Idealism, materialism, and Vygotsky's cultural historical theory.

Summary

Vygotsky developed his Cultural Historical Theory by synthesizing pre-revolutionary Hegelian ideas about consciousness and culture with the Marxist materialist ideology required by the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. He aimed to resolve the ideological conflict between idealism and materialism, drawing on Gestalt psychology, Hegel, Marx, and Engels to create a new psychological method. The resulting theory focused on consciousness and mind rather than biology-based stimulus-response psychology. Vygotsky's approach demonstrates how deep ideological differences can be bridged by finding unexpected commonalities between opposing views, as shown in his criticism of pure empiricism.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Vygotsky straddled the period of the Russian Revolution and found himself facing the Marxist materialist ideology of the Soviet Union with the need for a new method of psychology. Ironically, the Soviet Union's need for a Marxist based method of psychology coincided with Vygotsky's prior research on methods of interpretation which were inspired by Hegel and primarily based on the role of consciousness and culture. As a result of Vygotsky's pre-revolutionary work and inspiration from Hegel clashing with the post-revolutionary need for a new methodology for psychology, Vygotsky developed his Cultural Historical Theory. In presenting his new theory, Vygotsky attempted to resolve a fundamental ideological conflict between idealism and materialism. Furthermore, Vygotsky worked to create an effective new research method by drawing inspiration from Gestalt psychology, Hegel, Marx, and Engels. The result of Vygotsky's efforts was a theory based on psychology of consciousness and mind rather than a biology-based psychology focused entirely on analysis of stimuli and responses. In analyzing Vygotsky's theory, it is useful to draw inspiration from Vygotsky's criticism of pure empiricism, and to be inspired by Vygotsky's demonstration on how deeply rooted differences between societies may be bridged by finding unexpected commonalities within opposing ideologies.