Ernst von Glasersfeld
From Wikinfo
A philosopher and proponent of Radical Constructivism, Ernst von Glasersfeld is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia, Research Associate at the Scientific Reasoning Research Institute, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is a member of the Board of Trustees, American Society of Cybernetics, from whom he received the McCulloch Memorial Award in 1991; and a Member of the Scientific Board, Instituto Piaget, Lisbon. Being a philosopher and cybernetician, he spent large parts of his life in Ireland [1940s], in Italy [1950s] and the USA [current]. Elaborating upon Vico, Piaget�s genetic epistemology, Bishop Berkeley�s theory of perception, James Joyce�s Finnegans Wake and other important texts, Ernst developed his model of Radical Constructivism - which is an ethos shared by all of these writers to one degree or another, sometimes it is difficult to see where their epistemological agreements begin and end - but that is part of the fun.
No matter how long the talk or lecture, he has never been seen to use any notes. He likes drinking Guinness in Co. Wicklow.
Bibliography
In Memoriam H.v.F. Obituary for Heinz von Foerster by Ernst von Glasersfeld [2002]
Articles
- An introduction to radical Constructivism by Ernst von Glasersfeld
- An Exposition of Constructivism: Why Some Like it Radical by Ernst von Glasersfeld [2003]
- The Incommensurability of Scientific and Poetic Knowledge by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1998]
- In Memory of a Pioneer (Silvio Ceccato, 1914-1997) by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1998]
- Distinguishing the Observer: An Attempt at Interpreting Maturana by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1997]
- Homage to Jean Piaget by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1997]
- The Conceptual Construction of Time by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1997]
- Cybernetics and the Art of Living by Ernst von Glasersfeld [1997]
Books
- Ernst von Glasersfeld [1995]. Radical Constructivism: A Way of Knowing and Learning. The Falmer Press - London & Washington. ISBN 0 7507 0387 3
- Ernst von Glasersfeld [1987]. The Construction of Knowledge: Contributions to Conceptual Semantics. Intersystems Publications - Seaside, California 93955.
Memorable Quotes
"As a metaphor - and I stress that it is intended as a metaphor - the concept of an invariant that arises out of mutually or cyclically balancing changes may help us to approach the concept of self. In cybernetics this metaphor is implemented in the �closed loop�, the circular arrangement of feedback mechanisms that maintain a given value within certain limits. They work toward an invariant, but the invariant is achieved not by a steady resistance, the way a rock stands unmoved in the wind, but by compensation over time. Whenever we happen to look in a feedback loop, we find the present act pitted against the immediate past, but already on the way to being compensated itself by the immediate future. The invariant the system achieves can, therefore, never be found or frozen in a single element because, by its very nature, it consists in one or more relationships - and relationships are not in things but between them.
If the self, as I suggest, is a relational entity, it cannot have a locus in the world of experiential objects. It does not reside in the heart, as Aristotle thought, nor in the brain, as we tend to think today. It resides in no place at all, but merely manifests itself in the continuity of our acts of differentiating and relating and in the intuitive certainty we have that our experience is truly ours."
Ernst von Glasersfeld - pp.186-7: Cybernetics, Experience and the Concept of Self. [1970]
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