This article addresses the relationship between structuralism, especially the anthropological version of the latter in Levi-Strauss, and the theory of social systems of Luhmann. The analysis is done through two hypotheses guiding the development of the text. It reviews the historical background relating structuralism with systems theory and discusses the fundamental concepts that appear in this relationship. Luhmann’s systems thinking is then contrasted, focusing on some of its central concepts, with the structuralist perspective of Lévi-Strauss. The paper concludes with a review of the hypotheses presented and comprehensive reflections about the perspective of social systems. Relevance: The paper focusses on the relationships between anthropological structuralism and cybernetics and social systems theory.

Purpose: To show that the idea of non-dualistic thinking is of great value for some of the core problems of media philosophy (which often lacks the radical approach of Josef Mitterer’s concept). Method: Non-dualistic philosophy, introduced by Mitterer, has a lot in common with other thinkers’ discontent with the traditional way of describing the subject-object relation. Their differences and the impasses of phenomenological, structuralist and psychoanalytic media theory shall be examined to show whether and to what extent non-dualism could do better. Findings: As sociologists and some media-philosophers are already adopting some principles of non-dualism without a real framework, non-dualistic thinking offers a new insight into the way that consent/dissent is manufactured in a world where most descriptions are given in a mediated (i.e., non-interpersonal) form. Implications: If we re-establish the personal freedom of gathering knowledge individually instead of “getting nearer to the truth,” the way of looking at the escapist power of media also has to be reinterpreted. The early distinction between Lumiére-like “documentation” (= truth) and Méliès-like “fiction” (= perception open to alternatives) could be another dualism, which should be expurgated by the application of Mitterer’s concepts.

Key words: structuralism, film theory, psychoanalysis

Over the previous two decades the emergence of post-modernist thought (i.e., radical constructivism, social constructivism, deconstructivsm, post-structuralism, and the like) on the American intellectual landscape has presented a number of challenges to various fields of intellectual endeavor (i.e., literature, natural science, and social science) (Matthews, 1998; in press). Nowhere is this challenge more evident and therefore more problematic than in the application of post-modernism (in the form of constructivist teaching) to the classroom. Employing constructivist teaching practices is problematic at two levels: (1) there is an absence of empirical evidence of effectiveness; and (2) employing this approach for which there is a lack of evidential support, means not employing instructional practices for which there is empirical support. The purpose of this article is to present an overview and critique of constructivist teaching practices, followed by a brief review of evidenced-based practices in teaching.

Key words: epistemology, process, self-reference, bateson, structuralism, embodiment, constructivism, recursive hierarchy.

Piagetian theory describes mathematical development as the construction and organization of mental operation within psychological structures. Research on student learning has identified the vital roles two particular operations – splitting and units coordination – play in students’ development of advanced fractions knowledge. Whereas Steffe and colleagues describe these knowledge structures in terms of fractions schemes, Piaget introduced the possibility of modeling students’ psychological structures with formal mathematical structures, such as algebraic groups. This paper demonstrates the utility of modeling students’ development with a structure that is isomorphic to the positive rational numbers under multiplication – “the splitting group.” We use a quantitative analysis of written assessments from 59 eighth grade students in order to test hypotheses related to this development. Results affirm and refine an existing hypothetical learning trajectory for students’ constructions of advanced fractions schemes by demonstrating that splitting is a necessary precursor to students’ constructions of three levels of units coordination. Because three levels of units coordination also plays a vital role in other mathematical domains, such as algebraic reasoning, implications from the study extend beyond fractions teaching and research. Relevance: The paper uses constructivist theories of learning, including scheme theory and Piaget’s structuralism, to study how students construct mature conceptions of fractions.

Excerpt: In this little book we shall […] confine ourselves to the kinds of structuralism that are to be met in mathematics and the several empirical sciences, already a sufficiently venturesome undertaking. And in conclusion we shall take up some of the philosophical movements more or less inspired by the various kinds of structuralism that have sprung up in the social sciences.

Psychotherapy is primarily concerned with the realm of human meaning. Four theories of meaning are investigated – traditional empiricist theory, structuralism, and Piaget’s and Derrida’s positive corrections to the traditional and structuralist understandings of meaning. Piaget held that conceptual systems are open-ended and changeable, and Derrida proposed that meanings spill over individual concepts and thus are products of an entire conceptual system. Piaget’s analysis reminds psychotherapists that they are to remain open to further development of their meaning systems, and Derrida’s work calls attention to the need to appreciate that a client’s meaning and the meaning of psychological texts are more than the meaning of the particular words used.