A Study Of The Cognitive Views Of Cole’s Cultural Context

The core research subject of cognitive science is human cognition, and the related disciplines of human cognition such as psychology, linguistics, computer science, and philosophy have been doing this research for a long time. The cognitive revolution in the1950s has prompted the cognitive science, but it suffered from a crisis inevitably, like mind-body dualism, individualism, elementalism. The computerism and connectionism could not conquer the error of disembodied and could not empathize the situation, taking the cultural context out of consideration.Michael Cole, a cognitive philosopher of LCHC (The Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition) in UCSD (University of California at San Diego), put forward a systematic theory of cognitive views in cultural context, based on the practical research on cognitive development in field way and inherited the theories of Malinowski and L.S. Vygotsky. He deems that the development of cognition is mediated by culture and cognition distributes in individuals, time, cultural and society. He points out that cultural context plays a significant part in human cognition and cultural context is the foundation and presupposition of human cognition.In this paper, concept analysis and contextual analysis are used to fully analyze the theoretical construction and Anthropological fieldwork of Cole’ cognition theory of cultural context, seeking to explore and grasp the essence of Cole’thoughts.This paper contains three parts. The first chapter explains the theoretical sources of Cole’ideas, beginning from the analysis of the crisis of the first generation of cognitive science, and then exploring the influence of theories of Malinowski and Vygotsky to Cole, moreover, makes an explication of some similar theories of cognition in cultural context. The second chapter is a detailed analysis of theory Cole’s theories, including the cultural mediation views of cognition, the distributive views of cognition and the practical formation of cognition. The third part presents the significance of Cole’s theories. Firstly, it transcends the dualistic theory of development. Secondly, it enhances the progress of cognitive science in theory. Thirdly, field survey method which Cole used enriches the methodology of philosophy.