ABSTRACT
Throughout this discussion, attempts have been made to open up questions of human action, thought and knowing, not only to be curious beings, to inquire and create, but to inquire and create ethically. It may be that questions of consciousness, language and intersubjectivity are not accessible to introspection, but they have confounded philosophers and other citizens for many centuries and their complexity will continue to confuse and excite. For educators at all levels and within all cultures, these are challenging questions that cannot be denied if democratic, collective and honest learning is valued. For 30years however, these questions have been denied by neoliberal capitalism, in favour of formal education that focuses on narrow economic and individual outcomes. These are questions that lie at the heart of social division and encourage different thinking by different groups of people. In coming to the notion of language as tool for example, Wittgenstein focused on language use or act, rather than initial meaning. If language can be thought of as an inner state of being for humans that connects with the external world then, similar to consciousness, language is a sensuous human disposition that generates perception and conception of various types depending on social and physical conditions. When snow falls, the young child does not need an extensive vocabulary to feel cold or to know the meaning of cold, or the wonder of softness and texture. Words will be added later to express these experiences and to communicate with others. Seen as a tool in this way, the inner state or mode of being will not separate causation, explanation, interpretation, feeling and the like, but will relate to the experience holistically. For the very young, it is difficult to understand exactly how perceptions produce specific thought when experience has not been had before, such as the first falling of snow. But the human organism will react based on the sum total of experience that has been accumulated to that time. In a similar way, humans will come to their own understanding of colour, sound and taste without words and without being taught by others. In conceptualising consciousness and language as inner states of being, the notion of ‘language act’ integrates other acts such as speech act and social act as humans pursue their quests for knowledge and understanding. We therefore conceive of humans as active, thoughtful beings, engaging with their inner and external worlds at all times from birth to death, coming to know and construct meaning both privately and publicly. Following Wittgenstein, Dewey, Chomsky and others, Dialectics of Knowing investigates the practice of language act and its place in what can be called ‘intersubjective praxis’ existence, history and dignity.
