Prof. Lisa M. Osbeck, University of West Georgia

Abstract

My talk will distinguish accounts of reasoning focused on processes/products and those focused on activities/outcomes, which I call here “person-centric.”  I will begin with a brief historical overview in order to locate two-process and person-centric accounts in the web of larger concerns and controversies that embed them.   Drawing from well-known examples that include William James, I will argue that person-centric accounts include an emphasis on the integration of various capacities (intellective, emotional, and volitional) in all activity.  I suggest that the person in person-centric accounts is “quasi-rational” (borrowing from Brunswik), not merely in perception but in all domains of activity, with “quasi” suggesting both the sense of “showing some features” and the sense of “giving the appearance.”   The important theoretical task in relation to person-centric accounts is not to distinguish processes but to categorize forms of activity as they relate to different goals and purposes.  Such a task enables us to consider what may required for the generation of resources for complex problem-solving, even for problems posed in and by the “post-truth” context.   I illustrate points made with description of three categories of activity especially important for generating problem-solving resources and acknowledge that cultivation of these activities is both a personal and a communal responsibility: a matter of values.