Scheme of Lev Vygotsky's Theory. Part 2

Abstract

Reconstructing the views of a scientific genius is a process of approaching an understanding of the personality, the thinking, and the meaning of the views that transcends the limitations of time. A process that is especially relevant when paradigms change. In this article we address the ontological heart of L.S. Vygotsky's theory, his idea of the “whole” and the “one". We show that these key concepts, on which his idea of the psyche as a network of “units of analysis of the whole” is built, contain the content corresponding to the postnonclassical paradigm. Vygotsky's “unity” and “whole” are not the same thing. The three mental functions are fused into a unity possessing new properties, which are manifested in each of these functions. We find this when we pay attention to an independent function, separate from the others. The psyche, according to Vygotsky, is arranged as fusions of three functions (triangulation) and connections between these “unities” (network). The “unities” form the whole. The whole is given and not given at the same time. The “unity” becomes a whole reflecting the larger whole, the whole psyche. The genesis of the “unity” leads to a whole that is not equal to the sum of its parts. Such a whole is identical to the concept of modality. Vygotsky's approach to the construction of psychology can give rise to the development of modal psychology.