Displacement of Concepts

225 Pages·2003·6.87 MB·English

by  Donald A. Schon (editor)

The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library
DISPLACEMENT OF
CONCEPTS
TAVISTOCK
The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library
PSYCHOLOGY
In 11 Volumes
Current Trends in Analytical Psychology
Edited by Gerhard Adler
II Focal Psychotherapy
Michael Balint, et al.
III Primary Love and Psycho-Analytic Technique
Michael Balint
IV Attention and Interpretation
W R Bion
V Themes in Speculative Psychology
Nehemiah Jordan
VI Envy and Gratitude
Melanie Klein
VII New Directions in Psycho-Analysis
Edited by Melanie Klein, et al.
VIII A Study of Brief Psychotherapy
DH Malan
IX Displacement of Concepts
Donald A Schon
X Identity
Edited by Kenneth Soddy
XI System and Structure
Anthony Wilden
DISPLACEMENT OF
CONCEPTS
DONALD A SCHON
~l Routledge
Jii~ Taylor&Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in 1963 by
Tavistock Publications (1959) Limited
Reprinted in 2001 by
Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Transferred to Digital Printing 2007
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 1963 Donald A Schon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Displacement of Concepts
ISBN 0-415-26486-3
Psychology: 11 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-26515-0
The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library
112 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-25670-4
Displacement
of
Concepts
DONALD A. SCHON
T AVISTOCK PUBLICATIONS
First published in 1963
by Tavistock Publications (1959) Limited
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
This book is set in 12 point Bembo
©Donald A. Schon 1963
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION lX
PART ONE. THE RADICAL FUNCTION
I ASKING THE QUESTION: A REVIEW OF SOME
THEORIES OF THE FORMATION OF NEW
CONCEPTS 3
New Concepts 4
Theories of New Concept Formation II
Theories ofm ystery-Theories ofr eduction-The Gestalt
view-Theories of scientific method
II STARTING FROM SCRATCH: TREATING THE
NEW IN TERMS OF THE OLD 22
Comparison 23
Error 26
Concept-instance 27
The Extension and Displacement of Concepts 29
III ANALOGY AND METAPHOR 35
Metaphor 35
Analogy 37
Analogy and Metaphor in this Book 40
History of Attitudes towards Metaphor and Analogy 41
The Role of Metaphor in Language 44
v
Contents
IV A CLOSE LOOK AT THE DISPLACEMENT OF
CONCEPTS 53
Introduction 53
A Schema for the Displacement of Concepts 54
The Symbolic Relation 58
The Selection of Concepts for Displacement 64
New Ideas from the Displacement of Concepts 73
Projection-A logic of discovery-Emotional bases of
processes of discovery
Scope of the Displacement of Concepts I02
PART TWO. THE CONSERVATIVE FUNCTION
v THE CONSERVATIVE FUNCTION OF THE
DISPLACEMENT OF CONCEPTS III
Introduction III
Theories of Deciding: the Scale; the Use of Tools; Group
Processes II4
Theories of the Mind: Mechanism and Dynamism; Atomism I40
A Theory of Understanding: Vision !70
A Theory of Romantic Love I76
CONCLUSIONS
VI THE LIFE OF METAPHORS IN THEORY:
A SPECULATIVE CONCLUSION I9I
BIBLIOGRAPHY 200
INDEX 203
Vl
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are due to the individuals and publishers concerned for per
mission to quote passages from the following works:
The Cambridge University Press in respect of Patterns ofD iscovery by
Norwood Russell Hanson; The Clarendon Press, Oxford, in respect of
The Allegory of Love by C. S. Lewis; The Estate of Albert Einstein in
respect of The Evolution of Physics by Albert Einstein and Leopold
Infeld; Faber & Faber in respect of Passion and Society by Denis de
Rougemont (published in the U.S.A. by Pantheon Books under the
title Love in the Western World); Harper and Row in respect of Pro
ductive Thinking by Max Wertheimer, Language and Myth by Ernst
Cassirer; The Harvard University Press in respect of Philosophy in a
New Key by Susanne K. Langer; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., in
respect of The Forgotten Language by Erich Fromm; The Houghton
Mifllin Company in respect of Epaminondas and His Auntie by Sarah
Cone Bryant; Hutchinson & Company in respect of The Philosophy of
J.
Science by Stephen Toulmin; Vrin in respect of Le Concept d' analogie
by Harald Hoffding; The Macmillan Company in respect of Shorter
History of Science by William Cecil Dampier, Words and Things by
Roger Brown; The McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., in respect of
Dynamic Theory of Personality by Kurt Lewin (Copyright 1935); New
American Library of World Literature in respect of The Notebooks of
Leonardo da Vinci, A New Selection by Pamela Taylor; W. W. Norton
& Co., Inc., in respect of Clinical Studies in Psychiatry by Harry Stack
Sullivan; the author in respect of 'Analogy in Science' by Dr Robert
Oppenheimer; The Oxford University Press in respect of The Basic
Works of Aristotle edited by Richard McKeon; Prentice-Hall Inc. in
respect of Ethical Theories edited by A. I. Melden (Copyright 1955);
Princeton University Press in respect of How to Solve It by G. Polya
(Copyright 1945); Random House Inc. in respect of The English
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