Abstract
González Rey’s highly original cultural-historical theory of subjectivity is the pinnacle of his scientific work. This chapter, first, briefly presents the background inspirations for the theory. Second, the theory is presented. Its core concepts and their interrelationships in the theory are characterized. The arguments behind the conceptual choices and definitions are laid out and it is made clear why and how González Rey regards a cultural-historical theory of subjectivity to be the cornerstone in psychological theorizing. The main advantages of the theory are mentioned as well as the key issues in cultural-historical theorizing in psychology it is aimed at resolving. In the third section of this chapter, some steps in the future development of the theory are proposed. They are inspired by my theoretical work on subjects in social practices based on the tradition of a science of the subject founded by Holzkamp. And they are presented in the course of going deeper into, and discussing, three areas in González Rey’s theory. First, his position on psychic functions and subjectivity in action; second, issues about subjectivity in relation to culture, social reality, and social practice; and, third, his position on individual transcendence and critical theorizing.
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Dreier, O. (2021). A Cultural-Historical Theory of Human Subjectivity. In: Goulart, D.M., Martínez, A.M., Adams, M. (eds) Theory of Subjectivity from a Cultural-Historical Standpoint. Perspectives in Cultural-Historical Research, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1417-0_4
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