Genetic Epistemology

Piaget (foundational swiss psychologist) provides concise insight into his theory of cognitive development and knowledge which are together called "genetic epistemology" - a study of the origin of knowledge that takes into account it's psychological and developmental roots.

This is a non-traditional (not a Logical Positivist) view of epistemology that takes into account not only the figurative and logical definitions of knowledge or logic stemming from language - but logic coming from that which is innate, our actions and experience during development.

The notion of scientific thought as a "living tissue" - just as our minds are in a continual process of renewal or "continual tranformation and reorganization" - is essential to understanding the nature of scientific knowledge. How do we achieve "higher levels of thought" - as he puts it - concepts and powerful ideas that can transform our knowledge of the world?

Many things which could be described as a "primitive intuition" he would investigate and reveal as intellectual constructions that occur during our development. He proposes doing this through looking at the psychological research - not through private speculation on the part of the philosopher.

Chomsky asserts that language is based on and derived from logic - reason stemming from innate development.. Logical Positivists state the opposite: logic extends from language.

Piaget points out that there are multiple logics during innate development - many ways of knowing, limits to formalization. There is a necessity for considering thought itself as well as considering axiomatized logical systems - since it is from thought that the logical systems develop. Knowledge is not purely formal - it is also experiential..

This seems obvious to me from an intuitive point of view - perhaps this is why Piaget wrote a novel in his 20's that set forth many of his claims before he formally pursued them. The problem with using language to study language is that logic is detached from experience - this might translate to a general trend in academics that pushes many people away - the formalization of knowledge, and symbolization without taking into account human development.

Genetic Epistomology deals with both the formation and the meaning of knowledge. The nature of transitions from lower to higher and more useful ways of knowing is the fundamental question. These transitions are historical and psychological in nature.

There is a parallelism between the progress made in the logical and rational organization of knowledge and the corresponding formative psychological processes. (rational and formative work together in feedback cycles, the events and structure so to speak)

Distinguishing between the figurative and the operative aspects of thinking will help us to understand how you study development. Figurative: imitation, perception, mental imagery... Operative deals with the transition from one state to another -- Human knowledge is essentially active - a process.

Knowing an object does not mean copying it - it means acting upon it. It means constructing systems of transformation that can be carried out on or with the object.. (easy to see how papert was influenced by this)

Knowledge then is a system of transformations, that become progressively adequate. Rather than knowledge being derived from objects --- it is derived from the action upon the objects. This is the basis of logical and mathematical abstraction.

This is illustrated through the story about how a young child realized a mathematical concept - commutativity - the sum is independent of the order. He was able to abstract the number of pebbles - but upon reflection or "reflective abstraction" - the transformation from one hierarchical level to another - and in this a reorganization occurs.. An Epiphany - a new mental accommodation or understanding.

This moment of realization is what Eleanor Duckworth might refer to as the "having of a wonderful idea" - the pleasurable aquiring of knowledge. It is in the coordination of actions that the knowledge is acquired, The experimentation with materials - the acquiring of scientific knowledge.

In sum, Piaget, Papert and Turkle make a strong argument for the use of materials and objects and the points of entry to knowledge and understanding of the world - leveraging the moment of knowing that comes through discovery...