ABSTRACT
In constructivism, knowledge is not a mere reflection of the outside world, nor the projection onto reality of innate transcendental structures of the mind (→MIND). The physical world must be shaped-“(re)invented,” as Paul Watzlawick stated, or “made to emerge,” in Francisco Varela’s terms (→EMERGENCE). In other words, the physical world is recognized and broken down into interrelated single objects only by means of the actions and operations the subject exerts upon it. In Piagetian theory, then, objectivity and subjectivity are constructed jointly and complementarily, through constant action upon the real world. From infancy to adulthood, experiential information is assimilated into the subject’s logicomathematical structures. These structures in turn coordinate the action (or operatory) schemes that generate objective knowledge of the world.
