Doors and the Constitution of Inner Space 

This course aims for a critical study and analysis of forms of conceptualization of human mind and the space and the role that artifacts play in regulating human orientation in, and use of, the space and in constituting human psyche. The role of doors in organizing the space and the consequent conceptualization of the human mind will be particularly considered. It will be demonstrated that both the “physical” space and the personal “inner” space are conceptualized and constituted through human activity mediated by material as well as ideal artifacts—the concept of the (external) space complements the concept of psyche (the interior plane), the two are but forms of existence or the two sides of the coin of human activity in the world, which amounts to the constitution of the world of ideals as a world populated by human artifacts.

To this end, the symbolic role played by artifacts, particularly doors in arts, and the concept of threshold as a transitory space will also be partly discussed. Furthermore, the notions of “artifact” and “ideal”, as presented by Siegert and Ilyenkov respectively, the role these notion play in the constitution of human cognition and determination of human activity, the ways artifacts determine human activity and the world, and the consequent constitution of mind and the socially determined forms of the constitution of the space will be closely studied.

Finally, particularly with the study of the revolving doors, the inner relation between forms of concept-formation and constitution of artifacts and technical devices will be analyzed and their essential bonds will be revealed. Through the aforementioned analyses the essential unity of such diverse phenomena and their constitutive function in forming the totality of human social reality will be disclosed.