The Object of Activity
Every murderer has a motive. Every game has an object. What do you think is the object of a blogger?
There's no such thing as "objectless" activity according to Leont'ev. The object of an activity is that to which the activity always answers. We construct the object that meets our needs, and it orients our attention and actions to fulfil a motive. Thus the object of activity is both a projection of human mind onto the objective world and a projection of the world onto human mind. It motivates and directs the activity.
On the other hand, our experience tells us that in a collaborative joint activity, it is common to find its participants have different goals, nor do they necessarily share same beliefs and values. But clearly, for collaboration to occur, there must be a degree of overlap in goals and a willingness to attempt to understand the perspective of others. In other words, the object of the activity is cooperatively defined by the whole set of motives that the participants strive to attain in their activity, but it could be different from any of the effective motives.
The relations between object and individuals' motives and goals are dynamic one. Activity does not have a direction and start until the object of the activity is defined. But the object itself maybe shifted as the participants respond to change (in conditions or social context) and thus change their goals/actions/motives.
There's no such thing as "objectless" activity according to Leont'ev. The object of an activity is that to which the activity always answers. We construct the object that meets our needs, and it orients our attention and actions to fulfil a motive. Thus the object of activity is both a projection of human mind onto the objective world and a projection of the world onto human mind. It motivates and directs the activity.
On the other hand, our experience tells us that in a collaborative joint activity, it is common to find its participants have different goals, nor do they necessarily share same beliefs and values. But clearly, for collaboration to occur, there must be a degree of overlap in goals and a willingness to attempt to understand the perspective of others. In other words, the object of the activity is cooperatively defined by the whole set of motives that the participants strive to attain in their activity, but it could be different from any of the effective motives.
The relations between object and individuals' motives and goals are dynamic one. Activity does not have a direction and start until the object of the activity is defined. But the object itself maybe shifted as the participants respond to change (in conditions or social context) and thus change their goals/actions/motives.
posted by charlie at 8:03 PM
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