Making sense of signs: Readjusting William Stern’s personological value theory

Abstract

In the present paper, I enlarge William Stern’s value theory and link it to his teachings about signs and symbols. People come with dynamic self-value (which is derived from their needs and goal hierarchies), which they radiate into different action spheres, within which they make use of specific signs and tools. Therefore, by altering their psychic systems, the action spheres and tools combine to create a specific service value for each person. In the second part, I criticize Stern’s value theory for not emphasizing social-historical features in his general theoretical framework. This is compared to Vygotsky, for example, who emphasized that action spheres come with a particular cultural-historical situation, so that we get a glimpse not only into a person’s self-value but also into the social conditions under which they act.