. the 2012 James Bond movie by Mendes is constructed on
a plot showing the fidelity and bravery of the special agent to his country, supported
by a choice of colors, certain type of music etc.; as symbolic resources, they actually
resonate with specific aspects of a persons experiencee.g. one can be moved by
James Bonds fight to recover his physical strength after an accidentand can guide
and transform that personal experience.
Consequently, we first propose that cultural elements, together with their associated social representations and values, e.g. James Bond always wins against all
odds, can act as semiotic mediators, and can be considered as another form of
catalyst. They can, as ruptures do, introduce meanings into the psychological system. Second, we suggest that symbolic resources can be used as semiotic regulators
to facilitate the process of dealing with the rupture by mediating the relationship
of individuals with: (1) ones self and inner feelings; (2) social others by creating,
understanding, and transforming social relationships; and (3) social reality by facilitating understanding of the social world and positioning of the self in it. Resources
can provide time orientation (allowing for self-continuity between past and future)
and also mediate at different levels of the experience of an individual: from immediate embodied perceptions to a higher level of commitments and ideologies (Valsiner
2001, 2003) as our case study will show. We discuss how this aspect of multidimensionality of the function of semiotic regulators contributes to the development of the
concept of catalysis when used to theorize psychological phenomena as opposed to
chemical phenomena.
Thus, as occasions for development, the processes triggered by peoples experienced rupture and their subsequent uses of symbolic resources can be seen as a
catalytic process: A rupture creates conditions for change as a first form of catalyst,
cultural elements create the condition for certain directions of change as second form
of catalyst, and symbolic resources function as regulators in the elaboration of the
new meaning.
Through our analysis we first suggest that a catalytic framework can enrich our
understanding of the emergence of ruptures through theorizing the antagonistic relations of meanings introduced into the psychological system. Second, we explain
how new meanings found or synthesized in symbolic resources/regulators are built
in opposition to the meanings introduced by ruptures/catalysts. Finally, we suggest
that our approach contributes to the catalytic framework by adding to its conceptualization, the ideas of mediators comprising complexes of different types of signs
(hypergeneralized, field like, point like), and by showing the transformative qualities of semiotic mediators in discussing the ways in which regulators may become
catalysts for further change.
To illustrate our approach we will use the case of Sabar, a 34-year-old Kurd from
Turkey, who arrived in Greece in 1994 as a political refugee.
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he decided to get politically active in unions and organisations that promoted Kurdish
culture and organised the Kurdish struggle, as he named it.
Sabar presented his political activism as an inevitable outcome of his everyday
experiences, the violent suppression of his Kurdish identity, and the torture against
his fellow Kurdish nationals. He presented collective action as a defence mechanism
to the rupture of being a Kurd. However, the government followed his actions and
soon he was persecuted. In the face of expected violence and imprisonment towards
those involved in the Kurdish affair, Sabar managed to flee to Greece, while his
companions were put in prison for 12 years.
Thus, Sabars arrival to Greece was a result of a chain of ruptures that began long
before his flight: for him, being a Kurd meant living the life of intrusion, violation
of human rights, and violent suppression of identity, language, and culture. At his
arrival, Sabar had to stay in a refugee camp, where he lived in what he described
as dehumanising conditions. During this time, which he perceived as analogous to
being imprisoned in Turkey, he felt that his political ideas which led him to flee were
foregrounded, as he was in a situation similar to that of the immigrants who flew for
economic reasons.
One of the rupturing experiences that Sabar reports in his life in Greece relates to
the disillusion he felt with the Greek state. His representations prior to arrival were
formed based on an image of a democratic ancient Greece and on a long history of
war that Greece shared with Turks, which, in his mind, implied a friendly attitude
towards the Kurdish struggle. In other words, he expected to live in a democratic
country where he could freely express his political ideals. Certain events,2 however,
made him realize that Greece was not the place he had imagined. The Greek state was
seen to have betrayed the ideas of Kurdish refugees, and after these events, changed its
attitude by closing its borders to the incoming Kurdish refugees. The suspicion Sabar
had perceived about the Greek state and society affected him personally in terms of
acquiring asylum, a process which lasted 6 years and involved many instances of
being treated as an inferior by the authorities. Even when formal recognition as a
political refugee was acquired, this was not accompanied by any actual benefits, for
example, language education or assistance in finding employment.
Sabar has been politically active since his arrival in Greece. Soon after his arrival
he became an active member of the Greek-Kurdish Friendship Union, an organization with the aim of informing the Greek public about the Kurdish affair and also
connecting Kurdish refugees through a cultural centre, providing help with practical
matters. Sabar presented his involvement in this union as a continuation of his collective political actions in Kurdistan. He felt he contributed to the conservation of
the Kurdish culture and the protection the human rights of displaced people.
2
In 1999, Abdullah calan, the leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey was persecuted
by the Turkish police with the charge of being a terrorist. calan ran away from Turkey and found
refuge in Kenya, hiding at the Greek embassy. After leaving the Greek embassy, he was arrested by
Kenyan police. He was then handed over to Turkish security agents and was imprisoned in February
1999. It was widely believed that the Greek government gave him away to the Kenyan and then
Turkish authorities. As expected, this event affected the ways in which Kurdish political refugees
perceived the Greek state and thought they were perceived by the Greek state and nation.
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Having left his university studies incomplete for agricultural practice due to prosecution in Turkey, Sabar decided to study politics in Greece. He was motivated, as
he explained, by his need to become knowledgeable on political matters and understand the dynamics of the Kurdish affair. It was, as he described it, a period of
disappointment with the Kurdish fight going international (breakup of Kurdish parties, organizations weakened in Greece) and a period of suspicion towards the Kurds
in Greece, as mentioned above. His political activism was going through a crisis and
his university studies facilitated new meaning-making and orientation.
Sabar has now been staying in Greece for 18 years. Despite being granted asylum
in Greece, he has thought of leaving for another European country many times but
has not so far realized it.
Thus, for Sabar, being a Kurd has been causing an ongoing series of ruptures in his
life, of which the main three appear to be: (1) being discriminated as a Kurd in Turkey,
which questioned his identity as citizen and disrupted the daily meaning of his life;
(2) having the experience of migrating to Greece and being turned into a refugee,
which again questioned his identity, possible actions, and projects (i.e. feeling the
suspicion and rejection from the Greek state, feeling that the Kurdish fight cannot
be sustained), and (3) realizing that Greece was not what he had expected and that
threatened his system of representations. These ruptures are semiotic catalysts that
introduced new meanings in Sabars psychological system which opposed Sabars
existing meaning system. Through a series of events, they deployed the catalytic
generalized meaning of being a Kurd minority, which had different meanings in
different contexts that Sabar found himself in. Thus, connecting to the theory, we
suggest that a catalyst takes the form of a rupture when opposing meanings permeate
the meaning system of the individual and call for change and redefinition of self,
which is achieved through diverse means. We will focus on the means he used in the
Greek context, where his change was enabled by his use and creation of semiotic
regulators.
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Interpreting Sabars contact with catalysts and his use of regulators, we can make
the following observations. First, artifacts do not introduce meaning through singular
forms of signs, but they do so in complex arrangements of signs. Music and film are
complex sign syntheses which contain all forms of point, field and hypergeneralized
signs that in combination introduce meanings: A hypergeneralized sign introduces
meanings in the movie about war, betrayal and heroism in international relations;
a melody introduces feelings of melancholy through its tune, as a field-like sign,
and the lyrics, as a point-like sign talk about the Kurdish massacre. Second, Sabars
regulators are used to respond to meanings introduced by catalysts described above
as ruptures. They are regulators containing meanings about the Kurdish reality and
the fight and give meaning about the position of the fight in the wider arena of
international relations. Thus, Sabars artefacts used to build meaning are responding
to meanings introduced and disrupted by the rupture catalysts.
In describing his life, Sabar mentioned living in a constant displacement, living
in Greece but thinking and feeling like being in Kurdistan. This displacement is
central throughout his life: He lives in Turkey but is a part of a minority; he lives
in Greece but is an active member of another nation. Music and film are semiotic
catalysts which are used as semiotic regulators induced by the semiotic conditions
of the ruptures of constant displacement: They are used to bring the past into the
present, to understand the social reality of the fight of the oppressed, and the struggle
for freedom and autonomy and to position himself within this reality as a politically
active Kurd who has fought and continues to fight for the rights of his nation.
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yes, I understand, yes, yes, yes}with this sense, so (pause) confronting ferocity,
barbarity and nationalism that has been imposed by the enemy, or anyway, the
Turkish, the Arab and etc {. . .} so we were saying that despite the fact that they
have destructed our skeleton into four states, realistically, they have destructed
they have divided in 4 states, but we while we use this new technology, we can
unite at another level, you see what I mean? {IK: yes, I see it has a symbolic
character} yes, right, it has a symbolic character, so (pause) our hopes and our
visions eh can unite in eh (pause) at the end of the telephone line through fiber
optics lets say, of the cable, at the other end of the cable our hopes can unite, our
fight anyway.
Sabar noted that all the columnists that take part were, but no longer are, active
members of political organizations and are educated, thus, characterizing the website
as an intellectual community, producing high-class writings. They also represent a
variety of opinions, in terms of their political and ideological orientations, but what
unites them is the fact that they try to save and to raise the morals of our nation. For
Sabar, this objective was fulfilled: 65 % of the visits to the site are from Kurdistan
of Turkey and then Iran, Iraq, Syria and then Europe.
Sabar recognized that the continuation of resistance and the fight towards the
Turks through the Internet was a technological wara modern dimension of an
older conflict and struggle, and he explained how it functioned for him personally:
Sabar: It is that, until now they were trying to subordinate us with the guns and
their bombs and they are trying now to subordinate us, anyway, they cant but
this conflict is continued now at this technological level {. . .} this dimension of
technology with regards to internet, there are no fixed positions of power. It might
be that today they drop our site, but from this loss we learn better and the next
day we create something technologically even better that they cant drop {. . .}
and this knowledge that we acquire as we correct our mistakes, maybe we will
be in a position that they will feel threatened because we know, we learn a lot of
things with technology and they feel threatened
IK: {. . .} do you feel that at a personal level you continue a fight with other means,
you, personally?
Sabar: Sure, Sure, because you are not detached from your fight, with other means
you continue your fight, but with this, you can imagine, psychologically what
it can create for a person who is away from his country. Basically, it makes
you relax, to feel that you do something {IK: yes, I understand} you mobilize
something, a positive ambience, you raise the morals of the nation.
Therefore, it has become clear that this website is perceived to have a threefold
function: (1) to provide information about the Kurdish issue in Greece and abroad;
(2) to preserve the Kurdish values and culture and safeguard Kurdish language and (3)
to sustain the fight towards the Turks, both by maintaining Kurdish national identity
and morals and by reversing the power and threatening the Turks through acquiring
technologically advanced knowledge. All these are interlinked objectives carried out
by Sabar and other like-minded refugees who, as he says are positioned de facto
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as diplomats. Being abroad because of conflict and war they now see themselves as
representatives of their nations, responsible for its preservation and continuation.
Through this website, Sabar maintains a time orientation: he connects to his past
and sustains the fight into his present, which makes him feel relaxed. He sees this
fight continuing into the future, in a transformed way through technological means.
The website has various functions that regulate different levels of his experience: his
immediate embodied perception (1st level), by making him feel relaxed and his local
conduct (2nd level), by regulating his everyday actions (e.g. producing writings,
updating the material). Through the website, he also forms stable categories or selfcategories (3rd level) by recognizing himself as a diplomat or a fighter. Finally,
higher level principles and commitments (4th level) are formed in terms of political
ideals with regard to his nation and the fight.
Further, the website is used by Sabar in ways that it regulates his relationship with
his inner feelings and his self-understanding: He feels he is connected to his Kurdish
identity and that he continues to fight for his nations rights. It also regulates his
relationships with others (i.e. his fellow fighters/diplomats, the enemy/Turks) and
his understanding and positioning of the social reality: what needs to be made with
regards to his nation and the fight and what his position with this realm is. Thus,
Sabar, drawing on cultural and political semiotic material, which acts as a catalyst,
creates a website that sustains him psychologically through the rupture.
Sabar has aided the creation of a new cultural element, which remains highly
transformablea website is in that sense a ductile symbolic resource: it is a malleable resource, or a resource that can be created or completes itself as it is used
(Greco and Zittoun in press). This creation is also a self-generated semiotic regulator, a website which can respond to the catalyzing meanings of being a political
refugee. Also, as a new cultural element released into the social world, it can itself
turn into a catalyst for Sabar or for other users who visit it. Sabar, while interacting
with his own creation may come to realize new things about himself as a person,
about the social world and about his relationships with other people. Further, for
others who are reading this website, the meanings contained may act as catalysts
for change in diverse domains of their psychological reality. We will discuss these
issues further in the following section.
Conclusion
The catalytic analysis outlined here contributes to a conditional systemic understanding of psychological phenomena, as that advocated by Kurt Lewin (1935, 1936) and
developed recently in the introduction of a catalytic framework in psychology (Beckstead et al. 2009). According to this approach, in order to understand human behavior
one needs to understand the environment in which it happens and the conditions under which it emerges. Through this approach, following the legacy of Lewin, we
pay tribute to both the uniqueness of human experience and to the construction of
basic knowledge. The former is achieved by a case-study analysis highlighting the
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about themselves, others or the social world through their own creations. The creation of a cultural element brings to the creator a form of reflexivity: a third person
perspective (Martin and Gillespie 2010), which can act as a catalyst upon the self
(e.g. realizing oneself is an immigrant or a representative of his/her country). Thus
the transference of a catalytic framework into the realm of semiotic mediation can
contribute to the theorization of the generativity of psychological change processes
and of the conditions for the production of novel semiotic forms.
These ideas resonate with ideas related to autocatalysis (Cabell 2011). Autocatalysis describes processes of mutual generativity of a system hypothetically, all that
would be needed is, at the very least, three molecules that react in a way to mutually
generate each other to observe autocatalysis (Cabell 2011, p. 5). In the case described here, Sabar meets the catalyst that is war against the Kurds (let us consider
it molecule 1), creates the regulator that is website (molecule 2), which in turn leads
to a new catalyst, namely, meanings about preservation of the Kurdish culture and
sustenance of Kurdish fight (consider it molecule 3). Hence there is an autocatalytic process in the sense that the meaning generates meaning here. It is not, strictly
speaking, that the new meaning corresponds to the initial state as in some chemical
reactions. However, it should be noted that the meaning-field sustenance of Kurdish fight or preservation of Kurdish culture is not so far semantically from war
against the Kurds. Hence, autocatalytic processes help us understand the creation
of novel phenomena, novel cultural forms, such as the ones described here. In these
new forms, as Lotman (2000) argues, we can always trace other semiotic forms that
existed prior to them and triggered their creation.
In addition, using the concept of catalysis to study psychological systems leads,
unlike in chemistry, to more complex outcomes. Rather than leading to the production
of one product (i.e. a chemical substance), semiotic regulators can produce different
outcomes at different levels of the experience (different levels of mediation as shown
in Sabars case), in different time levels (time orientation towards past, present and
future) and with regards to different realms (self-other-social world) of the individual
experience. Our chapter thus contributes to the psychology of catalytic process by
inviting to consider the mutual dependency of interrelated semiotic regulations when
using symbolic resources, and to consider the complexity of the semiotic outputs of
these processes.
A catalytic framework, on the other hand, has enriched our understanding of ruptures and uses of symbolic resources by leading to the theorization of the antagonistic
relation between different meanings embedded within catalysts and between catalysts and regulators and by suggesting a multilevel (i.e. onto, micro, sociogenetic)
study of psychological phenomena.
Using a catalytic framework, we have highlighted the antagonistic relation between different meanings in the psychological realm of the individual, which lead
to a rupture. For example, Sabar experienced a rupture when he realized he was an
unwanted Kurdish refugee in Greece, seen with suspicion by the Greek state. These
meanings were introduced into his psychological reality and disrupted the ways he
wanted to see himself as a fighter for the wellbeing for his persecuted nation. Thus,
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ruptures are new meanings that act antagonistically to the existing meanings that the
individual has taken for granted. Since individuals come into contact with meanings
antagonistic to their habitual ones, we can suggest that a rupture occurs when these
opposing meanings permeate the meaning systems of individuals.
To deal with these, we have focused here on strategies that involve the use of
cultural elements. Elsewhere, we discussed the ways in which individuals cope with
an encounter with threatening introduction of meanings by focusing on the semantic
level of their discourse (Gillespie et al. 2012; Kadianaki 2013), thus providing another view of how meanings introduce catalyzing meanings and set the conditions
necessary for the employment of semantic structures as regulators.
Further, in this chapter we have suggested that semiotic elements are catalysts
setting the grounds for symbolic resources to be used. Thus an antagonistic relationship also exists between rupture catalysts and semiotic catalysts (i.e. as cultural
elements) or regulators (i.e. as symbolic resources). For example, Sabars website
contains meanings that are employed to deal with the rupture of not being able to
sustain the Kurdish fight. Sabar uses the website to build up the identity of a diplomat
and a fighter. In other words, it is the meanings about the loss of the Kurdish fight internationally (i.e. a rupture) that Sabar perceives are battling with meanings about
the sustenance of the Kurdish fight through new technological means (i.e. website
used as resource). Thus, efforts to rebuild meaning should be understood within a
context of alternative, often contradictory, meanings (Gillespie 2008; Billig 1987).
A catalytic framework enables understanding of the antagonistic conditions that
individuals find themselves into and the ways that they manage to cope with them. In
this chapter, by focusing on semiotic regulators in the form of cultural elements, we
examined the ontogenetic level of experience, namely, the relatively stable meaning
structures that guide the person within ones life course (Valsiner 2007, p. 302). In
Gillespie et al. (2012), by focusing on semantic structures used in the discourse of
individuals to deal with threatening alterity, we examined the microgenetic level of
experience, i.e. the ongoing flow of thought and talk. We suggest that a catalytic
framework can be used to study the sociogenetic level of experience as well, that is,
the visible transindividual patterns of meaning which are not available in the analysis of a single individual (Gillespie 2004: 85). Typically, sociogenetic processes
take place when individual actions and meaning-making participate in the creation
of new cultural elements, which will then durably transform the semiosphere and
guide collective action. Here, when Sabar participates in the creation of a webpage
for other people who are in the same situation as he is, he provides them with visible transindividual patterns of meaning. From a catalytic perspective, individual
catalysis generates collective catalytic dynamics.
A three-level examination can provide a holistic understanding of the conditions
under which psychological experiences unfold and the processes through which
they are constantly and actively negotiated and reconstructed within the individual,
between individuals and at a social level.
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Part VI
Chapter 11
History education has been traditionally considered a fundamental tool for instilling
moral values and developing identities (Barton and Levstik 2008; Carretero 2011;
Grever and Stuurman 2007; Lopez and Carretero 2012). A traditional claim for
knowing about the past has been its use for understanding the present. In that sense,
knowing about people in the past is supposed to help us to know about ourselves and
our own identities. It is not surprising that history has been used in many nations to
foster national identity in the citizens (Smith 1991; VanSledright 2008).
In fact, the origin of history as a modern discipline is closely linked to the origin
of nation-states in the nineteenth century (Hobsbawm 1997). As schooling became
generalized in the nineteenth century, each nation found the subject of history a
convenient tool for teaching national values and developing loyalties in the students.
Thus, the goals of history education were more focused on developing emotional
and identity issues than on understanding the past (Carretero 2011; Foster 2012).
Thus, the past was nationalized, and each nation developed its own history. This
nationalization of the past can still be noticed nowadays (Crawford and Foster 2007;
Foster and Crawford 2006). In any library devoted to history it is absolutely common
to find titles such as History of U.S., History of England, History of Germany
and of practically any existing nation. These national histories usually content an
official national narrative that narrates the history of the nation since its origin
which most of times is lost in time (Balibar 1991). These narratives revisit the past
in a biased way trying to portray a positive view of the nation and sometimes relying
more on myths and legends than in historiographical analysis (Berger and Lorenz
2010; VanSledright 2008).
The objective of these national narratives was more on legitimizing the political
order of the current nation than on understanding the past. Thus, critical interpretations of the past were usually sacrificed for the sake of national objectives. As
C. Lopez (!) M. Carretero M. Rodriguez-Moneo
Autonoma University of Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, C/ Ivan Pavlov,
6, 28049 Madrid, Spain
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Carretero
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_11,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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C. Lopez et al.
renowned Renans (1882) sentence noticed: Forgetfulness, and I would even say
historical error, are essential in the creation of a nation. Although each nation has
its particularities, some common features can be noticed for these national narratives
in different nations (Carretero and Bermdez 2012):
The nation and nationals are established as the main subject of the narrative.
Thus, a narrative of a conflict between a national we against a foreign they is
constructed. These concepts of nation and national identity are displayed as timeless
entities and applied to every period of history. Conflicts over the national territory
constitute one of the narratives main themes. In these conflicts nationals atemporal
ownership and legitimacy over the territory is reinforced. Finally, the actions of the
national group are always judged morally positively in contrast to foreign actions.
Many times these national narratives reflect an ethnocentric vision of the past
(Dragonas and Frangoudaki 2001). They are filled with values and moral aspects
looking for a positive image of the own nation. But regarding their lack of historiographical rigor, these national narratives have become unquestionable truths that
are hardly revised and contested in school (Alridge 2006; Barton and Levstik 2004).
Thus, usually the students have access to these romantic and essentialist narratives
and not to any other challenging narrative.
The key role that the nation plays in the field of history makes us wondering
what kind of representations and understandings about the past the students are
developing (Carretero et al. 2012). In other words, we are interested in analyzing
the conditionsin and out of schoolsin which people learn about the past and the
kind of representations that are facilitated by those conditions.
History textbooks have been traditionally considered a central tool through which
students get access to the official national narratives. As Foster (2012) indicates:
School history textbooks in many nations across the world typically are shaped by two
characteristics. First, they are often overtly nationalistic. Second, they commonly adopt an
official, single, best story narrative style (p. 49).
The role of history textbooks is so important that in many countries the fights
about the curriculum and about which history textbooks are to use have become
cultural and social wars (Evans 2004). As a matter of fact, in many countries history
textbooks are strongly controlled and supervised by the Ministry of Education that
ultimately decides over the content to be taught (Janmaat 2002; Symcox and Wilschut
2009; Van der Leeuw-Roord 2004). Finally just a few textbooks are approved to be
used throughout the country. Then it is frequent that the changes in the government
lead tosometimesdramatic changes in the historical content to be taught.
Many studies have pointed out how in many nations, history textbooks are filled
with national narratives that denied the student a critical understanding of the past,
showing just a biased narrative focused in the nation and in national heroes. These
biased views about the past are even more salient when different national narratives
about the same historical event are compared. For example, Carretero et al. (2002) in
a study on the so called Discovery of America pointed out the opposite narratives
used by Spanish and Mexican history textbooks to depict the same historical event.
Crawford and Foster (2007) reached to similar conclusions by analyzing history
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textbooks from China, France, Germany, Japan, the USA, and the UK about the
Second World War. Each nation built a nationalized narrative that selects which
stories are to be told and how, in order to defend the own nations image.
Although history textbooks are a main tool through which people come to know
about their nations past and develop ideas about their national identity, it is certainly
not the only way. In everyday life people encounter themselves with their nations
through many different ways. National flags on the buildings, sport games between
nations, national memorials, national celebrations, and even streetsnames filled with
references to national figures, remind us that we are part of a nation. These practices
became so natural and so routine in our lives that most times we are unaware that
they are there. But the main goal of these practices is to celebrate the nation, and
most of the times they do it in an implicit way. This phenomenon constitutes what
Michael Billig has called Banal Nationalism (1995). Billig notices how although nationalism is usually associated with early practices from the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, nowadays the nation is still celebrated and considered a natural feature of
our societies. Thus, it is difficult to think of a person who lacks national identity, as
if it was a natural feature.
Not all these national social practices have to do with knowing the nations past,
but many of them do. Films about national past (Wineburg et al. 2001), historical
novels, national history museums (Asensio and Pol 2012; Gonzlez de Oleaga 2012),
monuments (Valsiner 2012), and national anniversaries are mechanisms through
which people encounter with their nations past as much as through school history
textbooks. The main problem is that most of these practices as already noted regarding
history textbooks depict the nation as a timeless, static, and natural entity. The past
and the present are linked and mixed in a national way. That is, the nation remains
as a static, main character of history. Even historical events prior to the origin of
the nation itself are nationalized. Thus, it is common to talk about terms such as
Prehistory of France, Roman times in Spain, and to talk about people in the
Middle Ages as if they already had a national identity. This Banal Nationalism that
can be found in and out of school, reinforces the idea that the nation and national
identities are natural and eternal realities. In doing so, they are mechanisms through
which we link ourselves with people in the past, since we are supposed to share
commons features, namely our nation and our national identity.
Thus, through different mechanisms people are offered stories and narratives that
shared certain characteristics regarding their own nation and their national identity.
At this point we think it is interesting to introduce the notion of schematic narrative templates proposed by James Wertsch (2004). The notion of schematic narrative
templates focuses on generalized functions that characterize a broad range of specific
narratives. Thus, several specific narratives may share certain features that fit under
a more general schematic narrative. These schematic narratives are schematic in the
sense that they concern abstract, generalized functions. As pointed out in classical
psychological work by Bartlett (1935), people bring tendencies with them into the
situation they have to deal with. These tendencies are thought in terms of schemes
that guide the subject to understand and act in a specific situation. These schemes
are usually used in a completely unreflective, unanalytical, and unwitting manner.
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C. Lopez et al.
Furthermore, Wertsch noted that schematic narrative templates are thought as similar as to implicit theories (Ross 1989), in that they encompass rarely discussed,
but strongly held beliefs. It is worth noticing that these schematic narrative templates constitute tools of mediation constructed in a social context and shared by the
members of a social group, and as such they could vary between those groups.
Applying Wertschs notion of schematic narratives templates to the field of history,
it could be thought that national narratives constitute schematic narrative templates
in which different specific historical narratives are embedded. Thus, these national
narratives are constructed within a social context and reinforced in an explicit and
implicit manner. In the case of history, these national narratives are also a source
for national identity. As in a picture family book, people are told to revisit these
narratives in order to seek for their own identity. Some studies have analyzed the
characteristic of these general national narratives in different countries (Barton 2001,
2012). Werstch exemplifies this kind of meta-narrative in what he called triumphover-alien-forces narrative for the Russian history (Werstch 2004). This narrative
serves as a scheme to describe different events in Russian history as Mongol invasion
in the thirteenth century, the Swedish invasion in the eighteen century, Napoleons
invasion, and Hitlers invasion during the Second World War. Barton and Levstik
(2004) note that schematic narratives of looking for freedom and progress give
structure to many historical narratives in the history of the USA.
Although schemes could be useful for subjects to interpret, understand, and behave
in different situations and contexts, there are several difficulties when it comes to
use national narratives to understand the past (Barton and Levstik 2004; Carretero
and Lopez 2010b). First, national narratives present just one voice of the past, one
vision, and one narrative. This narrative is thought as reflecting the past as it was.
There is no room for alternative narratives, where other characters or other stories
different than those regarding the nation are taken into account. Second, through
these national narratives historical knowledge is simplified to the knowledge found
in that narrative. Historical knowledge becomes fixed and static. There is no possible
process of reinterpretation, confrontation, or inquiry about the past. Third, history is
seen as a logical chain of events whose logical consequence is the nation. Finally, the
main paradox, and maybe the most important problem of national narratives, is that
most current historians agree to set the origin of nations never before the eighteenth
century. That is, most modern historians understand nations or national identities
as modern social constructions that emerged in the age of nationalism during the
modern era (Anderson 1983; Connor 2004; Hobsbawm 1997; Ichijo and Uzelac
2005). Thus, from a modern historiographical point of view, talking of nations
before the modern era has no historiographical sense. In contrast, many national
narratives consist precisely in tracing the origin of the nation from the most remote
past to the present.
Therefore, there is a tension between how history and the national phenomena
are represented in traditional national narratives and current historiographical approaches. While traditional history has been based on romantic characteristics linked
with the development of national identity and the celebration of nation, current disciplinary approaches are focused on the analysis and development of historical thinking
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215
(Lee 2004; Seixas 2004; Voss and Wiley 2006; Wineburg 2001). One of the objectives of current disciplinary approaches is precisely to de-nationalize history (Hansen
2012) in order to achieve a more critical and less biased understanding of the past
allowing different narratives to be taken into account. However, as Foster (2012) indicates, nations that use their education systems to promote feelings of pride unity
and common heritage have no reason to encourage multiple narratives or competing
evidence (p. 53).
Given the relevance of the national phenomena in the field of history and the
presence of the romantic and nationalized approaches that can be found in and out
school, we thought relevant to analyze empirically what types of representations are
produced by students when they face historical contents. That is, taking into account
the conditions in which students learn about national history, we are interested in analyzing what type of representations about the nation are enabled by these conditions.
We are also interested in identifying which elements could be considered as catalysts
for the development of particular representations. In doing so, we are exploring the
relation established between schematic narrative templates that circulate between
members of the nationsnot only through schooling and history textbooks, but also
through what Billig (1995) calls banal nationalismand the particular narratives
that students develop.
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C. Lopez et al.
constituted the only narrative for analyzing that historical period, from current historiographical approaches the conditions upon which that narrative is builtbasically
grounded in the pre-existence of the Spanish nationare strictly false.
However, most students interviewed in this study built a romantic narrative when
explaining the historical events. Most students spontaneously apply national adjectives to the territory and the people that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at that
timeexcluding the Muslims who were not categorized as Spaniards. Thus, for
most of them, the Spanish nation already existed at that time. A relevant result is
how most of the students judged the actions carried out by different groups. The
Muslim conquests were seen as illegitimate while the Spanish conquests were
seen as logical and legitimate. The following quote shows an excerpt exemplifying
these representations.
[And whom do you think that territory belonged to?] It is true that at that moment it was
dominated by the Arabs, but it was still Spaniards. (. . . ) Even though it had been taken by
force, but sooner or later they had to expel the Arabs. (. . . ) [The conquests you have drawn
here (making reference to later Christian conquests in the year 1212), do you think they
were legitimate?)] Conquests in the opposite way, to throw them out? Well, they seem to me
more legitimate. Yes, a bit more legitimate, because they are kind of recovering what was
taken from them. Lets see, wars are not right, but I do think it could be slightly justified.
Recovering their territory and customs and whatever they were not allowed to do by the
Arabs. (Sara, 22 years old).
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elements that give form to each national narrative. These are fundamentally related
with the pre-existence of both nations. Thus, the territory is legitimately bound to
the nation and the nationals. On each national historiography the actions carried out
by the supposed nationals against the other are always positively judged.
In the study, Spanish participants were provided with historical maps from three
different periods. First, the Byzantine period, which precedes the Ottoman occupation of Greece. Second, the Ottoman occupation of Greece, and finally the
period of Greek independence and expansion (nineteenth and twentieth centuries).
For each period, the participants had to answer questions regarding the inhabitants of
the Balkan Peninsula in each period and the conquests made by different groups in
each period. The results show how most participants defend a romantic and essentialist conception of Greek national identity, even though it is a detached identity since
all participants were Spaniards. That is, for most of them, Greek national identity
is something that has been unaltered from ancient times and somehow transmitted
through generations until today. For these students, the people who inhabited the
Balkan Peninsula in Byzantines timesand even in ancient timesand the people
who got Greece independence in the twentieth century share the same national identity. The following shows a quote from Marias interview reflecting this romantic
idea.
[How long could the feeling of belonging to the Greek nation have been present?] I think
since always. (. . . ) If we forget history . . . there has always been a feeling of saying I
belong to Greece, to ancient Greece (. . . ). And then came a moment in which you say,
From here on! One or the other spreads the word; (. . . ) they created that feeling until
they say, we have been invaded by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Ottomans; now is our
moment. Now in the 19th and 20th centuries, (. . . ) is when they say, now is the time for
us to rebel and become independent as Greeks (Maria, 21 years old).
On the contrary, when it came to interpret the legitimacy of the territory in dispute
and judge the actions from different groups (Greeks and Ottomans), most students
took a more critical position. That is, most of them did not legitimate the actions of
one group over the other. Although few participants built a romantic narrative biased
towards the Greeks, defending their atemporal right to own the Balkan Peninsula,
most of participants did not take part for any of the groups. In doing so, they took into
account that both groups, Greeks and Ottomans could be equally right to own the
land since no one had an atemporal right over it. Thus, most participants understood
the territory as a dynamic and changeable element and not as a static one.
Thus, it is worth noticing that most of Spanish participants did not build a we
versus they narrative, as participants from the previous study about the Reconquest did. Participants did not refer to any group using pronouns such as we or
us. In analyzing the Ottoman occupation of Greece, most participants took into
account at least both sides of the conflictthat of Greek and also Ottomanin order
to try to understand what happened. That is, they did not defend just one biased
possible interpretation of the period, but acknowledged that each group had their
own one.
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C. Lopez et al.
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219
most Spanish participants still held a romantic understanding regarding Greek national identity, as if it was a natural concept instead of a social and constructed one.
However, facing students with different historical narratives and historical contents
from different nations could help them to understand that every nation builds its
own narrative. That is, students could think about history as a process of constant
interpretation, construction, and reconstruction in a dialog between past and present
interpreters (Leinhardt et al. 1994), and not as an only and true narrative that contains
the History.
We would not like to end this chapter without acknowledging that the relations
established between national narratives, national identity, and historical understanding are dynamic and contextualized. The two studies presented in this chapter do
not aim to be generalized to every historical event or nation. That is, Spanish students understanding of another national history could be different if the other nation
considered was for instance, a neighbor nation such as France or Portugal. Also,
the relations between national narratives, national identity, and students historical
understanding could be changed depending on the context in which the student is.
For instance, interpreting historical events about the Reconquest could be very
different if the student is involved in a group discussion with Muslim students. In
that case, the presence of the other could be interpreted as a catalyst for developing
a different narrative of the historical event. However, we think that studies such as
those presented here allow us to better understand this complex and dynamic system
which we thought central in order to foster a better historical understanding in our
students.
Acknowledgements This chapter was written with the support of the Project PICT 20081217
(Agencia de Investigacin de Argentina), the Project EDU2010-17725 (Agencia de Investigacin,
Spain), both coordinated by the second author. We would like express our gratitude for that support.
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Chapter 12
Human beings always come under the horizons spell. The word horizon derives
from the ancient Greek horizon kyklos, meaning separating circle, from the
verb horizo, to divide, to separate, and that from the noun oros, boundary,
landmark (Liddell and Scott 1925). The horizon is an epiphenomenon emerging
from a peculiar combination between the spherical shape of our earth land and the
organizational principles of human spatial perception and orientation. The horizons
metaphor has been often used in literature, natural sciences, and philosophy as a
catalyzer of the human aspiration to the Unknown. The horizon is the edge of the
interaction between human-centered awareness and the infinite realm of nonhuman
phenomena, underlying the separation of resident, or organic, from transient, or
objective (MacDougall 1903, p. 145). In this chapter, I will try to develop the idea of
psychological horizon, understood as one of the semiotic elements characterizing the
relationship between the self and the environment. The psychological horizon is one
of the catalytic factors enabling psychological events. Drawing from Kurt Lewins
field theory, I describe the features of the psychological horizon as a semiotic device
and its role in the process of meaning construction.
What lies beyond the horizon is not yet in the condition of perceived reality,
thus unable to interact with our senses or orientate our action. Through the idea of
psychological horizon this reality-not-yet-to-be comes into our life, playing a role
in setting up our goals through the imaginative power (Danesi 1995). An example
of this psychological role is a short lyric by the Romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi
(17981837), titled The Infinite:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
L. Tateo (!)
University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_12,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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L. Tateo
environment
self
horizon/sign
time
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
In lines 35 the poet has sketched the relationship between the perceptual horizon and
the triggering of an imaginative, as well as reflexive process. The image of horizon
is evoked by the perceptual limitation to the gaze (the horizons furthest reaches)
in a poetic representation of Herbst (1976) co-genetic logic. In fact, the horizon in
Leopardis lyrics is not the physical constraint to gaze, but rather the co-generation of
constraint and sign (Fig. 12.1), leading to the emergence of several new psychological
events: representations and imagination (line 7: in my thought I shape); memory
(line 11: I must compare: remembering the seasons); and emotions (line 15: it
is sweet to shipwreck in such a sea). The lyric thus synthetically expresses the
idea that an act of semiotization and segmentation calls to life the psychological
objects of our experience, that is every individual, material object, or sign that plays
a role in the psyche. The hedgerow at line 2 becomes a sign, namely a horizon/sign,
establishing a segmentation between the self and the environment, thus triggering the
coming into life space of both the self and the environment as objects of experience
(Fig. 12.1).
Another example of horizon/sign in everyday life is the word now, that introduces segmentation in the field of experience. It co-creates different objects by
placing time into the public sphere, through acts of measurement and semiotization
(Heidegger 2010; James 1950). This segmentation and semiotization generates the
common sense knowledge about time as an infinite sequence of nows in the construction of temporality and its meaning. Horizon/signs can be generated at different
levels of abstraction and reality, and they can be either material or immaterial objects
(Fig. 12.2).
In the examples of Fig. 12.2, a sign is produced that establishes a segmentation
of space, triggering a re-organization of the relationship between the self and the
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environment. In the case of the painted wall, the sign is working on the physical
border of the field, creating an immaterial and quite unreal horizon, modifying and
widening the field itself. In the case of the ruins, a material object included into
the perceptual field is used as a sign to segment the space, establishing a difference
between the self and the environment. In both cases, the horizon/sign co-generates
new objects in the field that produce new meaning to the psychological experience,
like in the case of the hedgerow.
The semiotic process of naming the horizon establishes a meaningful differentiation between the observer and the environment, adding a value to the new
co-generated elements. The idea of horizon as semiotic differentiation of elements,
rather than just perceptual psycho-physiological processthought rooted in perceptual activitywas already well known by poets and novelists but largely ignored by
psychologists (MacDougall 1903). Whether you start from an empiricistobjective
is permanent and subjective is transientor rationalistsubjective is permanent and
objective is transientperspective, there is something pre-existing, the relationship
between the self and the environment, that owns the right to inform the relationship
between what is and what is not the subject. Gadamers hermeneutic perspective
tries to solve this problem by the idea of fusion of horizons (Gadamer 1997). This
moves the problem from the relationship between the subject and the environment
to the process of intersubjectivity. The horizon is still related to subject as the the
range of vision that includes everything that can be seen from a particular vantage
point (Gadamer 1997, p. 302). Everyone has his own subjective horizon, and the
question becomes how to overcome the individual points of view of historically affected consciousness, as far as working out of the hermeneutical situation means the
achievement of the right horizon of inquiry for the questions evoked by the encounter
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L. Tateo
with tradition (Gadamer 1997, p. 302). Also in this case, the hermeneutic process
is possible only if something to be interpreted preexists the intersubjective fusion of
horizons. In other words, every approach to the notion of horizon presupposes the
existence of something before and apart from the subjective experience.
Summing up, we have at least three different accepted meanings of the word
horizon: (a) the boundary of physical environment that can be perceived by individual senses; (b) the particular subjective perspective from which the environment
is perceived; (c) the established boundary between the observer and the environment.
In all cases, the notion of subject is the origin, the focal point of the horizon, also
implying that the horizon line moves with the person1 . It is worth noticing that the
space within the range of horizon is not empty but populated by people and objects.
It is thus reasonable to imagine that even the space beyond the horizon shall be populated as well. This simple assumption makes possible a wide range of inferences
that are not strictly related to our direct experience of the phenomenal world. Rather
than being a simple constraint to the psychological processes, the emergence of a
horizon becomes a potential condition of such processeslike in Leopardis lyric
that provides meaning to the individuals life space. In this view, the idea of horizon
starts to look like an example of catalytic process. The horizon is produced as a sign
that plays the role of semiotic catalyst promoting and guiding the emergence of new
psychological phenomena. The horizon/sign is the valued and positive side of the
coin, with respect to time perspective and boundaries. But before, it is worthy to
clarify the co-genetic relationship between the self and the environment presented
in Fig. 12.1, through the concept of meaningful life space in relationship with the
horizon, drawing from Kurt Lewins topological psychology.
I am grateful to Pina Marsico, University of Salerno (Italy), who gave me this insightful hint
during a private conversation.
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of life space (Lewin 1935, 1936, 1997). Actually, the basic epistemological principle
of field theory is that any behaviour or any other change in a psychological field
depends only upon the psychological field at that time (Lewin 1997, p. 201, original
italic). This claim apparently narrows the elements of the psychological life to the
here and now, misleading to the conclusion that field theory is a situationistic and
behaviorist approach. Lewins idea was that elements outside the field as well as the
concrete situations of the field in a previous time are not relevant in understanding
the psychological processes at stake unless they are brought somehow into the field
at that time. Objects of experience are included into the life space through a semiotic
process of meaning making, that is bringing something into the field of forces and
providing it with charge. This is basically an act of segmentation and semiotization
of the relationship between the self and the environment. The objects included into
the field of forces are also provided with a level of reality that depends upon their
relationship with our needs and expectations (Lewin 1935, 1997). Semiotization is
thus the process that co-generates all the elements outside and inside the field, as well
as the real and unreal, and finally links the present with past and future situations.
In this respect, the true meaning of at that time in field theory is that the psychological field which exists at a given time contains also the views of that individual
about his future and past. The individual sees not only his present situation; he has
certain expectations, wishes, fears, daydreams for his future. His views about his
own past and that of the rest of the physical and social world are often incorrect but
nevertheless constitute, in his life space, the reality-level of the past. In addition,
a wish-level in regard to the past can frequently be observed. The discrepancy between the structure of this wish- or irreality-level of the psychological past and the
reality-level plays an important role in the phenomenon of guilt. The structure of the
psychological future is closely related, for instance, to hope and planning (Lewin
1997, p. 207).
Lewins idea of development is based on a general genetic process implying the
progressive elaboration by the individual of the life space meaning through differentiation. The child experiences an environment which is boundless, made of objects
and persons that are somehow part of his own individuality.
[T]he newborn cannot distinguish between himself and his environment; slowly certain
areas, for instance, those connected with eating, take on specific character, become more
and more differentiated; the parts of his own body become differentiated from each other
and from the rest of the world; social relations develop and become differentiated; needs,
emotions, language go through a similar process of differentiation (Lewin 1942, p. 226).
This life space is also timeless, in the sense that the child lives in present time. It
is besides magically real, in the sense that the boundary between real and unreal is
fuzzily defined.
The young child does not distinguish clearly between fantasy and reality. To a great extent whishes and fears affect his judgment. As an individual becomes mature and gains
self-control, he more clearly separates his wishes from his expectations: his life space
differentiates into a level of reality and various levels of irreality, such as fantasy and
dream (Lewin 1997, p. 81).
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L. Tateo
According to Lewin (1935, 1942), the boundaries of self are fuzzy unless a progressive differentiation between the self and the environment is dynamically established,
through the experience of needs satisfaction, constraints, others guidance and
frustration.
In the psychological life-sphere in addition to the plane of reality there usually exist various
levels of unreality. Unreality (the plane of dreams, of so-called imagination, of gesture) is
roughly characterized by the fact that in it one can do as he pleases. Dynamically there is a
lack of firm barriers and a large degree of mobility. And the boundaries between the ego and
the environment are also fluid (Lewin 1935, p. 145).
Differentiation occurs when objects in life space acquire their own symbolic meaning.
Thus, an environment understood by the child as an extension of the body becomes a
meaningful life space populated by objects charged with a symbolic value. Operating
in the environment changes not only the individual state in the contingent present,
but also all his reactions in future situations (Lewin 1935).
This influence of the present situation upon future possibilities of conduct, which is particularly significant to development as a process considerably extended in time, is due not only
to the childs acquisition of certain intellectual experiences but, above all, to the fact that his
whole person is changed in certain specific ways (Lewin 1935, p. 111).
Like in the process of cellular division, the psychological space of the individual
becomes more and more populated by meaningful objects and segmented by sets of
internal and external barriers (Fig. 12.3).
The life space then becomes more articulated and different regions emerge, separated by more or less sharp barriers (Lewin 1938). This process also implies the
creation of relationships between the different objects and regions. New needs, problems and solutions arise. The process of differentiation is concurrent with the process
of establishing new connections between regions.
New connections or separations, differentiations or dedifferentiation of psychological areas
have taken place. The meaning of an event in psychology may be said to be known if its
psychological position and its psychological direction are determined (Lewin 1942, p. 229).
Differentiation, boundaries and new symbolic meanings make possible the circular
relation between the self and the environment. In particular, one may distinguish
three main dimensions of extension. One deals with the scope and the differentiation of that area which for the individual has the character of the present reality.
The second deals with increasing differentiation in the reality-irreality dimension.
The third deals with the extending psychological time dimension (Lewin 1997, p.
260). During the development, the twofold process of differentiating field structure
and establishing functional connections between regions affects the construction of
temporality. According to Lewin (1942, 1997) the time span of the individual enlarges during development, as well as the capability to include a larger amount of
past events into the field and to extend the planning into the future.
The totality of the individuals views of his psychological future and his psychological past
existing at a given time can be called time perspective (Lewin 1942, p. 230).
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229
Fig. 12.3 The process of cellular division and the topological representation of persons structure.
(Lewin 1969, p. 185)
Time perspective also starts with meaning and boundaries. The development of time
perspective triggers a change in the field structure allowing the projection toward the
future.
Lewin (1942, 1997) describes several types of barriers surrounding the childs life
acting as a bounding zone of an inner sphere (Lewin 1935, p. 130, original italic), as
well as the internal segmentation of the life space in sub-regions with different values.
The nature of these barriers could either be material or symbolic, physically coercive
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L. Tateo
What do you feel
Horizon/sign now
segmentation
cognition
affection
Mood +
V1
self
V2
Mood -
or internalized by the individual through customs or guilt. The internal regions of the
field can be characterized by more or less sharply determined boundaries of these
regions (Lewin 1997, p. 19, original italic). In any case, boundaries are part of the
situation and play a role in determining the psychological value of all the objects in
life space, as well as the value of the objects beyond these barriers. The other relevant
feature of the boundary is to be always related to the future of the action to be taken.
In fact, the value of an object as regards to the outer and inner boundaries of the life
space is determined by the future-oriented goals. It makes no sense to worry about
any constraint of an action already accomplished or a goal already achieved in the
past. The past experience with boundaries becomes relevant and meaningful when
entering the field, after a semiotic act that makes it still topical, to such an extent that
past becomes a new kind of boundary in the field at that time. According to Simmel
(2007a), the boundary is the interface between the social structures content and the
individuals participation to joint activities. Thus, boundaries are at the same time
the product of social constraint and the conditio sine qua non of social interactions.
Each border is a psychological, or more precisely, a sociological occurrence. But through its
investment as a line in space this reciprocal relationship achieves clarity and security through
its positive and negative aspects (Simmel 2007a, p. 53).
For any event to become a psychological object within the field a semiotic process
must take place. A sign is thus produced, co-generating a segmentation, a value, and
a boundary. These three dimensions build the relationship between the self and the
environment. In this respect, relationship and action are synonyms: a psychology
of action is a psychology of relationship. As far as action is always oriented toward
the future time, it is a relationship to the future. Nevertheless, it is inscribed in an
experienced pattern of relationships with the other elements of the field. An utterance
like What do you feel is an example of such kind of act (Fig. 12.4).
Describing the situation through topological representation, after the sign what
do you feel is produced, it brings into the field a new psychological objectmy
mood or affective stateand at the same time co-generates a segmentationmood
or state as discrete entities in time, affection with respect to cognition, etc.with its
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232
L. Tateo
Fate can be considered a horizon/sign to the extent that it enables some events
that are external to the field to become valued psychological objects to be put in
relationship with the self. Even more relevant, the sign fate operates by creating
the conditions for the future goal-oriented actions to be guided, and the future signs
12
Plans of reality/irreality
233
reality
expectations
wishes
horizon
to be interpreted, toward a direction and doom outside the borders of the life space
at that time, like can happen with the sign faith for believers (Cabell 2010).
As far as the individual progressively learns the difference between the plans of
reality/irreality, he develops the capability of articulating the different levels with
respect to his goals (Lewin 1997). The apparent two dimensional life space reveals
itself to be a multidimensional field of forces, in which what is not possible at the level
of reality can be at the same time plausible or desirable at the level of expectations
or imaginable at the level of wishes. Also in this case the horizon/sign works as a
catalyst, enabling the different levels to interact (Fig. 12.5).
In a certain sense, human beings are doomed to develop, that is they are always
headed toward a range of possible futures among which just one will be actualized.
But, according to the idea of exquisitely future-oriented action, it seems that human
beings are also doomed to never learn from their mistakes. It means that the past
experience plays a role as far as it becomes a topical psychological object in the field
at that time. Thus, its status of something that has already existed but no longer exists
on the plan of reality does not affect its role in the field of forces, unless it becomes a
new sign. What determines the value of the objects and the direction of the vectors in
the field is the tension at that moment, and the whole system is finally guided by the
individual goals. It is the case of regressive behavior that Lewin (1997) explains in
terms of field theory. Regression is not related to the past experience, rather to the fact
that a person can encounter a barrier that cannot be overcome in the field, while trying
to reach a goal corresponding to a need which is characteristic of a certain level of
maturity (Lewin 1997, p. 234). Thus, the person can turn to a different region of
the field, corresponding to a less mature level, because this action seems to promise
at least some satisfaction to the need (Lewin 1997, p. 234). In a multidimensional
space, the tension can be represented also at different levels of reality/irreality, and
the vectors can make for a level to another. Wishes and expectations can exert a force
on the self, as well as desirable or unpleasant objects on the plan of reality. Barriers
can be multidimensional as well. The person can encounter a barrier to overcome a
region that exists between the plane of wishes and that of expectations or reality. Also
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L. Tateo
What I can do
Horizon/sign now
segmentation
reality
V1
whishes
Goal +
self
Threat -
in this case, what lies beyond the boundaries of the field has some relationship with
the life space, and the psychological horizon plays a role in determining the situation
at that time, when a horizon/sign is produced. Figure 12.6 presents an example using
the horizon/sign now in a different way.
For the sake of simplicity, the example shows a situation in which only one desired
goal + exists on the plan of wishes. A sign what can I do is produced triggering
the situation of the self subjected to opposing vectors. A segmentation occurs and
a barrier emerges between the plan of reality and wishes of the field, with a real
psychological object in the field threatening the achievement of the goal (i.e., possible
blame to the realization of a sexual fantasy) and generating tension by the opposing
force represented by vector V2 . When the horizon/sign now is produced, it modifies
the situation, even if the condition outside the field what is not now has not yet
been semiotized. For instance, the barrier between the plan of reality and wishes
becomes more permeable, leading to the expectation that what is not achievable at
present time could be possible in a future time. Also in this case, the horizon/sign
now works like a catalyst, as far as it provides the conditions to construct new
psychological phenomena modifying the existing field and the relationship between
the different plans of reality/irreality.
A different example of horizon/sign production can be found in the work of the
ItalianArgentine painter, sculptor, and theorist Lucio Fontana (18991968). He is
considered the founder of the Spatialism movement in modern art. In the mid1950s, he developed a particular technique called slashes, consisting of covering
canvases with layers of thick oil monochrome paint and using a cutter to create great
fissures in their surface (Fig. 12.7).
The aim of this kind of work is to draw viewers attention to the surface of
the canvases as a conventional boundary, both underlining and breaking the twodimensionality in order to reveal the space behind the picture. The slash thus produces
a horizon/sign, whose function is to establish a relationship between the observer,
the canvas boundary, and what is beyond it, understood as a new unknown, disquieting, and presemiotic sense of depth. In the case of Fontanas slashes, it becomes
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more evident due to the fact that this process is possible because of the social context
in which the psychological field is embedded. In fact, the production of the horizon/sign is related to the social norms and constraints guiding the activity of painting
and watching a work of art. The catalytic function of Fontanas slashes consists of
the modification of the perceptual fieldthe background of the canvas becomes an
internal, rather than external, barrierthe breaking of social rules of art, and the regulation of viewers psychological processesattention, imagination, etc.in order
to trigger new psychological phenomena, by establishing a relationship between the
psychological objects within the field and what is not painting. The space beyond the
canvas then starts to exert his presemiotic and mysterious power upon the observers
life space.
Conclusions
The idea of focusing on psychological processes and the conditions that cultivate
them, goes beyond the concept of context for psychological processes, as well as
the idea of horizon goes beyond the idea of life space. In this chapter, I attempt to
read again the topological theory through the lens of the cultural semiotic approach
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L. Tateo
(Valsiner 2007). First, I discuss the idea that any object of experience is included
in the field of forces when it becomes a sign, thus becoming a psychological object
provided with value. Then I argue that there are some kind of signs, the horizon/signs,
that set the conditions for what is outside the life spacethat is what is presemiotic
to interact with the self and the psychological environment and to guide the expansion
of the life space, modifying the field of forces. The function of the horizon/sign is
to catalyze the relationships between the self and the psychological objects in the
field towards a future-oriented direction. Besides, the horizon/sign acts upon the
boundaries of the life space, by valuing the outer side of the boundary itself. The
horizon/sign also produces the conditions of tension in which every sign is produced.
When the self is subject to vectors producing a tension in field, one of the possible
actions is trying to go out of the field (Lewin 1935). This option is more or less feasible
depending upon the sharpness and permeability of the borders. When a horizon/sign is
produced, like in the example of the sign now, it modifies the nature of the external
boundaries, introducing a not now that is possible even if not yet fully semiotized.
The life space, as a landscape of individual psychological experience, stands as an
objective, self-contained construct that nevertheless retains an interconnectedness,
though one hard to express, with the whole soul, the full vitality of its creator,
sustained and still perceptibly permeated by it (Simmel 2007c, p. 22). The semiotic
activity of socially guided psychological life generates segmentations, boundaries,
and values oriented toward an unknown future. In other words, every production
of signs is both an act of creation of psychological objects and of delimitation of a
portion of reality.
This condition came into its own in modernity and assumed the leading role in the processes
of culturalization. Underlying the plurality of relationships that interconnect individuals,
groups, and social formations, there is a pervading dualism confronting us: the individual
entity strives towards wholeness, while its place within the larger whole only accords it the
role of a part (Simmel 2007c, p. 22).
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the process of its production and the different types of horizon/signs could be studied
in order to better understand their role in catalyzing the new psychological objects
and the phenomena they trigger. Besides, a therapeutic use of horizon/signs aimed
at fostering a reconstruction of the field could be imagined. Another potentially
relevant field of application of the idea of horizon/signs is how they play a role in
development and education. In fact, if the horizon/sign works as a catalyst for the
change of the life space, investigating these signs in developmental processes could
make us understand the fundamental human condition of seeking the horizons
furthest reaches.
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Petry, N. M., Bickel, W. K., & Arnett, M. (1998). Shortened time horizons and insensitivity to
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Simmel, G. (2007a). The social boundary. Theory Culture & Society, 24(78), 5356.
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Chapter 13
I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand
dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence
something throbs, and gleams.
The Little PrinceAntoine de Saint-Expery
Both the process of catalysis and the concept of a catalyst have been recently imported from biology, chemistry, and philosophy as a methodological and conceptual
tool for cultural psychology and the establishment of a psychology of conditions.
This theoretical and methodological tool opens a path for multiple contributions of
research that enable an understanding of sense-making and decision-making processes (Cabell 2010, 2011a). In chemistry, catalysis is known as the process that
increases the reaction rate of chemical synthesis. A catalyst is not only the reactant
but also the product of the reaction because it is restored at the end of the process of
synthesis (Fechete et al. 2012). Thus, these abstract qualities can be imported in to
psychology so that catalysis can be understood as a coordination process of meanings
in our everyday experience. This coordination of meaning provides conditions that
enable the production or regulation of novel meanings by means of activating, directing, and deactivating existing semiotic mechanisms in the psychological system
(Cabell 2011a, b). The catalyst modifies the qualities of the reaction of signs within
the psycho-semitoic system, making it possible for semiotic regulators to construct
or deconstruct meanings. Catalysts work in hypergeneralized, field like and point like
signs (Cabell 2010), and the qualitative imprint of their reaction can be studied in everyday life. The cultural dynamics of catalytic processes in the psychological system
Olga Lehmann works as a clinician in the Welfare Department at La Sabana University
(Colombia), MSc. degree in Clinical Psychology: Health, Family relations and Community
interventions-Catholic University (Italy). Her current research interests include death beliefs, logo
therapy and existential analysis, silence in ordinary life, affective life and Idiographic Science.
E-mail: [email protected].
O. V. Lehmann O. (!)
Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
NTNU, Dragvoll, Trondheim, N-7491, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]
K. R. Cabell, J. Valsiner (eds.), The Catalyzing Mind,
Annals of Theoretical Psychology 11, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_13,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
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of the self can change personal cultural trajectories (Cabell 2011a), which highlight
its importance in times of crisis as a way out. The catalytic process involved here
requires making sense of uncertainty through decisions that change cultural and
personal trajectories producing perceived welfare1 .
From the most conventional routine to the most memorable day in our life, both
silence and language are means for sense-making of experience and existence. Furthermore, the dialectics of what is said, what is silent, and what is silenced involves
a crucial tension in the ways we cope with uncertainty (Lehmann forthcoming, a).
Everyday life is about making decisions in order to cope with personal, social, societal, and existential tasks that often make us feel as if we are in crisis. Think, for
instance, about times when you might have asked yourself/others if you should get
married, invest your savings in the stock exchange, or live abroad. The transcendence
of such crises may vary from person to person, depending on the value he/she attributes to the decision to makeinfluenced by personality traits and developmental
goalsin relation to the anticipation of future outcomes for their life project.
When facing such dilemmas, we often try to do the right thing and, in some
situations we would rather not make such decisions, so we wont be able to assume responsibility in the case of a negative outcome. The awareness of such inner dilemmas
and decisions requires silence to emerge (Hermans and HermansKonopka 2010).
During this crisis-solving process, popular advice that people receive and/or give
come from proverbs, such as psalms, koans, or quotes from famous philosophers,
singers, writers, or movie characters. For instance, in the famous claims from Pascal
or Saint-Expery, the importance of following our heart in order to gather the truth
of our longings is commonly referenced. Alternatively, the act of listening to the
heart, as well as other references to popular sayings, proverbs, and the like involve
silent settings such as sacred mountains, deserts, temples, and so forth. In this sense,
silence catalyzes the dialogic property of affective resonance. This includes inner
voices (i.e., hearts voice versus rational voice, mothers voice versus wifes voice,
gods voice versus mans voice, etc.), external voices (i.e., a family member, a priest,
a friend, a peer, etc.) and environmental tools that can become messages (i.e., objects,
advertisements, landscapes, etc.).
When trying to describe, analyze, understand, and comprehend human experience, we often look at words and discourse. Language has been the predominant
tool for studying human experience in western culture; even if it became relevant
during the twentieth century (Classen 1999). The predominance of words and
discourse as a way to understand experience is a Greek and Jewish inheritance
that permeated Christian culture (Steiner 1982) and became reinforced in scientific
1
With decisions that promote welfare, I intend those ones that maintain and/or increase the perceived
quality of life. Furthermore, here quality of life is understood as: individuals perceptions of their
position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation
to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept incorporating
in a complex way the persons physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social
relationships, personal beliefs and their relationships to salient features of the environment (World
Health Organization 1998, p. 3).
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inquiry. It was around the time of the Enlightenment where the visual character of
human phenomena gained more importance than other senses (Rosenfeld 2011).
The semiotic processes involved in the fields of language have never truly captured
feelings and emotions in human life (Matte Blanco 1998). However, the boundaries
of the linguistic world do not inhibit us from comprehension of affective phenomena,
which is also a main objective of cultural semiotic psychology (Valsiner 2007). Sometimes, self-comprehension of affective experiences necessitates moving in between
language and silence (Lehmann forthcoming, b). Furthermore:
(. . .) the dynamicity of silence in ordinary and extraordinary experiences is meant to become
a field in human studies. The dialectics of presenceabsence of signs goes beyond words. We
cannot forget that resonance and vibration are corporal experiences, which are not just about
hearing, but predominately about feeling and evoking aromas, images, rhythms, flavors, and
textures of experience. (Lehmann 2012, p. 470).
That way, even if developing models for the study of silence based phenomena cannot
constitute the answer for the comprehension of affective life, they are promising
and integrative starting paths. In this chapter, I attempt to highlight the catalytic
function of silence in everyday life, describing its role when people are trying to
make sense of experience and existence by means of making decisions. With this
purpose, I will first clarify what I intend by crises, then go in-depth with silence
based phenomena highlighting the resolution of dilemmas enabled by different kinds
of catalytic silences.
The Relational Symbolic Model created by Vittorio Cigoli and Eugenia Scabini uses the family
therapy as a therapeutic genre, the systemic approach as a clinical paradigm and the Systems Theory
as an epistemological tool (Cigoli 2006).
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involving a crisis of two dialectic forces in order to enable the emergence of virtues by means
of transforming the self.
(e) Crises are historical. That is, there are repeated crises through our family history and the
history of our relationships, and an unconscious tendency to repeat these patterns. Otherwise,
as Frankl (1994) highlights, every epoch entails a crisis, being the crisis of this time the
existential vacuum.
As long as uncertainty is inherent to development, both the past and the future
influence any present decision-making process (Abbey and Valsiner 2005). This
uncertainty is subject to logical, illogical, and dialogical ways to make sense of
experience (Josephs and Valsiner 1999) and therefore often result in crises. Furthermore, the complexity and multidimensionality of the mind that construct cultural
processes such as linguistics, theoretical and empirical systems, and music (Klempe
In Press, a) provide more room for the production of crises in the microgenetic and
macrogenetic structure and functioning of affective arenas of everyday life (Lehmann
forthcoming, a). Thus, crisis and contradiction describe the relationship of silence
and feelings and the subsequent tension in the crisis-solving process where silence
feelings and language are interwoven.
When dealing with crises, we can use and create cultural rituals as we move
towards resolving these crises. An example of this could be the visit to graves after
the death of a beloved person that Josephs (1998) mentions, because:
Rather than being characterized by rationality or logic, this process implies the transcendence
of the world as-if by the future-oriented as-if-could-be, in which both the person and the
world as-is, as well as the persons constructed past, are transformed. From an ontogenetic
developmental perspective, it is argued that this as-if mode of approaching and making sense
of the world is not inferior or immature, but is rather an important characteristic of human
development across all age groups. (Josephs 1998, p. 180, emphasis added).
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(b) silences that reaffirm the power of words allowing them to be heard; (c) silence
as promoters of encountering ones self essence; (d) aggressive silences, that paralyze
others; (e) accusative silences, that do not support others words; (f) hidden silences,
that allow the person not to feel committed with the topic in course; (g) awaiting
silences, that allow the person to choose a precise moment to talk; (h) caring silences,
that quiet faults and imperfections of an other, accepting him/here as he/she is;
(i) silences that should be kept, as the ones concerning intimacy; (j) imposed silences,
like the ones that emerge when someone is not available to talk with; and (k) protective
silences, like when victims of violence stay quiet in order to protect themselves.
Lastly the author mentions silent settings in the city such as libraries, streets at night,
temples, hospitals, and houses. Abadjieff (2011) mentions in brief these different
types of silence, without giving further explanations about their implications and
functioning in everyday life.
In a more systematized way, Levitt (2001) found seven types of silencehere
understood as a pausein clients during psychotherapy that occurs when the need
to focus on a psychological process is so powerful that the person requires being
speechless. These types of silence correspond to three higher categories: productive, neutral, and obstructive silences. Silence is meant to be productive when it
promotes reflection, expression, or emotional processing. Neutral silences are associated with mnemonic and associational issues. Silence is considered obstructive
when it is threatening (disengaged), and when it comes from a disturbing reaction
attributed to the therapist (interactional). With other perspectives of silence Stone
et al. (2012) describe mnemonic silenceshere understood as that which is unsaid
during a conversationin accordance with its intentionality and covertness (hiding
the memory instead of overtly expressing it). Authors refer to mnemonic silence as
the failure or refusal to express a memory during a conversation that in other situations would be remembered or expressed. The consequences of mnemonic silences
depend on other subtypes of silence. Four types of silence are described in the paper:
(a) when one remembers covertly and refuses to remember overtly; (b) when one
refuses to remember overtly and suppresses covert remembering; (c) when one fails
to remember overtly while remembering covertly; (d) when one fails to remember
overtly and covertly.
Aforementioned approaches to silence share the same implications for interactions
and relationships among individuals in diverse social settings. Acknowledging such
implications of silence in the dialogical nature of the self3 , Hermans & Hermans
Konopka (2010), state that decision-making involves conflict, criticism, agreement,
and/or consultancy of different relationships between people and within the self
(e.g., self-conflict, self-criticism, self-agreement, self-consultancy). There exists a
particular interest in consultancy because:
3
For the Dialogical Self Theory the self does not have existence separate from society but is part
of the society (. . . ) Society, from this side, is not surrounding the self, influencing it as an external
determinant, but there is a society of selves; that is, the self is in society and functions as an
intrinsic part of it (Hermans and Gieser 2011, p. 2).
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when we are confronted with a difficult problem or when we pose a puzzling question to
ourselves, we are sometimes not able to give an immediate answer and need time to consult
ourselves. Self-consultancy is also typical of situations in which we have to take a decision
that has important implications for our future and/or that of significant others. (Hermans and
HermansKonopka 2010, p. 125).
In this case, awareness of the answer to give, requires a preparing silence, which
needs a receptive attitude from other positions involved in the dialogue; this process involves hierarchies and power relationships (Hermans and HermansKonopka
2010).
Thus, with an emphasis on the experience of silence, the authors argue that the
depositioning of the I is associated with three mystical states described by Robert
Forman: (a) unitive, sense of communion with a wider external environment; (b) dualistic, the experience of awareness within an expansive silence and consciousness
of the world; and (c) pure consciousness, inner silence involving absence of sensations and thoughts (Hermans and HermansKonopka 2010). Thus, in the emotional
experience of silence, there are different degrees of involvement of attention and perception of boundaries that allow or block the simultaneous-polyphonic experiencing
(Lehmann forthcoming, b).
Altogether, gathering possible structures of silence is just the beginning of research
geared towards the comprehension of its functions in everyday psychological life.
In the masterpiece of Bruneau and Ishii (1988) three aspects sum up all the conceptualizations of silence described above. The authors make a theoretical distinction
between silence, silences, and silencing that becomes crucial for further conceptualizations of silence based phenomena, sharing the structure of concepts with
Orlandi (1995). Silence is described as a present-now timeless experience associated
to the individual which is often perceived as spiritualmystical, solitudinal, unconscious, expanded, and acausal (Bruneau and Ishii 1988; Orlandi 1995). Silences are
pastfuture oriented timefull experiences, often perceived as secularprofane, social,
conscious, contracted, and relatively causal. Furthermore, silencing is considered a
persuasive act in reference to the ones who silence and the ones who are silenced in
social, societal, and political arenas (Bruneau and Ishii 1988; Orlandi 1995). Some
precisions of terms are to be made in order to give an accurate understanding of silence
based phenomena. Here, while silences are linked to what remains quieteven if it
could be saidsilence concerns the untellable and involves a search of detachment
from language. This is the case of poetic instants, where a hyper-generalized level
of affect is experienced, facing the ambiguous boundaries of mystic and aesthetic
experienced values (Lehmann forthcoming, b).
Secondly, the authors, one North American and the other Japanese, acknowledge the variance of the affective resonance of silence within cultural settings. Both
in eastern and western cultures, silence is associated with some depth levels of
consciousness, such as mystical experience, trances, and relative unconsciousness
(Bruneau and Ishii 1988). Yet, it is stylized differently depending of diverse cultural,
philosophical, and theological traditions (Bruneau and Ishii 1988). Furthermore:
. . . Since silence is not valued and therefore not tolerated socially in American (and many European) societies, the function of speech is in the avoidance of silence, generally, as well as in
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the filling of silences during the transference of messages. Contrary to the American practice,
silence and silences in Japanese society are generally considered to be positively meaningful
and socio-culturally accepted to a much higher degree. (Bruneau and Ishii 1988, p. 25)
In fact, both west and east share the transcendence of silence from language, such as in
the case of Zen and trapist Monks. While these experiences of silence are associated
with mystical experience in general, it is paradoxical that in the predominant western
culture, silence is something to avoid and for eastern cultures silence is something
to embrace (Steiner 1982).
Silence is neither the opposite of speech nor an absence; on the contrary, silence
and language are interdependent (Bruneau and Ishii 1988). Thus, language represents just a part of our everyday experiences (Wittgenstein 1922/2005). Furthermore,
Bruneau and Ishii (1988) consider that:
. . . Silences are surfaces of deeper levels of silence. Silences are like interconnected rivers
and lakes; but silence is like the sea to which they connect. While analogy is not a popular
form of definition to Western scientists locked rigidly into a world of predictable becoming,
it is nevertheless, a common way of explaining for great numbers of peoples throughout the
planet. (pp. 45)
Very important facts emerge from the analogy above. By one hand, it highlights the
straight link between the boundaries of language, silence, and poetry. According to
Octavio Paz (1990), giving birth to a poem is to feel desperate with the powerless
words and encountering the omnipotence of silence, by means of listening to
the real voice of things (Paz 1990) and, that way, Silence, in the field of senses,
also holds the incapability of language to express the whole immersion of human
experience (Lehmann 2012, p. 469). Poetic interpretations of silence are needed in
order to understand its significance in peoples stories (Mazzei 2003).
On the other hand, it recognizes the interdependence of silence and silences. That
is, socially promoted silences in a temple or in a museum can themselves make the
apparition of silence possible as a contemplative act in the silent prayers to God, or in
front of a work of art. Both silence and silences have a cultural mediation and emerge
in Social Demand Settings [SDS]; that is, human made structures that constitute the
social boundaries of the topic of talks and have three zones: the Zone of Possible
Talking [ZPT], the Zone of Promoted Talking [ZPrT], and the Zone of Taboo
of Talking [ZTT] (Valsiner 2000). These zones guide communication processes
using semiotic mediators (Valsiner 2003). If you consider the zones of possible talk
promoted talk, and taboo talk, it is easy to situate the presence of silence, silences, and
silencing on them. Furthermore, one could also adapt such constructs to the existence
of a Zone of Possible Silentness [ZPS]; a Zone of Promoted Silentness [ZPrS];
and a Zone of Taboo of Silentness [ZTS]. Indeed, the ZPrS and the ZTS are inside
the ZPS, and the emergence of silence based phenomena from taboo topics needs to
pass through ZPrS, these being interconnected.
Given the polysemy of silence related issues in literature and their dialogical
quality, I consider here Silence Based Phenomena as the field involving silence,
silences, and silencing settings that serve as a source of catalytic processes. Thus,
Silence Based Phenomena can be studied as voluntary/involuntary silencing of inner
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voices and noises and/or silencing external noises and voices that work as: (a) a source
of hearing with varying degrees of involvement of awareness of the borders of inner
and external experience; (b) a source of saying with varying degrees of involvement
of awareness of the borders of inner and external experience; (c) the ambivalent sense
of not saying and not listening but saying and listening everything at the same time,
immersed in the timeless perception of communion between inner/outer borders
(Lehmann forthcoming, a).
As an illustration, a brief description of the case study of a health professional
that works in a palliative care practice is presented (Lehmann and Saita, In Press).
CR is an Italian anesthesiologist who is in charge of pain management of advanced
cancer patients in a hospital of northern Italy. She had also studied psychosomatic
therapy for reasons she describes as personal, and affirms that she is very interested
in transcendence, but does not practice any religion. Working in a hospital, silences
inhabit the space in different zones. The place itself is a ZPS because there are zones
where talking is allowed, as for instance cafeterias, but some others are ZPrS where
noise is regulated by different signs (i.e., posters), such as waiting rooms, bedrooms,
intensive care wards, and so on. The ZTS involve settings where taboo topics emerge,
such as when communicating difficult issues concerning diagnosis and prognosis of
illness, and/or topics related to death and dying.
CR has the custom of smoking while passing through the a garden that connects
the parking lot with the entrance of the hospital. She is used to walking through the
trees and plants of the garden while having a cigarette, which makes her feel relaxed
and as if she is getting rid of the tensions from work and home. The silentness she
has in this ZPrS was about allowing a releasing voice to emerge in order to make
sense of her memories and anticipations of future to come (i.e., giving bad news to
patients, difficulties in communicating with colleagues). CRs search for tranquility
is a common process in the ordinary life of human beings, and tranquility itself is
an attempt to face the unavoidable uncertainty of life. CR does not only work with
persons that have cancer, but also suffered breast cancer which, in fact, increases
the possibilities of suffering from lung cancer. We cannot avoid making difficult
decisions. We move in the world through axiological categories: we are always
giving value to the meanings we construct, and thus decision-making is a valueoriented processes (Lehmann forthcoming, b). Even if CR recognizes the smoking
is a risky behavior, it becomes an ambiguous sign in her personal life because the
relief of tension produced by these silences in the garden helps her give support to
her patients in the hospital, despite her own difficulties facing mortality salience
(Lehmann and Saita, In Press). Silences in her daily walk catalyze the crisis-solving
process regulating stress and increase of perceived well-beingbut immerses her in
a new crisis: thinking about the effects of tobacco in her health and the dissonance it
creates in her personal life. The ambivalence of signs in an individuals life trajectory
are dilemmatic by nature, and the more a person questions both sides of the coin, the
more they are aware of the uncertain directions of each decision.
Uncertainty and ambivalence are the foundations of meaning making. In our everyday life we face the dilemma of decision-making, and the impossibility to know
how it will turn out (Valsiner 2003). It is precisely for coping with this ambivalence
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that we establish solutions through imagination (Zittoun et al. 2012) and develop
inner/outer monologues or dialogues with different positions of the self/others (Hermans 2001) where some answers are constructed. But how do such activities allow
for the emergence of solutions in times of crisis? Cultural Psychology studies the
intersection of dilemmas and the role of affective phenomena in decision-making
and sense-making processes from the perspective of semiotic-cultural psychology
(Valsiner 2007). In this order of ideas, it is our challenge to comprehend the affective
phenomena by means of the explication of both the silent and affective vibrations of
our ambiguous and ambivalent experiences (Lehmann 2012).
One example of the catalytic property of affective and Silence Based Phenomena is a curious event in the biography of the Jewish psychiatrist, philosopher, and
neurologist Viktor Emil Frankl that he then shares in his memories (Frankl 2003).
In fact, Cabell (2010) previously analyzed other issues of his biography where faith
is considered a catalyst for making sense of unavoidable suffering related to his experience in the concentration camps. In 1942, with a brilliant scientific carrier in
development, professor Frankl was strongly considering leaving Vienna and emigrating to the United States in order to be saved from the Second World War. On
other hand, his family was not able to travel with him. One night, trying to find
out what he should do, he went for a walk and entered in the catholic cathedral of
Vienna, where there was an organ concert. He decided to sit down and consider what
to do in a silent prayer, realizing that a message from God would be required in order
to help him. Back at home, he found a stone on the radio. His father said he had
picked it up from the ruins of the biggest synagogue of Vienna, and he interpreted
this as the message he was supposed to receive. That stone had a golden Hebrew
letter engraved on it, saying, honor your mother and father. He remained in Austria
and he became a prisoner until 1945. With exception of his sister, all his family died
in the concentration camps (Frankl 2003).
Certainly, religious temples are considered silent places where, music, chants,
litanies, and prayers are not noise, but promoters of the silence and silences needed
to get in contact with god(s). As Bruneau and Ishii (1988) describe the relationship
of silences and silence, both silent settings and silent practices catalyze the silence
that Viktor Frankl was seeking for. This silence was a catalyst for making sense of
Frankls dilemma and eventually providing the conditions necessary for solving the
crisis by deciding to stay in Vienna and go to the concentration camps with his family.
Theoretically, Frankls crisis was not because he was Jewish, or because of the war,
but because of two values that were no longer allowed to coexist under the current
contextual conditions: his professional development and success, and his family.
Another important issue that can be understood from Frankls lived experience
is that of intuition, which has been recognized by some psychological theories as a
trait of personality (Jung 1966). Personality traits have a social and cultural guidance (Valsiner 1998). A clear example of this fact that also serves to illustrate the
catalytic function of silence-based phenomena is the comparison made by Bruenau
and Ishii (1988) about eastern and western cultures. In many social interactions, the
authors say, eastern people appear to be silent, that is, they do attempt to fill pauses
during conversations with noise or talk, as North Americans are noted for doing.
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This is due to some cultural characteristics, such as the non-verbal and intuitive
communication skills of people from countries as Japan, where speakers deepen on
the communicative setting of interactions, economizing messages, a fact that has
been also associated with empathetic abilities. In this context, one could hypothesize
that, more than talk, silence catalyzes sense-making of communicative practices. But
Silence Based Phenomena are also present in inner dialogues of different positions
of the self. For instance, HermansKonopka (2011) proposes that even if the self
is constantly in interaction and dialogue with its positions, theres also a process of
depositioning, that is, a thought free disidentification of any position. Furthermore,
clients that experience this kind of silence, often when they are caught up by intense emotions perceive themselves less judgmental with their experience to take
decisions.(HermansKonopka 2011).
Conclusion
In a world of uncertainty, both affect and Silence Based Phenomena serve to make
sense of experience and dialogue with inner and outer voices during the course of
life. Yet, the study of silentness involves its comprehension as a point-like, field-like,
and hypergeneralized-like sign, and given this abstract quality, it is often narrowed,
giving more importance to the role of language in everyday life. The boundaries of
language, tested in science focus cultural scholars on the extra-ordinary significance
of Silence Based Phenomena and their affective resonance, which also requires a
movement towards integration of science and the arts. For instance, music itself
is composed by silences, and makes use of silences to promote different emotive
arousals (Lehmann forthcoming, a).
The significance of silence, silences and silencing can be studied from its semiotic
qualityas in the case of semiotics of silence (Kurzon 1997), but its catalytic role
on sensemaking opens the path to the theoretical comprehension of affect, which
transcends language, and also needs development of integrative theories; scholars
interested in communication should pay more attention to the cultural values and interpretations that could arise from them during interaction (Bruneau and Ishii 1988;
Orlandi 1995) and dialogue, because both language and silence have an infinite
resonance in the sense-making and decision-making processes, and studies of the
cultural-semiotic organization of human life should integrate these nuances that promote value-grasping in life by means of realizing priorities (Lehmann forthcoming
b).
Silence as a masterpiece of everyday mysteries has a catalytic property on our
sense-making process, by means of enabling or disabling the value-grasping of our
meanings in life. This fact highlights the importance of axiological theories that
could widen our comprehension of the affective charge of semiotic meanings, as
well as of the boundaries of semiotics to explain the meaning-making process. But,
it is also crucial for us to focus on personality traits and its cultural guidance, as
long as they are conditions for the rates of reactions of our settings of significance.
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Furthermore, the development of Silence Based Phenomena theories are crucial for
the comprehension of how people solve crises in everyday life, and why do people
face same/different crises putting in dialogue inner and outer positions of the self
towards life course.
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Chapter 14
In its ongoing endeavor to approach psychological processes as systemic and mediated transformations, cultural psychology of semiotic orientation has furthered
discussions on the production of particular outcomes (syntheses) under enabling
conditions (catalysts). Central to this notion of psychological catalysis (Beckstead
et al. 2009, p. 73) is the idea of semiotic catalysts as signs which provide the conditions for regulated personal syntheses to occur (Cabell 2010, p. 27), being catalysts
themselves activated one step before the activation or inhibition of semiotic regulators (SRs). That is to say, catalyst activators can be conceived as signs that prompt any
semiotic mediator to function as a necessary condition for a given semiotic regulation
to happen.
This chapter aims at contributing to the discussions about the extension of the
notion of catalysis to the realm of psychological investigation from the perspective
of a semiotic cultural psychology and its systemic catalyzed causality model (Valsiner
2000). Thus, by considering semiotic catalysts as those conditions that need to be
present for a particular causal linkage to occur, and the absence of which does not
allow the causal process to lead to an outcome (Valsiner 2000, p. 75), this chapter
aims precisely at exploring how some signs provide support for another sign to
function as a semiotic catalyst. Thus, we expect to expand our understanding of the
functioning of semiotic catalysts as contextual conditions for the semiotic regulation
of ongoing psychological processes, by addressing the mechanisms involved in the
very construction of such provision of conditions itself.
The first part of the chapter approaches three interrelated topics: a brief discussion
on causation in psychology; a presentation of key aspects of both chemical catalysis
and the systemic catalyzed causality model; and finally, the depiction of catalysts
M. S. da Silva (!)
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Maria Ferreira de Almeida,
BrasliaFeira de Santana, BA, 44088-396 Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
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M. S. da Silva
as directing and directed agents, which is presented along with the argument for
extending the notion of catalyst activators from chemistry to psychology.
In the subsequent section, the main idea of semiotic catalyst activators is defined,
the main processes through which it takes place are depicted, and its relevance for the
academic field of interest is highlighted. An empirically derived example of catalyst
activation within a narrated life episode is then provided. At the end of the chapter,
the significance of the storied dimension of catalytic cycles and the centrality of the
active human agent in their depiction are considered in the section that precedes the
concluding part of the chapter.
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That mysterious aspect of the catalytic process became clearer in 1894, when Ostwald described the acceleration of chemical reactions promoted by catalysts (Van
Nostrands Scientific Encyclopedia 2008). One of the most relevant features of such a
process for psychological inquiry is the emphasis on the relevance of certain elements
that are considered as necessary conditions for a certain systemic causal linkage to
occur in a certain way, as it has been referred to in a semiotic cultural psychology. It is
precisely that condition-oriented characteristic of catalysis through the abstracted
function of catalysts that has been brought into the field of cultural psychology of
semiotic orientation (Valsiner 2000, 2002).
Another noteworthy aspect mentioned by Berzelius (1849), for the purposes of
the ideas discussed here, is the outcome of the catalytic process: the appearance of
new combinations of elements or of differentiated elements out of the destruction of
existing combinations. Even though these elements obviously correspond to chemical substances in the specific context of chemistry, their regulated arrangement and
rearrangement after being acted upon is the general aspect of interest here. In a
semiotic cultural psychology, for instance, some of these syntheses or new composite whole[s] (Valsiner 2002, p. 255) may take the form of new meanings, new
I-positions in the self-system and new forms of relations between such I-positions
(Valsiner 2002; Valsiner and Cabell 2012, p. 88).
Those catalyzed outcomes, i.e., possibilities that were turned into actualities, ultimately emerge through the mediation of signs, which function as semiotic catalysts
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upon SRs (promoter and inhibitor signs) (Cabell 2010, 2011a, b). Thus, semiotic catalysts change the relations between elements of ones psychological system at a given
moment (Beckstead et al. 2009), creating optimum conditions for ones construction
of personal syntheses in his or her meaningful encounters with the world. SRs, in
their turn, can be of two kinds: intra-mental, directly used on ongoing psychological
processes which mediates ones acting in the world (for example, an affective sign of
mercy) and extra-mental devices which are used to cultivate the personal-cultural
or collective-cultural field (Cabell 2010, p. 27), such as a novel or a film.
Such a way of approaching psychological phenomena sets the constructive human
mind as a pivotal agent in the emergence of psychological syntheses. By doing
so, the proposed model attempts to avoid suggesting necessary causation through
correlation or depicting subjective syntheses as the result of the action of something
elses exclusive feature, as it appears in Ganger causality (Sugihara et al. (2012). The
notion of systemic catalyzed causality has been creatively approached and advanced
through different aspects and it is doubtless that the concept of semiotic catalysts
requires special attention from researchers in a semiotic cultural psychology due to
its centrality in catalytic processes.
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For instance, the vapor of formic acid (HCOOH) can be decomposed either into
(a) hydrogen and carbon dioxide (H2 + CO2 ) or (b) water and carbon monoxide
(H2 O + CO), depending on the catalyst over which it passes: In the first case, the
catalyst is zinc oxide (ZnO) and, in the second, it is titanic oxide (TiO2 ; Mellor
1937). This example deals with the catalysts directional effects (Farber 1966) in
their orchestration of the reactions.
However, catalysts themselves are also subject to the action of inhibitors (poisoning agents) and carriers (promoters). The former are foreign substances which
damage catalysts functioning by binding to their active sites in competition with
the reactants (Van Nostrands Scientific Encyclopedia 2008); the latter are materials
which enhance catalysts activity, increase their surface area, reduce their tendency
to sinter by heat or prevent inhibitor agents from poisoning the catalysts (McGraw
Hill Dictionary of Chemistry 2003; Academy Press Dictionary, 1992; Mellor 1937,
p. 154). The oxidation of carbon monoxide is an example of two of these functions
of carriers (Mellor 1937, p. 154): the catalyst manganese oxide: (a) favors the
oxidation of carbon monoxide, but (b) can be deactivated by alkali. However,
(c) as the catalyst is combined with the carrier cupric oxide, the poisoning alkali
is prevented from interacting with the catalyst which, in addition, has its activity
enhanced by its carrier.
The relevant aspect in this reaction is the shifting in the ways the directive role is
played by the elements that are possibly involved in the production of the outcome.
In the first case, that role is played mostly by the catalyst; in the second one, by
the poisoning substance and, in the third, by the compound catalyst + activator.
As Mittasch (1936, as cited in Farber 1966) highlights, a catalyst acts and submits
to action, is free and conditioned, determines and is subject to being determined
(p. 174)from such considerations, he detaches his reflections from the idea of
catalysis in chemistry towards an increasingly abstract discussion on the issue of
freedom and determinism (Farber 1966, p. 174).
In a generalized way, the previous depiction of catalysts functioning can be
broadly formulated as follows: A given necessary condition for an outcome to exist
can either be the main directive agent in a systemic process or can have its own
activity specifically constrained, i.e., reduced, enhanced, inhibited, or activated, by
other adjacent elements.
By making such a statement, we slightly move away from the realm of atoms,
molecules, and things alike, towards more generalized ideas concerning those elements in their mutual interactions and, ultimately, wondering about mechanisms
that do not specifically (or strictly) refer to chemical elements. Such elaboration has
to do with the constructive importing of abstracted ideas from one scientific area into
another, aiming at reconceptualizing them in the new context with the subsequent
emergence of new understandings of that new context.
If the aforementioned formulation of the catalysts activity in generalized terms
does make sense, the next step to be taken here is to further the notion of catalytic
causality model in semiotic cultural psychology, mainly in what concerns to the
concept of semiotic catalyst. We shift our attention, then, to the process of activation
of semiotic catalysts in the construction of personal synthesis by outlining the main
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M. S. da Silva
features of semiotic catalysts activators and their functioning together with a given
semiotic mediator in the semiotic catalytic cycle.
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Fig. 14.1 An
emotional-semiotic mediator
(ESM) functioning as a
semiotic regulator in a
hypothetical conflicting
interpersonal situation
Despite the inherent semiotic complexity of any human context of interaction, the
intention here is to highlight a direct ESM towards a triggered reaction (an outcome)
in a specific interaction. This kind of mediation is characterized by the presence of
signs with low levels of generalized abstraction (Valsiner 2004, p. 15). It resembles
the widely known neuroscientific account on fight-or-flight response the main neural substrates of which are subcortical regions such as the hypothalamus, amygdale,
and hypocampus. These structures mediate the arousal of affective states which, in
turn, mediate outcomes with minimal or no interference of reasoning processes (i.e.,
without frontal cortical processing) in perceived threatening situations.
In the activated catalytic cycle (Fig. 14.2), two aspects are added to the mediation depicted in Fig. 14.1: Relevant distinctive features, represented by the
hachure in the lighting, are noticed in this new conflicting encounter and previously constructed signs related to this kind of encounter are brought into
the system due to those perceived distinctive features (thick dotted line)
these two elements integrate the complex named here as catalyst activators.
Fig. 14.2 An emotional-semiotic mediator (ESM) turning into a semiotic catalyst through the
support of catalyst activators in a critical event
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M. S. da Silva
Fig. 14.3 Cultivated meanings are channeled into the meaning-making system, leading an
emotional-semiotic mediator (ESM) to turn into an activated semiotic catalyst
The emerging semiotic mediator is thus provided with new contours of affective and
value-laden meanings, becoming a catalyst by enabling the actualization of one of
the future possibilities through the orchestration of promoter signs (thinner dotted
line). Still referring to the hypothetical situation previously considered, the outcome
Y (calling the police) is promoted by the synthesized linkage of SRs such as protect
myself (SR1) and protect my family (SR2).
In the depiction of the catalyst activation process (Fig. 14.2), it is assumed that
signs pervasively emerge out of humans encounters with their worlds as well as
that binding semiotic emergences unfold over time. In the hypothetical example
provided here, the ESM fear of being hurt is considered as the main emergence
next to which binding representations of crucial features of that specific encounter
with the world emerge: One might notice, after some time, that his or her opponent
is using drugs this time, differently from the other times. Out of the complex flow of
sensations, thoughts, and affects experienced by the person, previously constructed
signs related to that crucial feature (for instance, drugs users are life-threatening;
people involved in the world of drugs threaten their enemies relatives) are thus,
brought into the system, setting the semiotic mediator in motion towards a catalyst
role.
In sum, placed at the intersection between current perceptions and present functioning of previously constructed signs (Fig. 14.3), a given ESM is activated towards
playing the role of a catalyst as: (a) relevant features of a situation, from ones perspective, are brought to the foreground of ones lived experience leading to (b) the
channeling of personally cultivated meanings related to those highlighted features
into the affective field.
The ESM has some of its characteristics transformed then: from fear to extreme
fear; from being hurt to being killed; from me to me and my family. The
mediator, thus, is intensified and extended in such a way that it prompts the entering
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of other related signs into the system (self-protection; protection of loved ones)
under its regulatory rolein other words, the ESM turns into an emotional semiotic
catalyst.
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M. S. da Silva
Fig. 14.4 An urbanized area in Subrbio Ferrovirio, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. (From Reis 2010,
p. 95)
Despite the oversimplification of this depiction, one of its highly relevant aspects
is the high rate of criminal practices which tend to stain whole families trajectories in many ways, from childrens and young peoples entry into criminal groups
(at the age of ten, or even before that) to the killing of young people and its severe
consequences, mainly to bereaved parents and close relatives (Santos 2010).
According to official statistics (Secretaria de Segurana Pblica do Estado da
Bahia 2012), an average of 140 people are victims of homicide per month in Salvador,
and most of these crimes happen in poor and peripheral urban areas such as Subrbio
Ferrovirio.
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The first interview was organized according to the narrative model proposed by
Jovchelovitch and Bauer (2002). In the subsequent interviews, episodes considered
meaningful by the researcher, i.e., episodes in which participants tried to integrate
the loss into their personal stories were discussed further, mainly through specific
and theoretically driven questions. One more meeting included the discussion of the
organization of the data by the researcher at the beginning of the data analysis and,
in the last meeting, a feedback was provided to the participants by the researcher.
An episodic-content analysis of the transcribed interviews was carried out, based
on the categorical-content model proposed by Lieblich et al. (1998): (I) Selection
of episodesrelevant episodes were highlighted and set apart, originating a set of
subtexts, each one corresponding to a specific episode; (II) Identification of relations between eventspassages of the episodes referring to specific events were
highlighted and put in relation to one another, according to their role in the system
(a whole given episode). This organization of the data was shared and discussed
with the participant, generating more data to be analyzed; (III) Construction of visual and theoretical depictions of relationssuch depictions of the system were
constructed upon the previous step, with a focus on the process through which the
main outcome of the episode was reached; (IV) Conceptual discussionmechanisms
identified in the analysis were discussed taking into consideration what has been developed regarding the concepts of interest of this study, aiming at contributing with
advancements in that specific aspect in the field of semiotic cultural psychology.
A narrative episode (Freitag 2010), as a unit of analysis, is defined as:
A set of interrelated events, located in time and space as well as in a certain
temporal sequence. Information about these elements does not have to be exact:
one may remember a relevant episode which happened either on a specific date
or on one day in high school; events may have happened somewhere around
place X and the main outcome of a series of events may open a self-narrative.
The events tend to be performed by a group of participants, even though they can
also involve just one participant;
The set of events has a specifiable beginning and an end, occurring under an
overall theme;
Its level of generality is established by the narrator: from those of our everyday lives (a meeting at work, a class, etc.) to those related to broader contexts
(a historical event, a natural disaster, etc.), being the borders of those levels of
generality defined within a continuum by the speaker;
It is interconnected with other parts of the whole narrative, but it also has a level of
independence from them. Its relative independence from other episodes is rather
arbitrary and it is defined according to the speakers perspective;
It plays a role in relation to other parts of the whole narrative (e.g., emphasizing
an aspect of an argument, concluding an idea, giving an example, suggesting what
should be valued, etc.).
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Once, when he [Walter] was already a grown up and involved with drugs, he grabbed a
pressure cooker lid and threatened me with a beating . . . We had an intense argument . . . I
got really angry at him and I told him: Listen, if you throw that at me, I will kill you!. I said
that, I used that expression because sons do not beat their mothers, right? And he grabbed
that lid to throw at me. . . . He did not throw the lid at me because I faced him down! I really
did! I faced him down and he did nothing then. . . . I told him Id kill him! I told him: Look!
Do not touch me! If you throw this lid at me, Ill kill you! . . . I did not mean it! Of course I
am not courageous enough to kill anybody, right? That was just the way I found to express
myself . . . I dont know . . . At that moment . . . I dont know . . .
After the passage above, Rebeca went on narrating about the way her mother used
to overprotect her (Rebecas) sons every time they made a mistake, as she (Rebecas
mother) had done during that episode involving the lid. In the sequence, the participant mentioned Walters revolt against people in general, due to his long-lasting
suffering: I could see it by his facial expressions . . . And he was aggressive . . . So,
you notice when your child is revolted, right? That was the exact point in the interview in which the researcher decided to approach the issue of Walters entering into
the world of drugs. During the subsequent 2 min and 49 s, the participant narrated
the events which led her to inform the police about her own son, resulting in his
arrest:
Listen: I have always been a very watchful mother and I had never seen him smoking
marijuana or using any other kind of drugs. But I started to notice those strangers going to
my house to talk to him! Then I started to link things and when I would ask him whether
all that had anything to do with drugs he would always deny that! But I am not one of those
mothers who are always pretending they do not see their sons mistakes.
The subsequent events which integrate this episode are organized in Table 14.1 according to their role in the system in which the catalyzed outcome informing the
police on Walter emerged. Key passages of the episode are italicized:
Considering the existing model of systemic catalyzed causality model, two new
elements are inserted into the system: a critical event and the activating system
(composed by some situational features perceived as highly relevant and previously
constructed meanings related to those features which are brought into the system).
It is relevant to note that, in the local media, there is an intense broadcasting of news
related to violence in the Railroad Slums.
Including those new elements into the catalytic system favors the consideration
of the personal synthesis (I decided to inform on him) as an outcome that has a
personal-historical dimension in specific ways. The previously constructed meanings drug-dealers as life-threatening to their enemies families and drug world
as an unknown reality were channeled into the system through the situatedness
of Rebecas personal experience, i.e., her initial witnessing of Walters aggressive
behavior followed by the confirmation of a suspicion. It is assumed here that contextually constrained affective states arose from the very moment Rebeca met her
extremely upset son as she was arriving from work.
What can be seen here is a personal infusing of meanings into the affective field in
such a way that the latter turns into an emotionalsemiotic complex which, from then
on, reorients both Rebecas meaning system and her relation with the world. Regulator signs (self-protection; protection of the other), which mediate Rebecas
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Table 14.1 Main elements involved in Rebecas personal synthesis of informing the police on her
own son
Element of the
Elements of the
Excerpts
catalytic cycle
catalytic cycle
in Rebecas case
Critical event
Highlighted relevant
features of this
specific situation
Catalyst activators
Representation of drug
dealers on the news
Lack of knowledge about the
world of drugs Walter was
getting into
Semiotic catalyst
Semiotic regulator
Outcome
action outcome, are brought into the meaning system, being differentially related
to participants in the episode: Rebeca, Walter himself, and their family (Rebecas
mother and sister). In the core of this process, a human agent semiotically acts upon
those environmental factors by which she is also affected.
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there are some elements being oriented in a specific way under the influence of one
or more necessary conditions. By zooming in on the visual depiction of the catalytic
cycle, we can see that those conditions are necessary due to their becoming so,
instead of due to their essentially being so: they can be either one out of a range of
conditions for a certain synthesis to occur (depending on the contribution of contextual and preexisting elements for them to become catalysts) or they can become the
catalyst for a range of psychological syntheses to take place. That is what has been
referred to as the personal historicity of semiotic catalysts through catalyst activation
in this chapter.
Consider a given psychological outcome that may emerge out of the catalytic
influence of any of a wide range of elements from X1 to Xn . What will mostly define
which one will function as a catalyst is not their intrinsic properties, as it is very likely
to be true in chemistry. Instead, features of specific events meaningfully related to
other existing elements will promote the assumption of a catalytic role by element
X5 , for instance, instead of any other element within that range.
On the other hand, if we take the example of the practice of graffiti on walls in
a context of protest, we can think of such context as a catalytic agent (Beckstead
et al. 2009). Furthering our analysis, we can also think of specific features of the
context that are brought to the forefront of ones perceptual field, triggering the
influx of meanings into ones meaning system. Once linked to those newcomers,
the meanings of the protest can catalyze the action outcome of drawing graffiti instead
of destroying monuments or hurting people, which can be easily catalyzed during
public demonstrations as well.
The rather obvious centrality of the active human agent in psychological catalysis is intrinsically linked to the reflections above concerning the historicity of the
catalytic cycle. Despite the variation in the degree at which people deliberately
control the construction of their personal syntheses, catalyst functioning is closely
linked to some dimensions of peoples personal stories: from sensations to perceptions, from bodily affective states to shared representations of them, from simple
categories to highly elaborated moral values and other complex meaning fields made
possible by (and contributors to) our reasoning skills. Human beings represent their
worlds through signs and create the possibilities for those signs to play certain roles,
such as a catalytic one.
Hence, when visiting a friend, if someone (X) notices that his or her friend (Y)
has just started to yawn and to look at the clock and, right after that, X decides
to leave his or her friends home, an observer will reasonably argue that the set of
the hosts behaviors was a catalyst for the outcome (leaving Ys house) to emerge.
However, if the visitor were, for instance, Xs 20-year-old low-functioning autistic
son, who was left by X in Ys house for some hours, there would be no catalytic
function in Ys behavior per se due to the fact that Xs son would probably have
difficulties in interpreting and representing Ys behavior the same way X would
have done.
Over a century ago, James (1890/1950) argued that thought tends to Personal Form (p. 225). Aside the discussion about what James meant with the term
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In sum, thoughts were considered by James (1890/1950, p. 186) as states of consciousness which
suggest the omnipresence of references to objects other than the mental state itself.
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sons, who has also been involved with drugs. So, the generalized feeling fear of
drug dealers violent actions is a relatively stable and cultivated semiotic catalyst
in Rebecas meaning system, since it is the condition which indirectly leads her to
occasionally consider calling the police again when one of her sons gets aggressive;
but, on the other hand, that same catalyst is usually inhibited by a stronger sign (fear
of police officers violent actions), as she herself stated.
Extending a generalized idea regarding a process such as the chemical catalysis
into the realm of human psychological phenomena poses us the challenge of building
bridges that can justify such extension, as it has happened in previous initiatives (see
Farber 1966, p. 173). Some of these bridges have already begun to be built in a
semiotic cultural psychology (Valsiner 2000; Beckstead et al. 2009; Cabell 2010,
2011a, b): the origins and historical development of the concept; depiction of its
main characteristics; abstraction of some of its characteristics and its contextualized
application in the new academic field.
One justifiable way through which the notion of catalysis can be extended into the
psychological science domain is that of metaphor, that is, a cross-domain mapping
in the conceptual system (Lakoff 1998, p. 203). It implies that one domain of
experience is understood in terms of a different domain (Lakoff 1998), through an
established set of correspondences (mapping) between elements of both domains. In
what concerns to a semiotic cultural psychology, such mapping allows us to reflect
upon the systemic and semiotically mediated emergence of psychological outcomes
using the knowledge available regarding chemical catalytic processes. Chemistry
itself, for instance, uses the metaphorical expression poisoning to refer to the
inhibition of a catalysts functioning by a substance other than the substrates involved
in a catalytic compound.
What comes next, then, is the task to justify our ideas about systemic catalyzed
causality model in a semiotic cultural psychology within its own rationale and beyond
the initial correspondences established between this model and chemical catalysis
and that is what the notion of catalyst activators is intended to contribute with.
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Part VII
Chapter 15
This book intends to explore the basic concept of catalysis in philosophy, chemistry,
and psychology, with the aim of developing the concept further in (cultural) psychology. This aim implies that the concept is, in principle, useful and the only question
is how to use it most efficiently for advancing psychology as a science. In the context of modern mainstream psychology (see Toomela in press-c, for the definition of
mainstream psychology), indeed, any step further from linear causeeffect theory
of causality is a significant advancement; yet it does not follow that the concept in
the proposed form should be used.
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triangle; obviously it took six days to create the universe, and, as a triangle is one,
the creation was also instantaneous. This causal explanation, however, would not be
considered scientific today, at least by scientists. Thus, we can conclude that even
though all scientific knowledge is knowledge, not all knowledge is scientific.
So far I have written only a few lines and already introduced confusion that needs
to be cleared up: I use the terms explanation, science, scientific, and causality
as if it is clear what these terms mean; yet this is not the case. Next, I will discuss
why causality matters for science.
273
Let us take the simplest example we can find: water is explained by atomic theory as a
compound of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen, in such a way that it consists of molecules,
each of which is composed of three atoms, two of hydrogen and one of oxygen. [. . .] This
sounds like a straight molecular theory, but it is not anything of the kind. For H, H2 , and
H2 O have all different properties which cannot be derived by adding properties of Hs and
Os. [. . .] In the simple water molecule, what a complexity and what a difference of structure
from the H and the O atoms! It is wrong to say that this system consists of two hydrogen
atoms and one oxygen atom. For where are they to be found in it (Koffka 1935, p. 57)?
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A. Toomela
Indeed, no effect would emerge if there were no parts, no material from which
the effect was made. There must be something already existing that changes when
the efficient cause is added. In that sense, thus, efficient cause loses both of its
characteristicsit is not the only kind of cause that precedes the effect, and it is not
the sole kind of cause that has ontological consequences. A new thing or phenomenon
emerges when all four kinds of causes act simultaneously; their effect, thus, is
systemic, i.e., a process of emergence is possible only if individually necessary
kinds of causes are also collectively present.
275
Today, however, efficient cause is the kind of cause that is considered, by the
majority, to be the theory of causality without other kinds of causes necessary. In
some point in history, thus, the Aristotelian complex theory of causality was replaced
with only part of it, that of efficient causality, which became an all-inclusive theory.
Why was a more complex theory of causality abandoned and when? Today, efficient
causality is almost universally accepted as the theory of causality. Perhaps there are
very good theoretical arguments for this choicea choice that may otherwise look
ridiculous because an elaborate set of established principles has been replaced with
one principle that does not cover all aspects of the earlier, complex theory.
Metatheories that reject all kinds of causes but efficient cause, can be found,
indeed. There are two philosophers, Descartes and Hume, who can be blamed
for abandoning Aristotelian thinking. Both of them suggested that only efficient
causality should be considered as the theory of causality. It is especially interesting
to understand, why only efficient causality? Descartes seems not to give explicit
reasons for this idea, but if we take his works as a whole, we find that he had no
other choice. Namely, a large part of Cartesian philosophy is to give proof to the
existence of Godthe background was not whether there is any doubt about Gods
existence, for Descartes, there was none; the background was to logically prove to
nonbelievers that God does exist.
Causality was also discussed in this context by Descartes. For Descartes, God was
infinite, eternal, immutable, omniscient, omnipotent (Descartes 1985, p. 128). God
was also the first (efficient) cause of everything that exists or can exist in the world
(Descartes 1985, p. 143). If God is the cause of everything and is also all-powerful,
then, logically, there can be no other kinds of causes. For other causes are constraints,
they put limits on what can happen in principle and what cannot. Not everything can
be built from the same material; therefore, material cause is a constraint. It follows
that the same form, formal cause, cannot be achieved in an unlimited number of ways.
Thus, formal cause is also a constraint. As to final cause, it may seem to fit with the
notion of God, which was also mentioned by Descartes, but the problem is that for
Aristotle final cause was a far more complex concept. According to him (cf. Aristotle
1941a, c), only some things are for the sake of something, and from these only some
are in accordance with deliberate intention. In other cases final cause emerges from
the nature of things, and nature means the matter and the form. Hence, final cause
is in many cases actually a retrospective concept, which means that there is only one
way a particular form from specific material came into existence. Finally, there is
also a kind of final cause, in the case of which the thing in question has in itself, by
nature, a source of becoming or changing. So a seed, for example, is a thing that
becomes, determined by final cause as its essence, something else, a plant. Thus, final
cause is also a constraint, and God, being all-powerful, cannot be constrained in any
way. Therefore, there is only one kind of cause, that is efficient cause. Hume, in turn,
followed a very different path (cf. Hume 1999, esp. pp. 101115). He, in principle,
did not deny that other causes can be operative. Yet he assumed that humans are not
able to discover any other kind of cause because they are not capable of knowing the
world beyond the appearance of things, and other kinds of causes are not apparent.
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Therefore, it is possible to know only connections among ideas that emerge on the
basis of observed associations between events.
Despite extensive literature searches, I have not been able to find any other justification for limiting causality theory to efficient causality. I also think that science
today cannot accept the idea that there are no constraints on the world (this would
exclude all principles, laws, and regularities). It also cannot accept the idea that the
world beyond appearances is unknowable in principle. It follows that constraining
causality theory to efficient cause alone is not justified by scientific principles and
should be discarded.
Structuralsystemic causality, which developed on the basis of the Aristotelian account, in turn, is free from unscientific theological limitations or assumptions about
limits of the human mind that were reasonable a few centuries ago but turned out
to be erroneous with the development of the sciences. Structuralsystemic epistemology is also nothing new in psychology; it was a grounding principle for many
powerful theories more than a century ago. As I have discussed elsewhere (see references above), there are many reasons to agree with Wilhelm Wundt, who suggested
that scientific explanation in psychology should contain descriptions of attributes of
psychical causality, which are discovered by studying psychical elements, psychical
compounds, interconnections of psychical compounds, and psychical developments
(Wundt 1897). Knowing the elements, their compounds, and the process of the
emergence of novel wholes, the causes of studied phenomena are scientifically
explained:
There is only one kind of causal explanation in psychology, and that is the derivation of more
complex psychical processes from simpler ones (Wundt 1897, p. 24).
This quotation should not be taken out of context from where it was originally written. Wundt did not mean that more complex causeeffect relationships derived from
studies of many simpler causeeffect chains would be causal explanations. For complex, in this regard, refers to organization, the synthesis of elements that comprise
the whole. Thus, causal explanation for Wundt was understanding how novel wholes
emerge in the synthesis of elements. Altogether, there seem to be reasons to revise the
current dominant theory of causality and go beyond oversimplified efficient causality. One such development is proposed by the introduction of systemic and catalytic
causalities into psychology.
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A. Toomela
when compared to the efficient causality theory, is not sufficiently elaborated and
does not allow us to make all the theoretically important distinctions that follow from
SSCT.
What is System?
First, fundamental differences emerge when the notion of system is analyzed in the
theories. In SSCT, system is a structure, i.e., organized whole, that is composed of
(developmentally) distinguishable (but never separable) parts or elements in specific
relationships. In the synthesis of elements, a whole emerges, which has properties
that do not characterize the parts before they are synthesized. In the same process
of synthesis, properties of elements also change; some properties of the emergent
whole become properties of the parts simultaneously.
I have used a clumsy term, structuralsystemic, because there is more than one
theory of what system means. Relatively well-known today is, for example, dynamic systems theory (DST). This theory is in several principal ways different from
SSCT (see for more details, Toomela 2009). First, DST studies processes and often
explicitly denies the existence of, to some degree, stable structures underlying them.
Second, as a rule, DST is applied by encoding the observations of studied processes
into numerical variables. These variables are then analyzed as if they represent the
elements of the systemwhose structural nature is denied. In the process of encoding observations into numerical variables, however, the essential characteristics of
the studied structures are irreversibly lost (see on the epistemological problems related to numerical variables, Toomela 2008). Third, DST studies non-linear changes
without realizing that truly hierarchical changes are not only non-linear but also noncontinuous; entirely novel qualities emerge in synthetic processes. Discontinuity is
excluded in DST. In addition, DST is characterized by many vague terms, such as
attractor, self-organization, and even the basic notion of process is used in ambiguous ways. In DST, processes can cause other processes, but process is essentially
a change in a system that unfolds in time, and unfolding in time cannot cause
anything.
System is also not unequivocally a structure of the thing or phenomenon in the
General Systems Theory compiled by Bertalanffy (von Bertalanffy 1968). Bertalanffy believed that systems theory in its advanced form is a mathematical theory; he
suggested, for example, that systems problems are problems of interrelations of a
great number of variables (von Bertalanffy 1968, p. xx). No mathematical theory,
however, can be a comprehensive theory of any real structure of a thing because
mathematics studies associations but not discontinuous qualitative changes in the
world (see more on the limits of mathematical theories, Toomela 2010d).
The definition of the term system is not unequivocally clear in CCT. In some
places it may appear that understanding the system is similar in CCT and SSCT.
For example, in CCT it has been stated: The system cannot be studied unless the
aggregate of the qualitative whole is observed as a systemas interrelated parts
279
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A. Toomela
any reason why the same notions that define a structureparts and relationships
should not be used for explaining change and development. In SSCT, any structure as
a whole can change only in two ways; either the relationships between the elements
change (as in the case of burning oxyhydrogen), or a new element is synthesized
into a structure (an atom of oxygen is synthesized with the molecule of hydrogen).
In both cases we need context: oxyhydrogen will not change into water unless the
process is ignited by an amount of energy introduced into the system (essentially it
means that if properties of the elements of oxyhydrogen change, their energy-level
will be different so that the molecules of oxygen and hydrogen can be broken in
order to synthesize their atoms into water), and atoms of hydrogen must be in the
context of oxygen for the synthesis of water to be possible.
Altogether, thus, there are only structures at hierarchically different levels of
distinction. All the different terms, individual, condition, context, catalyst,
regulator, and mediator, refer to the same thingthese are the elements of a
higher-order system where the individual belongs. This individual interacts with
its environment, which is just a set of other structures that may become elements in
the individual and some other subsystem of the environment higher order system.
Below I will address more details and distinctions related to this issue, in the section
on catalytic causality.
Notion of relationship in CCT It is acknowledged in CCT that a system as a whole
is different depending on the relationships between the parts: Two systems with
the same parts A, B, Cbut different relationship of the parts will yield different
results (Beckstead et al. 2009, p. 73). Superficially it may seem that the same
idea relies under the notion of relationship in both CCT and SSCT; yet this is not
the case. Every theoretical notion is fully defined in the context of the theory it
belongs to. The same notion in different theories is also different because the whole
where it belongs to is different. The same applies in the case of relationship. In
CCT, relationship applies to relationships between parts of a system. Yet parts and
system as a whole are not defined similarly, as we have seen in previous sections.
Thus, relationship also has different meanings. In SSCT, relationships emerge in
a distinguished system as a whole as well as between the system and its context,
which is a set of other systems. It is not clear at all, however, what relationship
means when CCT notions of conditions, contexts, catalysts, etc., are used. If there
are no conceptual differences between the relationships between parts and between a
system and context, condition, etc., then it is not clear what these other notions mean.
But if the relationship with context is conceptually different from the relationship
with catalyst or with mediator then it is not clear any more what relationship means.
Parenthetically, it must be mentioned here that I am not suggesting that there
is only one kind of relationship between elements in SSCT. On the contrary, there
are infinitely many kinds of relationships possible. Relationships between atoms,
chemical bonds, are not the same as relationships between words or between two
human beings. The problem with CCT is that with confusing terminology of parts of
a system and contexts, conditions, etc., principally the same kind of relationship can
be treated theoretically as if it were different depending on whether we call a part
281
Downward Causality
Another questionable concept in CCT is the idea of downward causality. This notion
is reflected in statements, such as, phenomena are qualitatively organized by the
whole system (Beckstead et al. 2009, p. 72) or, the emergence of higher levels
of generalized signs becomes causative in relation to lower levels (Valsiner 2007,
p. 376). So there are two directions of causality, upward and downward. This
distinction opens up the possibility for a lot of confusion. In the first place, it creates
tension between a whole, up, and its parts, down, as if these two can be separated. Also, it becomes unclear in which sense these two forms of causality can be
distinguished. For instance, are they simultaneous in time or do they have effects in
different times? The distinction of the two forces is attributing earlier to upward
causality and later to downward causality. This is because parts exist before
the whole but an emergent wholewhich becomes [sic] causative in relation to
lower levelscannot have its effect before it has emerged. If downward causality has its effect after the whole has emerged, then something very strange must be
acknowledgedthere must be a period of time when elements already become parts
of a higher-order whole, but do not form the whole yet because to be in a whole
means that they are affected by the whole. Otherwise we would have to say that the
whole can be separated from its parts so that the whole, as efficient cause, can affect
its parts. This possibility, obviously, would be rejected by CCT.
Hence, there is a contradiction in CCT, and, at the same time, there is hidden an
important principle that is fully accepted in SSCT. As I mentioned already above, it
is not only the qualitatively novel whole that emerges in the process of the synthesis
of elements; the qualities of the elements also change in this process of emergence.
Thus, SSCT rejects the idea that there is a direction in the relationship from parts to
whole and from whole to parts. Rather, parts change qualitatively during the process
of the emergence of the whole; changes in the qualities of parts and the emergence of
a whole with new qualities are just different aspects of the very same process. Both
changes are also simultaneous. One important notion must be defined in order to
explicate this aspect of SSCT in sufficient detail. I am going to discuss this definition
in more detail as important consequences follow from it.
282
A. Toomela
283
of quality jumps out now almost by itself (at least it did it to me about eight years
ago; I even remember the exact location where I was riding my bicycle when the
definition came to me). So I define quality in this way: Quality is the potential of
a structure to become into relationship with another structure.
I have one example to demonstrate what this abstract definition means. Gold is
one of the least reactive chemical elements. It is not solubledoes not enter into
a chemical compound with other elementsin nitric acid. So gold does not have
a quality that would permit it to enter into this relationship, whereas silver, for
example, does. That is why an acid test nitric acid can be used to distinguish gold
from several other metals. Gold is obviously qualitatively different from other metals.
Now we see what qualitative difference means in structuralsystemic theory. Gold
has a unique set of relationships (chemical, mechanical, cultural, etc.) it can enter
into with other structures. It is, thus, qualitatively distinguished from other metals,
whose unique set of qualities is, at least partly, different from that of gold.
After I defined quality for myself, I found some definitions provided by philosophers that are in many respects similar to the one I propose. The definitions that are
relevant were proposed by Aristotle and Hegel, respectively. This is not surprising,
rather it shows, again, that structuralsystemic thinking emerged from Aristotelian
thought and was further elaborated by Hegelboth connections I have discussed
elsewhere (e.g., Toomela 2012). I provide both definitions in order to the help the
reader connect SSCT with its philosophical roots.
Aristotle gave four very different definitions of quality (Aristotle 1941a, b). Out
of the four, the following is relevant in this context:
[. . .] by Quality I do not here mean a property of substance (in that sense that which constitutes
a specific distinction is a quality) but a passive quality in virtue of which a thing is said to
be acted on or to be incapable of being acted on (Aristotle 1941c, p. 305, Bk.V, 226a ; see
also Aristotle 1941a, p. 871, Bk.XI, 1068b for the same definition).
So, for Aristotle quality was a passive characteristic of a thing; things either can or
cannot be acted on. To be acted on means to come into a relationship with something
else because one thing can affect the other only by forming a relationship with it. If
a thing can be acted on, it means that something elsethat acts on itcomes into a
relationship with it. Silver can be acted on by nitric acid but gold cannot. Thus, the
first has and the second does not have a quality affected by that acid.
Hegel, whose views on causality were very similar to those of Aristotle, defined
quality in relation to properties of a thing, in a way also very similar to Aristotle.
According to Hegel:
Quality is the immediate determinateness of something, the negative itself through which
being is something. Thus property of the thing is the negativity of reflection through which
Existence in general is an existent and, as simple self-identity, a thing-in-itself. [. . .] A thing
has properties; they are, first, the determinate relations of the thing to another thing; property
exists only as a mode of relationship between them and is therefore the external reflection
and the side of the things positedness. But, secondly, the thing in this positedness is in itself
[. . .] A thing has the property of effecting this or that in another thing and of expressing
itself in a peculiar manner in its relation to it. It demonstrates this property only under the
condition that the other thing has a corresponding constitution [. . .] Through its properties
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A. Toomela
the thing becomes cause, and cause is this, that it preserves itself as effect (Hegel 1969, pp.
487488).
285
are identical. SSCT provides the needed methodological principle: different mental
structures, even when they share some qualities, must be different in other qualities, in other potentials for establishing relationships between mental elements and
with the world. By systematically varying environments of individualsbecause it
is always environment in relation to which a behavior emergesit becomes possible
to discover which structural, environmental differences correspond to which differences and similarities in observed behaviors. Differences in similar environments
and similarities in different environments, thus, give the researcher the ground to
distinguish directly nonobservable mental structures underlying observed behaviors.
It is true that most psychological research is based on manipulation with the
environment, yet other epistemologies do not permit discovering what particular
mental structures underlie studied behaviors. So efficient causality psychology, i.e.,
the mainstream today, can only establish names for regularities in observed behaviors. There is neuroticism that causes neurotic behavior, and there is intelligence
that causes intelligent behavior, etc. Such names are not true scientific explanations.
Also, CCT seems to not provide methodological ground for solving the problem of
matching similar behaviors to potentially different underlying mental structures and
vice versa. Certainly many individual and environmental characteristics that associate with different behaviors can be discovered. Additionally, CCT epistemology is
much more powerful than the current mainstream because, in CCT, causal concepts
are added to the primitive efficient causality framework. Yet there seems to be no
methodological principle in CCT that would follow from it and explicate how exactly
correspondence between mind and behavior is established.
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Catalytic Causality
In Valsiners account, a general scheme of systemic causality, that involves catalytic
causality, is described as follows:
The process of synthesizing two separate substrates (A, B) into a new compound (AB) is
made possible through a catalyst (C) which temporarily binds to the input substrates first
to A (arriving at intermediate compound (CA), then to B (arriving at intermediate compound
CAB, binding A and B into one whole). The catalyst then releases the newly synthesized
compound AB and recreates itself (C). Without the binding role of the catalyst the synthesis
need not be possible; the direct, unmediated synthesis {A + B AB} cannot proceed
(Valsiner 2007, p. 373).
Valsiners account given in this form can be accepted in SSCT: a catalyst is understood as a substrate, which becomes a part of an intermediate system in a chain of
systemic transformations. Later, however, the idea of catalytic causality, as applied
to psychology, was modified. The concept of catalysis seems to move away from
a systemic account and comes closer to the primitive efficient causality view. First,
instead of being understood as a (potential) part of a system in a chain of systemic
transformations, catalyst becomes conditions. Another important aspect of modifying the concept of catalysis is separating it from the notion of causality. Both ideas
are expressed in the following quote:
The microgenesis of sense-making is a catalyzed, not directly causal, process. The use of
the notion of catalysisstudy of conditions under which something happens, rather than
asserting causalityis still not widespread in psychology (Salvatore and Valsiner 2010,
p. 13).
Here CCT moves closer to the efficient causality view, but is still considerably
more advanced if compared with the latter. It happens when bringing in the concept
of conditions under which something happens. With this concept, elements of a
system become separate from conditions even though they are essentially the same.
If conditions are not conceptualized as elements of a system, the efficient linear
causality intrudes back to the concept of catalytic causality:
287
Because the phenomena is a result of interacting and exchanging parts within a system, the
catalyst has an important function of changing the relationships and interactions between one
or more parts within the system. [. . .] system causality implies the change of one relationship
within the system will yield a different result. Therefore, the catalytic overcoming of a barrier,
resulting in the changing of a relationship not usually changed, alters the system as a whole,
causing some novel (sometimes rare) phenomena (Beckstead et al. 2009, p. 73).
So instead of causing events to take place, a catalyst helps and help is given by
activation. Yet in other descriptions of CCT principles, we find that catalysts are
necessary:
Semiotic catalysis refers to a process that provides the conditions necessarybut not by
themselves sufficientto produce a particular qualitative change in a system. [. . .] A theory
of semiotic catalysis, then, is a theory of enablementone that activates the functions and
mechanisms of other signs within the cultural psychological system (Cabell 2011b, p. 10).
In the quotation above, again, efficient causality language is used; it can be implied
that changes in a system can be produced by other processes, among them is
necessary but not sufficientcatalysis. Also, catalysis activates; this term also
implies the cause/ before effect/ after linear efficient causality principle. Considering many contradictory and confusing ideas in descriptions of CCT, it is not
surprising that in the end the concept of catalysis has turned from an explanatory
principle to a metaphor: I propose using the metaphor of the catalyst and of catalysis (Cabell 2011b, p. 7). The concept of catalytic causality turned into a metaphor
loses all explanatory content, howeverbecause metaphors are false. Metaphors
can be used as heuristic devices but not as theories (cf. Dooremalen and Borsboom
2010).
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etc. I will cite an example from chemistry, where the mechanisms of catalysis are
increasingly understood and explained scientifically (i.e., in terms of structural
systemic causality according to the terminology used in this chapter).
I provide an example of ammonia, which was described in detail by Swathi and
Sebastian (2008). Ammonia is, among other ways, produced from nitrogen and
hydrogen according to the following formula:
3H2 + N2 2N H3
When mixing the two gases at room temperature, however, the reaction does not occur
because the bond between the two nitrogen atoms is very strong and, for the reaction
to occur, this bond needs to be broken first. In terms of SSCT, thus, the qualities
of N have changed when the higher order molecule, N2 , has been synthesized. In
order to make the reaction possible, the qualities of N need to be changed; it must
have a quality to come into a relationship with H (I will reiterate that, according to
SSCT, quality is the potential of a structure to come into a relationship with another
structure). The reaction presented in the formula occurs, however, if an iron catalyst
is used.
The mechanism of how a catalyst is involved in this reaction was revealed by
Gerhard Ertl. In order to understand the description of the catalytic process, three
terms need to be defined first: physisorption, chemisorption, and desorption. These
terms are related to processes that take place on the surface of the catalyst. These
three terms are defined as follows:
When a molecular species approaches a surface, it can undergo several processes near the
surface. It may just bind to the surface by van der Waals interactions, a process that is known
as physisorption. Alternatively, it may form chemical bonds with the surface atoms, leading
to chemisorption. Sometimes a molecule may undergo dissociation at the surface and the
constituent fragments form chemical bonds with the surface. If one of the fragments finds
a suitable adsorbed species nearby, it may then react with such a species on the surface and
form new products, which leave the surface in a process known as desorption (Swathi and
Sebastian 2008, p. 552, my emphasis).
289
system composed of elements, whose qualities need to change. After the qualities
of the elements have changed, the final synthesis can occur. In this synthesis, the
relationship with the catalyst is broken and new relationships between elements of
the emergent whole are formed.
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A. Toomela
It follows that the principle of catalysis can be applied to the analysis of mental
and cultural systems without modification. Obviously, such application is not identical to the application of the principle in chemistryqualitatively different kinds of
elements and qualitatively different kinds of relationships between elements must be
subordinated to the principle of catalysis in chemistry and psychology, respectively.
Thus, catalysis is not a metaphor for psychology. The concept of catalysis should
also not be related to terms like help or directing, which just hide the structural
systemic essence of catalytic processes. There is no need to create theoretical
confusion with talk of context, condition, or mediator. There are just systems
that are situated among other systems which either are or are not characterized by
qualities that come into a relationship with a given system. Catalysis is a very useful concept here that helps us to understand the dynamics of systemic changes and
refers to the fact that occasionally higher-order wholes can emerge only in a chain
of systemic reorganizations where some elements need to be dissociated from other
systems before their synthesis into some other system becomes possible.
291
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Index
A
Abadjieff, E.M., 242, 243
Abbey, E., 168, 169
Abbri, F., 18
Abductive reasoning, 56
Abstraction level, 17
Acevedo-Rocha, C.G., 35
Activated catalytic cycle, 257
Adults beliefs, 61
Affective semiosis, 154, 158
Affective-semiotic field, 266
Aition, 76
Aktualgenese ideas
development of, 25
Alchemy, 21
Allocatalysis, 27
Alridge, D.P., 212
Altruism, 105
Alwin Mittaschs ideas, of catalysis, 28
Alwin Mittaschs scheme of hierarchical
catalysis, 30
American pragmatism, 74
Aminoacids
stochastic sequences of, 113
Andersen, P.B., 277
Anderson, B., 214
Andersson, B., 56
Andrade, E., 156
Angell, J.R., 89
Anthony, D.W., 231
Anthropomorphic residue, 57
Anthropomorphism, 97, 105
Antoniou, V.L., 216
Anything goes theories, 78, 79
Aristotelian legacy, 23
Aristotelian sense of casuality, 43
Aristotles work, on four types of causes, 35
efficient cause, 35
final cause, 35
formal cause, 35
material cause, 35
Aristotles writings, 6
Arnett, M., 237
Arthur Schopenhauers philosophy, 82
Artificial intelligence, 61
multilevel retro-actions in, 65
Asensio, M., 212, 213
Asymmetrization, 153
Attribution
risks of, 61
Attribution of causality, 40
Autocatalysis, 27, 150
conceptual relevance, 27, 28
tin pest, 27, 28
Autocatalytic process, 28
Autocatalytic system, 27
Automobile technology
use of catalytic converters in, 23
Aveling, E-L., 171
B
Bacon, F., 97
Balibar, E., 211
Ballantyne, T., 218
Banal Nationalism, 213, 215
Barthes, R., 114
Bartletts social psychological approach, 130
Bartlett, F.C., 131133, 135, 137144, 146,
213
Barton, K.C., 211, 212, 214, 218
Bauer, M.W., 261
Beckstead, Z., 13, 53, 66, 71, 114, 115, 145,
168, 169, 202, 203, 218, 251, 252, 254,
256, 265, 267, 279281, 287
Behaviourism, 89
of mind, 77
Bekoff, M., 104, 106
293
294
Bell-shaped curve, 9
Berger, S., 211
Bermdez, A., 212
Bernstein, N.A., 116
Bertuglia, C.S., 151
Berzelius, J.J., 253, 254
Bias, 60
Bickel, W.K., 237
Bifurcation
catalysis, 26
Billig, M., 205, 215
Biochemical autocatalysis, 67
Biological catalyzers, 29
Biological science
frontiers of, 19
Biological systems
importance of autocatalysis in, 28
Biosemiotic models, 119
Biosemiotic perspective, 106
Boas, F., 131
Bodily semiosis, 99
Body
scientific understanding of, 95
Borrowing, 136
Borsboom, D., 287
Bounding zone, 230
Breakwell, G.M., 191
Brown, J.F., 226, 227
Bruneau, T.J., 244, 245, 247, 248
Bshary, R., 105
C
Cabell, K., 11, 13, 149, 168, 169, 172,
191193, 199, 202204, 239, 240, 245,
247, 251254, 256, 265, 267
Cabell, K.R., 13, 33, 6668, 71, 108, 111, 114,
115, 145, 149, 150, 152, 154, 156, 168,
169, 171, 172, 218, 231, 234, 279, 287
Camarano, A.A., 167, 168
Campbell, D.T., 128
Carli, R., 152
Carretero, M., 211, 212, 214216, 218
Cartesian sensory mechanics, 95
Carugati, F., 168
Cashman, T., 100
Cassirer, E., 88
Casuality
importance of vagueness in, 64
semiotic role of, 63, 64
transdisciplinary perspective of, 63
Catalysis, 1113, 29, 71, 72, 78, 84, 88
as a semiotic tool, 65
concept and criteria, 4, 5
Index
definition of, 66
in psychology, 74
in social sciences, 114
use in human science, 33
Catalyst, 66
role in chemical reaction, 30
use in human science, 33
Catalyst poisons, 26
Catalystcausality difference, 34
Catalytic agents, 168, 170
Catalytic causality theory (CCT), 277
Catalytic ideas, 31
Catalytic proces
history of, 19
Catalytic synthesis, 169, 172
Catalyzed causality, 115
Causa efficiens, 76, 77
Causa finalis, 76
Causa formalis, 76
Causa materialis, 76
Causal attribution, 59
in social cognition, 60
Causal explanations, 81, 84, 85
Causal potentialities, 48
Causal powers, 36, 40, 46, 47, 49, 67
approach of, 52
contemporary theory of, 48
Causal process, 49
Causal relations, in children and teenagers, 57
Causal relationships
Humean view of, 49
Causal sequences, 88
Causal thinking, 57
Causality, 33, 36, 51, 60, 62, 64, 65
Aristotles conception of, 36
as a semiotic tool, 34
counter-factual definition of, 47
development of, 34
empiricist definition of, 52
epistemology of, 34, 53
history of, 5, 34
Humes conception of, 37, 49
Humes investigations on, 53
Humean concept of, 61
Humean views on, 48
in physics, 50, 51, 84
in physicsEsfeld, M., 51
philosophical definition of, 34
Russells conception of, 42
semiotic roles of, 35
types of, 8
Causality abandonment, 51
Causality without causes, 23
Index
Causation
Humes characterization of, 49
Cause event, 48
Cause-effect relations, 51
Salmons conception of, 51
Cause-effect relationships, 272, 276
Causes, 36, 51, 62, 75, 76
concept of, 34
Causes-effect relations, 53
Cavalier-Smith, T., 114
Celestial, material, 21
Chalmers, D., 103
Chambers, E., 282
Charles Sanders Peirces semiotic and
evolutionary philosophy, 97
Chaves, A.M., 115, 169, 172
Chemical catalysis, 111, 115, 119
Chemical language, 21
Chemical nomenclature, 22
Chemical reactions, 113
intensity of, 72
outcomes of, 18
Chemistry
alchemic roots of, 22
Christiansen, P.V., 277
Chryssochoou, X., 191
Cigoli, V., 241
Clmence, A., 59
Clark, A., 116
Clients, 104, 105
Co-constructing, 260
Co-enzymes
role of, 29
Co-genetic logic, 225
Code-relation, 114
Cognition processes, 100
Cognitive bias, 59, 62
Cognitive capabilities, 105
Cognitive competence, 104
Cognitive dissonance, 59
Cognitive psychology, 20
Cole, M., 3
Communicative processes, 101
Competence versus performance discussion, 20
Completely independent, 71
Complex causality, 65
Compromise formations, 134
Concept of catalysis, 115
in humanities and social sciences, 120
Concept of force, 96
Concept of purposive, consciously conceived
end causes, 97
Concept of trigger, 66
295
Conceptual benefits, 21
Condition oriented characteristic, 253
Connor, W., 214
Consciousness
hard problem of, 103
Constant conjunctions, 39, 49, 52
Contact, 136
Contemporary biology, 19
Contemporary psychology, 31
Context, 152, 153
Contextual activation, 158, 162
Contiguity
Humes criteria of, 37
Cornish, F., 171
Counter-factual causality, 47
Crawford, K.A., 211, 212
Crises, 240242
Crosland, M., 21
Cultural borrowing, 125
Cultural change
principles of, 139, 140
Cultural diffusion
borrowing, 136
contact, 136
intercommunication, 136
Cultural dynamics
Bartletts framework for, 125
study of, 125
Cultural elements, 135
Cultural evolution, 126, 128
Cultural evolutionary approach, 126, 128
Cultural evolutionary framework, 127
Cultural evolutionists theories, 127
Cultural patterns, 131, 137
Cultural psychology, 3, 95, 108, 167
semiotic orientation, 253
Cultural semiosis, 67
Cultural semiotic psychology, 241
Cultural systems, 108
Cultural transmission
contemporary approaches to, 125
Culturalization, 237
Culture contact, 125
Cummins functional analysis, 79
Cummins, R., 79
Cunha, C., 168, 170
D
Danesi, M., 223
Darbellay, F., 33
Darwins concept of selection, 33
Darwins influential theory, 127
Darwins work, on emotions, 89
Darwin, C., 105
296
Index
Empirical proliferation, 18
Empirical thinking, 88
Empiricism, 36
Energetist notion, 27
Ententional mechanisms, 99
Ententional phenomena, 98, 99
Ententional properties, 98
Entropy law, 98
Environment, 7, 12, 42, 61, 71, 81, 87, 98,
118, 132, 162, 180, 223,
225228, 264, 284, 289
Enzymatic catalysis, 29, 115
in psychology, 29
Enzymatic network
origin of, 113
Enzyme theory of life, 29
Enzymes, 111, 113
nomenclature of, 112
originality of, 111
structure of, 112
Epicritic sensibility, 130
Epigenesis, 30
Epistemology
empirical research on, 55
Ertl, G., 20
Esfeld, M., 41, 47, 51
Evans, R.W., 212
Evolution, 85
Evolutionary scheme, 126
Explanandum, 81
Explanans, 81
Explanation, 82
Explanations, 99
Aristotles four causes of, 75
categories of, 84, 85
Explanatory factors
categories of, 71
Extra-mental, 193, 254
E
Efficient causality, 7
Efficient cause, 5, 6, 35, 274, 275
Elaboration, 139, 140
Elder, G.H., 168
Eliminativism, 97
Ellis, B., 49
Elsasser, W.M., 112
Elster, J., 73, 79, 80, 86
Emmeche, C., 277
Emotional attitudes, 89
Emotional response patterns, 106
Emotional-semiotic mediator (ESM), 256, 258
Emotions, 151
Empirical productivity, 18
F
Factor analysis, 21
Faculty of imagination, 53
Faessler, P.E., 30
False philosophy, 55
Farber, E., 28, 30, 255, 267
Fechete, I., 239
Feed-forward catalysis, 27
Feelings, 106, 135
Ferring, D., 247
Festinger, L., 59
Field-like signs, 150
Final causality, 96, 97
taboo against, 97, 98
Finnemann, N.O., 277
Index
Fire mound, 138
Fodors contributions
in psychology, 77
Fodor, J.A., 77, 78, 85, 89
Foley, J., 116
Fornari, F., 153
Foster, S.J., 211, 212, 215
Foucault, M., 80
Frngsmyr, T., 23
Frangoudaki, A., 212
Frankl, V., 242, 247
Freda, M.F., 152, 154, 157
Freitag, R.M.Ko., 261
Functional analysis, 79
Functional explanation, 80
characteristics of, 80
in chemistry, 81
Functional explanations, 72, 73, 78,
80, 84, 85, 88
Fodors presentation of, 79
in psychology, 76
nature of, 74
nuanced taxonomy of, 75
psychology, 74
Functional flexibility, 22
Functional mathematics, 81
Functionalism, 79, 84, 88, 91
in psychology, 75
Fundamental attribution error, 59
Fundamental tendencies, 133
conservation, 133
construction, 133
examples of, 133
G
Gadamer, H.G., 225, 226
Gaussian distribution, 9
Geisteswissenschaften, 18
General linear model, 17, 31
Generic notion salt, 22
Genetic epistemology, 55
Gertzog, W.A., 218
Gigerenzer, G., 19, 61
Gillespie, A., 171, 191, 192, 204, 205
Glonya, T., 20
Gnassounou, B., 48
Gonalves, M., 247
Gonalves, M.M., 168, 170
Gonzlez de Oleaga, M., 213
Grever, M., 211
Griesemer, J.R., 116
Grize, J-B., 36
Group organization, 134
297
Groups psychological possessions, 135
Grutter, A., 105
H
Haddon, A.C., 127, 139, 140
Hansen, J.M., 215
Head, H., 130
Hegel, G.W.F., 282, 284
Heideggers philosophy, 77
Heidegger, M., 76, 77, 225
Heider, F., 61
Heil, J., 49
Hempel, C.G., 78
Herbst, D.P.G., 225
Hermans, H., 170, 240, 243, 244
Hermans, H.J., 167, 170
Hermans, H.J.M., 167, 170, 241, 247
HermansKonopka, A., 240, 243, 244, 248
Hermans-Jansen, E., 167, 170
Herskovitz, M.J., 128
Hewson, P.W., 218
Historiographical analysis, 211
Hjelmslev, L., 114
Hobsbawm, E., 211, 214, 215
Hoffmeyer, J., 95, 99, 104, 114, 116
Homogeneity, 9
Horizontal-vertical illusion, 128
Human cognitive processes, 101
Human experience, 151, 161, 168, 202
Human experienceClassen, C., 240
Human linguistic semiome, 108
Human minds purposive character, 132
Human phenomena
study of, 3
Human psychological functioning
context-inclusive models of, 11
Human psychological implications, 102
Humanitys cultural evolution, 126
Humankind
mental and cultural diversity of, 130
Humes critique, 46, 47
Humes investigation, on causality, 39
Humes occult qualities, 48
Humes theory, of perception
and knowledge, 38
Hume, D., 3740, 46, 53, 55, 275
Humean account of causation, 50
Humean causality, 57, 63
Humean causation, 41, 42, 55, 60
consequences of, 49
Humean metaphysics, 4648, 54, 60
Humean philosophy, 38
Humean regularities, 65
Humean tradition, 49
298
Husserl, E., 161
Hypergeneralized sign, 150, 157, 187, 199, 200
Hypergeneralized-like sign, 248
Hypokeimenon, 77
I
Ichijo, A., 214
Identity theories of mind, 77
Immanuel Kant, 17, 20, 86, 96
Impressions, 53
Independent invention, 126
Individual difference tendencies, 134
Information, 101
Instinct group, 135
Intentional explanations, 80, 84, 86
characteristics of, 86
Inter-cultural contacts, 126
Intercommunication, 136
Intermediate gestalts
structure of, 25
Interpretant, 103, 104
Intervention, 11
Intra-mental, 254
Ishii, S., 244, 245, 247, 248
Ivinson, G., 192
Index
Kohn, W., 72
Kotov, K., 114
Kovalainen, M., 62
Kuhn, T., 34
Kull, K., 100, 107, 114, 116, 117
Kumpulainen, K., 62
Kurzon, D., 248
Kuznetsov, V.I., 29
Kwak, K., 191
J
Jacobson, L., 59
Jacott, L., 212
Jahn, I., 111
James, W., 74, 89, 225, 251, 265, 266
James-Lange theory of emotion, 74
James-Lange theory of the nature of emotion,
89
Janmaat, J.G., 212
Josephs, I., 242
Josephs, I.E., 114, 242
Jovchelovitch, S., 261
Jung, C.G., 247
L
Labroides dimidiatu, 105
Lakoff, G., 267
Language use, 107
Latour, B., 62
Law of causality, 10
Law of homogeneity, 84, 91
Law of specificity, 90, 91
Laws of homogeneity and specificity, 83
Lay terms, 22
Lee, P., 215
Lehmann, O., 241, 245, 247
Leinhardt, G., 219
Leopardi, G., 223, 224
Levine, M.W., 289
Levitt, H., 243
Levstik, L., 214, 218
Levstik, L.S., 211, 212
Lewin, K., 4, 6, 53, 202, 226230, 232, 234,
236, 237
Lewontin, R.C., 107
Liddell, H.G., 223
Lieblich, A., 261
Lockes primary qualities, 47
Lopez, C., 211, 214216, 218
Lopez-Manjn, A., 212
Lorenz, C., 211
Lotman, J., 114, 150, 159, 160, 204
K
Kadianaki, I., 191, 195, 205
Kant, I., 99
Kauffman, S., 112, 114, 150
Kauffmann, G.B., 23
Kempen, H.J.G., 167
Kendrew, J., 112
Kistlers theory, 51
Kistler, M., 48, 50
Klein, U., 19
Knafo, A., 191
Knowledge integration, 21
Koffka, K., 273
Kohler, A., 59
M
Mller-Lyer illusion, 128
MacDougall, R., 223, 225
Mackie, J.L., 41
Margherita, G., 156
Marshall, J.G., 273
Martin, J., 204
Maruyama, M., 810
Marxism
studies on, 79
Master narrative, 216
Matte Blanco, I., 153, 154, 157, 241
Mattos, E., 115, 169, 172
Mazzei, L., 245
Index
Mc Cully, A.W., 218
McDougalls instinct, 132, 133
McDougalls two point test, 127
McDougall, W., 132
Mediation, 11
Mediator, 279
Melanesian society, 129
Melhado, E.M., 20, 23
Mellor, J.W., 254, 255
Mental hypostatization, 161
Metabolic pathways, of cell, 29
Metaphysics, 76
Michotte, A., 56
Mineralogists
classificatory habits of, 20
Mittasch, A., 24, 25
Modalities, 150, 154, 155, 158, 160, 162
ModalitiesSjlander, S., 105
Models of causality, 19
Modernity
role of technology in, 77
Molecular recognition mechanism, 100
Morange, M., 111
Morphogenesis, 161
MorphogenesisBrentano, F., 161
Mosborg, S., 213
Mounin, G., 22
Mount Sinai, 138
Murphys Law, 79
Mutual causal relationships
deviation-counteracting aspects of, 10
Mutual causal systems, 10
deviation-amplifying system, 10
deviation-counteracting system, 10
implications of, 10
Mystical meaning systems, 21
Mythical thinking, 88
N
Nss, A., 82
National identity, 213, 214, 218
Greek, 217
Kurdish, 201
Nationalization, 211, 216
Natural selection, 73, 85
mechanism of, 89
Naturphilosophie, 18, 20, 23, 26
Naturwissenschaften, 18
Necessary and sufficient reasons, 82
Necessary condition, 74
Necessary connexions, 3840, 44, 52
alternatives of, 49
concept of, 55
299
definition of, 38
Humes idea of, 46
Necessary reasons, 84
Neologisms, 22
Neuman, Y., 161
Nomad concepts, 33
Nomological explanations, 48, 62
Nonreciprocal causal models, 8
Normal distribution, 9
Norvig, P., 232
Norwegian history, 87
Notion of a process, 49
Notion of catalysis, 19, 23, 66
originality of, 24
Notion of causality, 34, 42
Notion of causation, 55
Notion of cause, 33
Notion of event
Russell analysis of, 65
Notion of the social, 131
Notions of cause, 42
Notions of cause and effect, 42
Noumena, 99
Noumina, 97
O
O Sullivan-Lago, R., 191, 205
Objectivism, 77
Ontogenetic process, 106
Ontological causality, 54, 57
Open systems, 27
Open-ended relational dynamics, 103
Organic evolution, 98
Organismic strive, 105
Orlandi, E., 244, 248
P
Padgett, J.F., 31
Paniccia, R.M., 152
Parallel sciences, 17
Parliamentarism, in Norway, 86
Parr, R.G., 72
Paz, O., 245
Peirce, C.S., 74, 97
Perception of causality
research on, 56
Perceptive pre-inference, 56
Persuasive arguments, 82
Pertinentization, 153
Petry, N.M., 237
Phase one theory concept, 77
Phenomena, 97, 99
Philosophy
causes of, 76
300
Philosophy of chemistry
study of, 31
Physico-chemical conditions, of biosphere, 113
Piagets theory, 57
Piaget, J., 34, 56
Piattelli-Palmarini, M., 85, 89
Pierce, J., 104, 106
Pleromatization, 161
Point-like signs, 150, 200, 203
Pol, E., 213
Political propaganda, 142144
Political propagandaBartlett, F.C., 143, 144
Polyfunctional enzymes, 113
Polylingualism, 21
Porat, D., 213
Positivist/post-positivist paradigm, 8
Posner, G.J., 218
Possible worlds concept, 47
Post-Mendeleevs chemistry, 18
Powell, W.W., 31
Practically isolated system, 45
Prebiotic world, 98
Primary emotions, 105
Primitive community, 131
Primitive comradeship, 133, 137
Primitive cultures, 126, 132
Priority
Humes criteria of, 37
Promoter signs, 169, 171, 172
Protopathic sensibility, 130
Proust, M., 96
Psaltis, Ch., 192
Psychic unity, 126
Psychoanalytic theory, 129
Psychological end causes, 97
Psychological events, 4
Psychological field, 218, 226, 232, 235
Psychological horizon, 223, 231, 232
Psychological processes
co-regulation of, 237
Psychologist
role of, 131
Psychology, 4
catalysis in, 90
conceptual stagnation in, 19
developmental perspective in, 19
history of, 88
socio-moral implications of, 19
Pygmalion effect, 59
R
Ros Saloma, M.F., 215
Random mutations, 85
Index
Ranger, T., 215
Reaction rates
impact of catalysts on, 24
Reasons
types of, 84
Reductionist scheme of classical physics, 98
Reductionistic flavour, of causal processes, 50
Reforms of punishments
Foucaults analysis of, 80
Refutation
type of, 78
Regulator, 279
Regulatory proteins, 113
Reification, 161
Reimorphism, 254
Reis, L.P.C., 260
Relatively isolated systems, 45
Remembering, 134, 139
Representative man, 142
Ribeiro, A.P., 170
Ribulose-diphosphate-carboxylase-oxydase
(Rubisco), 112
Richter, C., 231
Rivers diffusionism, 128
Rivers theory, 129
Rivers, W.H.R., 129, 130, 137
Rochat, P., 56
Rodrguez-Moneo, M., 212, 215, 216
Roldn, A.A., 127
Romanticism, 20
Root properties, 6
Rosenfeld, S., 241
Rosenthal, R., 59
Ross, L., 59
Ross, M., 214
Ruptures, 19, 167, 171, 172, 181, 191197,
200, 204, 205
Russells critique, 42
Russell, B., 4245
Russell, S.J., 232
Rutledge, P.V., 273
S
Salgado, J., 170, 247
Salmon, W.C., 4951
Salvatore, S., 152154, 161, 286
Same causesame effect, principle of, 43
Sander, K., 30
Santos, J.E.F., 260
Sarti, C.A., 173
Sato, T., 167
Scabini, E., 241
Scaffolding, 116
Hoffmeyers notion of, 117
Index
Schematic narrative templates, 213215
Schematization, 161
Schopenhauers method, 83
Schopenhauer, A., 8284
Schwartz, S., 191
Scott, R., 223
Searle, J., 161
Sebastian, K.L., 288
Sebeoks thesis, 114
corollaries of, 114
Sebeok, T.A., 95
Segall, M.H., 128
Seixas, P., 215
Semi-lay terms, 22
Semiome, 107
Semiosis, 101, 106, 116, 117
incompatibility phenomenon of, 118
Semiosis designs, 118
Semiosphere, 160, 205
Semiotic analysis, 103
Semiotic catalysis, 12, 65, 67, 68, 114, 115,
117119
concept of, 12, 13, 68, 69
Semiotic catalysts, 192, 193, 197, 200, 251,
254, 255, 265, 266
Semiotic catalysts activators (SCAs), 256
Semiotic catalyzers, 12, 13
Semiotic causation, 104
Semiotic cultural psychology, 11
Semiotic dynamics, 119
Semiotic elements, 194, 205, 223
Semiotic freedom, 99
Semiotic language, 102
Semiotic logic, 95
Semiotic mediation, 168, 169
centrality of, 168
Semiotic mediators, 194, 266
Semiotic mediatorsValsiner, J., 245
Semiotic modulators, 106
Semiotic process, 104
Semiotic processes, 153155
realization of, 162
Semiotic realism
ontology of, 100
Semiotic reframing, 95
Semiotic regulation, 117
Semiotic regulators, 11, 13, 193, 194, 197, 200,
204, 205, 254
inhibition of, 251
Semiotic scaffolding, 115117, 119
Semiotic scaffolding mechanisms, 107, 108
Semiotic systems, 68, 119
Semiotic theory, 116
301
Semiotic tools, 55, 58, 65, 254
concept of, 63
Semiotic understanding, 103
Semiotically controlled scaffolding system, 95
Semiotics, 69
Semiotization, 225, 227
Sense of causality, 61, 62
Sensory mechanics, 95
Sensory semiotics, 95, 102, 106
Sentiment group, 135
Sentiment-governed individual, 135
Sherman, J., 150
Shoemaker, S., 49
Siegel, D.J., 102, 105
Sign vehicle, 95, 96, 103
Sign, multiple code-relation, 118
Signaling activity, 102
Signaturen, 111
Silence based phenomena, 241, 242, 244, 245,
247249
Simmel, G., 230, 233, 237
Simple causality, 59
Simplification, 139
Skinner, B.F., 89
Smedslund, J., 17
Smith, A.D., 211
Snelders, H.A.M., 20
Social cognition
causal attribution in, 63
Social constructiveness
concept of, 140
Social demand settings (SDS), 245
Social groups, 135
ideal, 135, 136
instinct, 135
sentiment, 135, 136
Social psychology, 61
Social relationship tendencies, 133
Social semiotic scaffolding mechanisms, 108
Socio-cultural psychology, 62
Sociogenetic processes, 205
Sonea, S., 101
Soysal, Y.N., 216
Specific catalysts, 114
Specific causes, 88
Specific effects, 88
Spemanns and Mangolds classical study, 30
Sroad social groupings, 135
Ssemiotic interaction, 99
Stainton, C., 219
Stake, R.E., 173
State of expectation, 102
Statistical causality, 52, 53
302
Statistics
multi-factorial approach in, 64
Steiner, G., 240, 245
Stjernfelt, F., 101
Stone, C., 243
Strike, K.A., 218
Structural-systemic causality theory (SSCT),
277
Structural-systemic theory, 282
Study of behavior, 4
Stuurman, S., 211
Sub-intentional causality, 86
Subjective causality, 53
Sufficient condition, 74
Sufficient reason, 84
Sufficient reason given by necessity, 84
Sugihara, G., 252, 254
Sulston, K.W., 72
Supra-intentional causality, 86
Swathi, R.S., 288
Symbolic meaning, 228
Symbolic resources, 170, 171, 192, 194, 195,
203, 204
Symbolopoietic, 153, 154, 159
Symcox, L., 212
Symmetrization, 153
Systemic approach, 53, 59, 65
Systemic catalyzed causality model, 251, 252,
263, 267
Systemic causality, 52, 58, 66
Systemic thinking, 26
T
Teleodynamic existence, 106
Teleodynamic properties, 98
Teleodynamic system, 98
Teleodynamics, 100
Teleological explanations, 81
Tendencies, 132
hierarchical organization of, 134
typology of, 133, 134
Theoretical complementarity, 85
Theory of causality, 50
Theory of causation
as causal processes, 50
Theory of natural selection, 90
Theory of operant conditioning, 89
Theory of rational choices, 80
Theory of Reichenbach, 50
Thibault, P.J., 114
Thonhauser, J., 114
Time-space structures, 26
Timotijevic, L., 191
Index
Todd, P.M., 61
Toomela, A., 19, 30, 272, 278, 283, 284, 290
Toulmin, S., 77, 82, 84
Trajectories, 26, 158, 173, 240, 242, 260
Transcendental philosophy, 97
Transdisciplinarity
concept of, 34
Trapping phenomena, 6, 7
Triadic relation, 103
Troland, L.T., 29
Tuval-Mashiach, R., 261
U
Umiker-Sebeok, J., 95
Umwelts, 100
Unconscious intentions, 86
Understanding, 84
Unphilosophical probabilities, 41
Uzelac, G., 214
V
Vdrine, J., 239
Vaio, F., 151
Validity of a law, 45
Valsiner, J., 3, 12, 13, 18, 63, 71, 115, 145, 149,
150, 152154, 156, 159, 161, 167170,
172, 180, 192, 194, 198, 202, 205,
213, 218, 232, 236, 241, 242, 245247,
251254, 256, 257, 265267, 276, 277,
279, 281, 286, 290
Van der Leeuw-Roord, J., 212
Van der Veer, R., 63
VanSledright, B., 211
Vedeler, D., 247
Verkuyten, M., 191
Verlet, L., 37
Vickers, B., 21
Virji, S.M., 219
von Bertalanffy, L., 278
Vosniadou, S., 218
Voss, J.F., 215
Vygotsky, L.S., 116, 272
W
Wallace-Darwin evolutionary theory, 20
Wang, Y., 239
Wertsch, J.V., 213
White, A.D., 271
Wickler, W., 105
Wiley, J., 215
Wilschut, A., 212
Wimsatt, W.C., 116
Wineburg, S., 213, 215
Wittgenstein, L., 245
Index
Witzemann, E.J., 17
Wolff, Chr., 83
Wolman, B.B., 252, 254, 266
Wood, D., 116
Woolgar, S., 62
Wundt, W., 276
Y
Yang, W., 72
Yin, R.K., 195
303
Z
Zilber, T., 261
Zittoun, T., 152154, 161, 168171, 192194,
198, 247
Zone of possible silentness (ZPS), 245
Zone of possible talking (ZPT), 245
Zone of promoted silentness (ZPrS), 245
Zone of taboo of silentness (ZTS), 245
Zone of taboo of talking (ZTT), 245