Kenneth J. Gergen

The argument in this book is well-informed and meticulously presented. As a contribution to theories of social construction, the argument follows the development arc presented in Berger and Luckmann, beginning with the interior self and how it is possible for an individual to know anything about themselves or the world, leading to externalization of inner states into objects/signs that then become institutions and institutional practices through which individuals identify themselves. show more Gergen's contribution is that the notion of an inner self is problematic conceptually but also in terms of all the assumptions about rationality, objectivity, knowledge, emotion, and identity that follow from an assumption of an "individual" who stands apart from the web of social relations in which they are embedded. By taking the individual as the foundation, all attempts at knowing return to questions about Truth and Objectivity, but if we look at knowing in the context of the social, we see things in terms of pragmatics, where what is known is what allows us to continue contributing to the social relationships that we are always constructing and maintaining. I get the point of critiquing individualism, from which the book begins, but the resulting argument feels a bit reductive when assigning pursuits in science and psychology (for some) to the obsessive pursuit of Truth. It overlooks how those fields are already pragmatic in their orientation, even if they do not see themselves that way. So, social construction is less of an "alternative" theory approach to knowledge and knowing so much as it is a reframing of it. Overall, however, the book ends strongly with a solid argument for the value of discourse and continuous, diverse social interaction as the medium of the real. show less

Interesante retrato del yo posmoderno. Existimos en tanto nos comunicamos con otras personas.