Giving up the ghost: the control‐matrix and reflection‐in‐action

Abstract

The matters of mind are not easily solved. Even if most philosophers and educationalists of today are convinced of the wrongness of the dualistic theory articulated by Descartes (following a line with ontogenesis from Plato), it continues to infect discussions of learning and teaching, often in a subtle manner. The questions involved are multiple. For instance, questions concerning the relation between consciousness and control, the relation between desire and control, but also the question of how the categories ‘body’ and ‘soul’ function in language and in society. In this text the author uses the theoretical framework of Merleau‐Ponty to discuss the ‘Cartesian ghost’ of Ryle in the form it is revealed in Newman’s analysis of Schön’s reasoning and exemplifications of reflection‐in‐action.