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QUESTION:
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Professor von Glasersfeld,
I am an education doctoral student at the University of North
Texas in Denton, Texas. I have been researching your work and
would like to ask you two questions.
1. At the point in your development when you realized the
subjectivity of knowledge, were you overwhelmed with confusion
and conflicting rationalizations? My reason for asking this
question is the many mind-boggling moments I had while reading
about the idea of reality and, more specifically, the opposing
notions of how it "exists" in regards to knowledge.
2. If you could spend one hour debating your stance on the
constructs of radical constructivism with any philosopher (or
individual), whom would you select?
I appreciate any feedback or response you can provide. I am an
admirer of your work and appreciate the contribution of
knowledge you have provided the field of psychology and
education.
Thank you in advance.
Respectfully,
Ben Kirby
ANSWER :
Dear Mr. Kirby,
- Thank you for asking concise questions!
Here are my answers.
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- 1. For me the point when I began to
realize the subjectivity of people's worlds and knowledge came
before my teens. It was due to the fact that from the very
beginning I had lived in several languages (German with my
mother, English with my father, Italian when I went to
elementary school); and perhaps to the additional fact that in
my parents house speakers of those languages and sometimes
also French came to tea or dinner and the differences of their
views of current events were very noticeable. There was no
shock - perhaps also because neither of my parents was
authoritarian and wanted to impose his/her views of
everything. When I came to boarding school at the age of 10,
that was an advantage because it was no shock that other boys
thought differently.
2. No hesitation: George Berkeley.
Best wishes,
Ernst von Glasersfeld
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