Structuralism

Japanese: 構造主義 - こうぞうしゅぎ（英語表記）structuralism

Generally speaking, it refers to an ideological stance opposed to historicism and cultural relativism, and is a general term for theories and methods that emphasize synchronic, universal, and law-based factors over historical, one-off, and chance factors. Structuralism originates from the idea of Saussure, F., the founder of linguistics. Saussure distinguished between synchronic linguistics, which seeks the laws of language, and diachronic linguistics, which focuses on historical change, and from there, he distinguished between langue, a system of universal laws, and parole, an individual linguistic act, as their respective subjects. This idea gave birth to the structural linguistics school, which distinguishes between the universal and particular phases of language, and emphasizes the former. Following Saussure's theory that the meaning of a sign is not determined by itself but by its opposing relations with other signs, Jakobson, R. discovered a universal structure in which the phonemes used by all individual languages are generated by a combination of approximately 13 pairs of distinctive features (distinctive features), such as voiced vs. unvoiced, and led to the rise of structural linguistics, mainly in the United States. The discovery of the abstract laws that determine phenomena also marked the opening of a new field known as semiotics.

However, it was the work of French cultural anthropologist Levi-Strauss, C. that made structuralism particularly famous. He focused on kinship organizations, myths, and primitive thinking, and for example, he used the phonemic analysis method of structural linguistics in his study of myths, and tried to decipher hidden meanings by using the conflicts between elements of myths as clues. His method is said to have three characteristics. The first is a relational perspective, which emphasizes the relationships between elements, such as conflicts, rather than the individual elements of cultural phenomena. The second characteristic is holism, which holds that the meaning of each element is determined only in its mutual relationship, and that the relational whole is primary. The third is a stratigraphic perspective, which holds that true understanding is impossible unless the surface phenomena that can be directly perceived correspond to the deeper meaning structure that lies beneath them. Cultural anthropology that adopts this perspective and method is called structural anthropology, and has had a major influence on related fields of study since the 1960s.

Structuralist schools of thought have existed in psychology for a long time. Representative examples are Gestalt psychology and J. Piaget's theory of cognitive development. The former argues against the previous emphasis on sensory elements, and claims that the Gestalt is a partial determination of the whole structure. He further claims that latent structuring principles (Gestalt factors) such as proximity and similarity require dynamic balance (principle of simplicity) and form surface phenomena. Due to the novelty of his claims, structuralism was once called another name for Gestalt psychology. Piaget came a little later and called the following three characteristics structure: (1) wholeness, in which elements form an inseparable whole; (2) transformability, in which the essence of the connections through the transformation system does not change even if the elements in the structure are changed; and (3) self-control, which maintains the essence and closedness of the system through an automatic adjustment mechanism. He claimed that logical-mathematical structures such as group-like bodies and lattice-groups determine the surface, which is the way children think.

Structuralism has been criticized for its bias toward universality and order, leading to criticism such as deconstruction. The emphasis of Piaget's theory has also shifted to constructivist aspects. However, Gestalt is now one of the basic terms in psychology. Chomsky, N. rejected the data-oriented approach of structural linguistics and the behaviorist view of language, but his generative grammar focuses on the process of generation from deep to surface structure, showing both the positive and negative influences of structuralism. Lévi-Strauss argued that binary oppositions such as heaven and earth, East and West, and men and women are rooted in the universal mentality of humankind. These various aspects present serious problems that structuralism still poses to psychology today. →Gestalt Psychology →Linguistic Psychology →Constructivism →Genetic Epistemology [Fujinaga Tamotsu]

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Japanese:

一般的には，歴史主義や文化相対主義に対立する思想的立場をいい，歴史的・一回性的・機会的要因よりも共時的・普遍的・法則的要因を重視する学説やその方法を総称する。構造主義は言語学の開祖ソシュールSaussure,F.の構想に由来する。ソシュールは言語の法則性を求める共時言語学と歴史的変遷を主題とする通時言語学とを分け，そこからそれぞれの対象として普遍的法則の体系としてのラングlangueと個人的言語行為としてのパロールparoleとを区別した。この発想は，言語の普遍的位相と特殊的位相との二つの次元を区別し，前者を重視する構造言語学派を生んだ。ジャコブソンJakobson,R.は，ソシュールが記号の意味は単独では決定されず他の記号との対立関係によって規定されるとする説を受けて，すべての個別言語の駆使する音素は，有声性対無声性などほぼ13対の示差的特性（弁別素性）の組み合わせによって生成されるという普遍的構造を見いだし，アメリカを中心に構造言語学structural linguisticsの隆盛を導いた。現象を規定する抽象的法則性の発見は，記号学という新しい領域を開く契機にもなった。

　しかし，構造主義の名をことさら高めたのは，フランスの文化人類学者レビ・ストロースLevi-Strauss,C.の業績にある。彼は，親族組織，神話，未開の思考などを対象にしたが，たとえば神話の研究に構造言語学の音素分析の手法を援用し，神話の要素間の対立関係などを手がかりにして隠された意味の解読に努めた。その方法には，三つの特徴があるといわれる。第1は関係論的視点であり，文化現象の個々の要素ではなく要素間の関係，たとえば対立を重視する。第2の特徴の全体論は，各要素は相互関係の中で初めて意味が定まり，関係的全体こそ一次的とする。第3は層位論的視点を取り，直接知覚できる表層の現象はその底に潜む深層の意味構造に対応させなければ真の理解は不可能とする。このような視点と方法を取る文化人類学は構造人類学structural anthropologyとよばれ，1960年代から周辺諸学にも大きな影響を与えてきた。

　心理学においても構造主義に立つ学派は，早くから存在した。代表はゲシュタルト心理学Gestalt psychologyとピアジェPiaget,J.の認知発達説である。前者は，それまでの感覚要素の強調に反対して，ゲシュタルトGestaltという全体構造の部分規定性を主張し，さらに近接・類同などの潜在する構造化原理（ゲシュタルト要因）が力動的均衡を要請し（簡潔性の原理），表層現象を形成するとした。その主張の新奇性から，構造主義はゲシュタルト心理学の別名とされた時期もあった。ピアジェはやや遅れて，⑴諸要素が不可分なまとまりを構成するという全体性，⑵構造中の要素を変えても変換システムによる結合関係の本質は変わらないという変換性，⑶自動調節機構による系としての本質と閉鎖性を維持する自己制御の三つの特性を構造structureとよび，群性体や束-群のような論理数学的構造が児童の思考様式という表層を規定するとした。

　構造主義は，その普遍性と秩序志向の偏りを指摘され脱構築のような批判を招くに至った。ピアジェ説の重点も構成主義の側面に移行した。しかし，Gestaltは現在心理学の基礎語彙の一つになっている。チョムスキーChomsky,N.は構造言語学のデータ偏重や行動主義的言語観を退けたが，その生成文法論は深層から表層構造への生成過程を主題とし，構造主義の正負両面の影響を示している。レビ・ストロースは，天地，東西，男女などの二項対立は人類の普遍的心性に根ざすとした。これら諸相には，構造主義が今も心理学に投げかける重い問題が提示されている。　→ゲシュタルト心理学　→言語心理学　→構成主義　→発生的認識論
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