The Problem of Experience in the Concepts of Vygotsky and Teplov: A Modern Context

Abstract

The paper compares L.S. Vygotsky’s and B.M. Teplov’s approaches to the category of experience (‘perezhivanie’). It reveals the significance of Vygotsky’s understanding of experience as a dynamic unit comprising both emotional and cognitive aspects and providing insight into the social situation of development of children. The two scientists had a similar understanding of the role of intellectual and affective components of experience, but there were certain differences, too. Specifically, Teplov’s concept focuses on aesthetic experiences that bind an individual with the world of culture, shaping his/her attitudes to its meanings through the mutual enrichment of the artist and the listener/spectator via generalized images contained in the experience. The paper reveals the importance of the category of experience for modern psychology, the relevance of the ideas of the two scientists for studies of social (aesthetic) experiences in modern children and adolescents and their influence on socialization and inculturation. It is argued that the category of experience has two aspects (cognitive and dynamic, or intentional) and two forms (personal and social). Personal experiences incorporate one’s separate notions about the self into the whole, whereas social experiences mark his/her attitudes towards events and objects in the surrounding world. This work was supported by grant RSF № 14-18-00598