The Methodological Crisis According to Vygotsky’s Thought
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36324/fqhj.v2i55.23811Keywords:
Crisis, Methodology, Thought, Mediation, VygotskyAbstract
The concept of methodological crisis in Lev Vygotsky's thought represents an epistemological diagnosis of the division in modern psychology between an objective, reductionist approach (behaviorism and reflexivity) and a subjective, reflective approach (introspection and psychoanalysis). This division has prevented the establishment of a unified science of psychological phenomena. Vygotsky attributed this crisis to deficiencies in philosophical foundations and the reliance on singular explanatory models that separate matter from meaning. To address this, he proposed the cultural-historical method as a dialectical framework that integrates scientific explanation with the understanding of meaning. He emphasized that higher psychological functions are socially shaped through symbolic mediation, particularly language, according to the principle of its transition from the interactional to the internal level. In doing so, he redefined consciousness as a dynamic, historically formed functional system that seeks to transcend the dualism between the subjective and the objective and establish a unified psychology with a socio-cultural foundation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Samah Hamza Ibrahim Al-Fatlawi, Zaid Abbas Karim Al-Kubaisi
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