Abstract
This entry aims to examine the features of dialectics when studied from the perspective of the psychological development of knowledge and its functions in the works of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Valsiner, where it is described as a novelty producing process. In these authors, dialectics is understood both as a research methodology and as a constitutive part of the explanation of psychological development. In Piaget, the dynamics of dialectics and the possible are examined through the equilibrium theory of development, which includes dialectical inferences specific for epistemic constructivism and based on the interplay between undifferentiation, differentiation and integration. In Vygotsky, interpreting the dialectics of possible novelties in higher mental functions, particularly the zone of proximal development can be seen as a dialectical reorganization achieved through guided development, from a learner’s real knowledge to what she can achieve with others’ assistance, i.e., an actualization of potential knowledge. In Valsiner, the synthesis of opposites is the main feature of dialectical thinking, hence the “actual” is a construction from possibilities allowed by an earlier level of development in the interaction between an individual and their own semiotic world. It is argued that each author contributes to understanding the relations between the possible and actual, especially given the difficulties faced by each approach, and they all pave the way for new research questions.
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Castorina, J.A. (2021). Dialectics. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_49-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_49-1
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