"Is it valid to reject radical constructivism solely because it makes it very hard (maybe even impossible) to function in society?"
It is not valid to reject RC theory because it makes it difficult to live in society. Yet, that does give reason to adjust the theory and add a missing link. What is it about radical constructivism that makes it very hard or impossible to function in society? In my opinion it is the fact that those living by this theory cannot accept things that they have not experienced. We experiences society, so we should know how to function in it. The missing link may be the addition of societal joint perceptions (that an individual experiences) to an individual's constructed reality.
Carl Rogers, a famous client-centered therapist and humanistic psychologist, believed that experience is the private world of an individual. It is always conscious at some level, yet there are experiences we encounter that are difficult to bring into awareness. The individual is the only one who can know their awareness completely.
For psychological purposes, reality is essentially the inner world of individual perceptions. Yet, for social purposes, reality is made up of perceptions that have a high amount of agreement within a society.
The perceptual field of an individual, how the world appears to them from their specific point-of-view is known as the internal frame of reference. It is based off of the entire span of one’s learning history and experiences in addition to the meanings and feelings attached to them.
Roger’s definitions of experience and reality are very similar. Private world of the individual vs. private world of individual perceptions vs. private world of societal perceptions. Experience is inner awareness, it is all internal because we all have our own set of experiences. Psychological reality is our inner world created by how we perceive external stimuli. Social reality consists of our intake of societal perceptions and projections of our responses to them. The internal frame of reference ties the three theories together by inductively stating that an individual’s view of reality is based off of their experiences. This supports the radical constructivist theory. The missing link in the radical constructivist theory may be the idea of a social reality. In Rodger’s theory it emphasizes the importance of individual experiences and perceptions but also highlights that societal joint perceptions are important too. These joint perceptions and acceptances are needed to function properly in society.
If Ernst von Glasersfeld adopted the theory of social reality would his RC theory still be valid?
0 comments:
Post a Comment