Objectivization and Symbolization

A review essay on a book by Michel Freitag, Dialectique et societe: 1. Introduction a une theorie generale du symbolique ([Dialectic and Society, Vol. 1: Introduction to a General Theory of the Symbolic], Montreal: Saint-Martin et l'Age d'Homme, 1986 [see listing in IRPS No. 42]). This work, the first volume in a projected 5-volume project, examines the relationship with the object in general, & specifically social practice as a meaningful relationship with the world. The overall structure within which social practice takes place will be explored in later volumes. Freitag rejects the positivist option of the social sciences as leading to impasse. He turns to its alternative: recognition of the primordial unity of any relationship with the world, & refusal to reify the subject/object poles. Freitag revives the link with dialectic inspiration in the Hegelian sense. His work offers rich & powerful ideas. The critique of positivism reveals the ontological primacy of the relationship of objectivization. The analysis of types of mediation & their constituent moments, besides showing the unilateral character of positivism, establishes the basis of a theory of symbolism, which is essential for the understanding of social practice. C. Waters