Epistemic Value Research Articles

Conflict and Context: Jadidism, Pan-Islamism, and the Muslims of Akmolinsk at the Beginning of the 20th Century

Abstract This article analyzes a conflict between the imam of Akmolinsk’s Second Congregational Mosque Hujjat Mahmudov and the Tatar merchant Nur-Muhammad Zabirov. The conflict took place in 1912–1913, and attracted the attention of the public at large, editorial boards of Muslim newspapers, and the Russian colonial administration. The depictions of the conflict were contradictory and depended on who was telling the story: the immediate participants, residents of Akmolinsk, or external observers. When the imam accused the Tatar merchant of ignorance and a grossly over-extravagant lifestyle, the merchant’s defenders immediately accused the imam of spreading forbidden innovations and selling banned literature, i.e., the works by the Kazakh writer Mir-Zhaqïp Dulatov and the editor of the newspaper Waqït, Fatih Karimi. These works were regarded by imperial officials as politically dangerous on account of containing false information about the Romanov Dynasty, as well as Pan-Turkic and Pan-Islamic ideas. At first glance, the Akmolinsk story appears to illustrate how Muslims themselves made use of the imperial discourse about the threat of jadidism and Pan-Islamism to eliminate their enemies; but it also exhibits a series of distinct peculiarities. My aim is to show that it is not so much the conflict as such that is important, but rather the context in which it arose. A careful study of this context allows us to understand the principles by which the local society functioned. Focusing on specific representations of the conflict (newspaper accounts, the point of view of imperial bureaucrats, the petitions of the immediate participants), we ignore the epistemic value of other sources – for example, the opinions of local Muslims who do not necessarily describe what happened through the prism of fundamental contradictions and imply, among other things, the confrontation between so-called reformers and traditionalists. The Muslims of Akmolinsk, like those of other regions of the Russian Empire, were aware of the nature of external threats and challenges; however, they could also perceive them based on their own rationality as expressed in their prevailing cultural and everyday life. In some cases, that rationality was draped in pragmatism; in others, it stemmed from an attempt to protect cultural self-sufficiency – that is, a specific world of ideas and values; in yet others, it was justified by the need to carry out those small reforms and changes that could fit organically into the customary course of things.

An introduction to the ethical and social problems of bodybuilding

since the 20th century bodybuilding has been an object of study that interests and challenges researchers in the sociology of sport (see Conquet, 2014; Tajrobehkar, 2016; Wellman, 2020) and, recently, in the philosophy of sport (see Aranyosi, 2017; Madej, 2021; Worthen, 2016). However, many of its problems are little known in the orthodox philosophical literature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to contribute from STS studies to the posing and discussion of the central ethical and social problems of bodybuilding by contributing to the philosophy of sport or the philosophy of body techniques. Therefore, I will plant the following problems in relation to bodybuilding: gender and sexism; racism, ableism and eugenics; and lastly, fatphobia. Finally, I propose that many of these problems are generated from the indiscriminate use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) within this sport subculture. In this sense, a precautionary framework (epistemic values, moral values, hormonal benefit principle and sports precautionary principle) is proposed from STS studies with the aim of regulating their use, avoiding adverse effects in individuals who are not professional bodybuilders.

Examining the sustainable leisure and business values in sporting events and lottery analyses development

Purpose: This study aims to clarify the meaning of sport analysis, explore the contributions derived from sporting event analysts, and highlights the importance of responsible sport gambling. It also investigates how sustainable practices can be integrated into sports analysis to enhance social well-being. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary text data from government documents, news articles, and website information were extracted by searching keywords such as sports lottery and sports analysis in traditional Chinese, and then analyzed to establish the research framework and scope. Subsequently, 18 interviews were conducted with stakeholders to gain deeper insights. Findings: The content analyses reveals that sport analysis tends to be sport data science. Sporting event analysts may contribute to improving the performance of players or a team, enhancing spectator sports, and increasing sports lottery revenues. In the leisure aspect, the professionalism of sporting event analysts not only increases epistemic and entertainment values in spectator sports but also boosts engagement with sport lotteries. To ensure these enhancements remain beneficial, it is vital to emphasize responsible sport gambling and sustainable practices that protect vulnerable groups and promote long-term health benefits for those involved in sports. The integration of sustainable practices in sport analysis and the expertise of sporting event analysts can significantly advance economic and social development by generating funds through sport lottery industry for athlete programs, sports infrastructure, and educational initiatives, aligning with multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the professionalism of these analysts may enhance public understanding and engagement of sports, promoting increased participation in sports, reducing healthcare costs, and contributing to the development of a healthier and more resilient society. Originality: Emphasizing responsible sports gambling is essential to the sustainability of sports lotteries and the role of sporting event analysts.

Talking ourselves up: reframing learning development to reflect our expertise

The way universities frame Learning Development (LD) has profound implications for the field’s pedagogy, status, autonomy and evolution. These variables affect the value that LD releases to staff and students. Framing involves ‘foregrounding certain perspectives and ruling out others’ to characterise a phenomenon (Jones, 2010, p.242). Learning developers’ ‘palpable reluctance’ to advocate for their expertise (Webster, 2022, p.181) contributes to the field often being framed externally. This session guided attendees on how to constructively challenge and redefine the framings at university level, using my doctoral data (Johnson, 2023). It included analysis of framing discourse about LD on UK universities’ websites, of the value of LD to students and staff in one university, and of how the two related. LD can be framed as a combination of skills development, human development and subject-embedded instruction (Hallett, 2010). The university website discourse lacked quantity and detail about the embedded framing, while strongly representing the skills framing. The skills framing correlated with stakeholders perceiving LD as delivering functional (financial) value, while the humanistic framing added social and emotional value. Only the embedded framing encouraged perceptions of LD as adding knowledge – a.k.a. epistemic value (terminology from Sheth et al., 1991, adapted for higher education [HE] by LeBlanc and Nguyen, 1999). I therefore argued LD teams should advocate for a reframing of their work which better calibrates and explains all three discourses. As the stakeholder data illustrated, this enhanced perception increases students’ and staff’s inclination to engage with LD (conditional value), leading to greater value release.

On the Epistemic Value of Reflection

Against philosophical orthodoxy, Kornblith (2012) has mounted an empirically grounded critique of the epistemic value of reflection. In this paper, I argue that this recent critique fails even if we concede that the empirical facts are as Kornblith says they are, and assume that reliability is the only determinant of epistemic value. The critique fails because it seeks to undermine the reliability of reflection in general but targets only one of its variants, namely individual reflection, while neglecting social reflection. This critique comprises two arguments which have a common structure: they both impose a requirement on the reliability of reflection, but deny, on empirical grounds, that the requirement is met. One argument imposes an introspection requirement, which I reject as superfluous. I show how reflection can proceed without introspection. The other argument imposes an efficacy requirement. This requirement concerns whether reflection is causally efficacious i.e., whether it leads us to change our minds for the better. I accept this as a genuine requirement. Even if we concede that individual reflection fails to meet this requirement, I argue that we have not been given sufficient evidence to believe that social reflection is bound to violate this requirement. Furthermore, my analysis of the conditions under which social reflection works best provides us with prima facie grounds for optimism regarding the reliability of social reflection. Ultimately, then, these arguments fail to undermine the epistemic value of reflection in general.

Consumption Values and Green Purchase Behaviour among University of Uyo Students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The need to maintain a healthy lifestyle has led to a significant increase in the demand for goods and services that are environmentally friendly. However, previous investigations suggest that not only companies and the government, but also students, who play a significant role in consumption activities, should initiate solutions to environmental issues. In this study, the researchers investigate the influence of consumption values (functional, social, emotional, conditional, and epistemic) on the green purchase behaviour of university students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study. A simple random sampling technique was used to draw 400 students from selected faculties of the University of Uyo. A structured questionnaire measured on a five-point Likert scale was used to collect data from the respondents. The collected data were tested and analysed using a simple linear regression approach. Findings from the study show that consumption values (functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, and epistemic value) have a significant influence on the green purchase behaviour of students in Akwa Ibom State. The researchers recommend that students should develop strategies that will improve their consumption behaviour towards purchasing environmentally friendly products.

For the Sake of Knowledge: The Epistemic Value of Other-Regarding Epistemic Virtues

AbstractThis paper examines the epistemic value of other-regarding epistemic virtues, challenging the common view that these virtues are primarily moral in nature. To this end, it proposes a new framework to explain the role of epistemic virtues: the Epistemic Social Environment (ESE). It is argued that the value of an epistemic virtue stems from its contribution to a healthy ESE. This approach enables a broader and unified theory of epistemic virtues, emphasising their role in the communal production of knowledge. Ultimately, the paper aims to reconcile virtue epistemology with insights from social epistemology, offering a comprehensive account of the epistemic value of sharing knowledge.

Authority and Scientific Paradigms

The state of European science at the end of the sixteenth century resembles a kind of epistemological chaos in which there are no clear landmarks and boundaries of the world. Not surprisingly, as some order took shape within it, the revival of science began. It should not be forgotten, moreover, that the word "order" itself is etymologized as cosmos, and the discipline that studies it is cosmology. That is why the first fundamental works on astronomy – Copernicus's “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” and Galileo's “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican” – bear such pretentious titles, because they aim to put the whole "world system" in order. The concepts of scientific determination and the objects of cognition must be present in the problem field of the cognitive process, and the problems of knowledge translation and communicability between the subjects of cognition, as well as the extremely complicated interdependencies between the agency of the scientist and his cultural-historical context, should directly and unconcernedly raise the question of defining the range of epistemic values in which the value of truth a priori could not be put in contradiction to the value of one’s outer for the phenomenon heuristic potential or to the consistency of the relevant scientific noosphere.

Beyond economic convenience: Unveiling the motives for engaging in food sharing initiatives

Food waste is a major global problem nowadays because it negatively affects the environment, society, and the economy. Food sharing has lately emerged as an innovative solution to this problem, but little is known about the behavioral intentions of consumers with regard to food sharing initiatives. In this study, we use the theory of consumption values along with a mixed methods approach to analyze the key motives underlying consumers' intentions for using food sharing platforms. We develop a conceptual model to this end, and collect, analyze, and triangulate data to test it by using both a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The results highlight the relevance of epistemic, conditional, and social values in a communitarian sense in driving people's engagement in food sharing. Functional values were found to have a secondary importance for both users and non-users in this regard. A comparison between users and non-users also revealed that emotional values constitute an important factor for the latter. The study contributes to both theory and practice by highlighting the importance of such initiatives in addressing not only environmental issues, but also social needs, and hence contributing to the sustainable development of local communities.

Exploring lost spaces

This study seeks to investigate the potential evolution of education when integrated with place, addressing socio-ecological degeneration. Special attention is given to art education, which not only views places as learning locations but also recognizes the material and relational aspects of a place’s ecology as having epistemic value. The inquiry into art education practices delves beyond art-based methods and draws on the rich tradition of place-based practices. To illustrate the contribution of art education to sustainability, the study examines the collaborative project ‘Full Line, Broken Line: The Future of Liminal Landscapes’ in Serbia, focusing on disrupted landscapes near Belgrade. This insight into how investigation and learning about a locality can elicit memories and interpretations through the lens of absence demonstrates the importance of the interaction of temporal and spatial dimensions when learning about what is lost and the possibility for renewal.

How delusions can uncover sources of harm and pathology: The epistemic value of interoceptive and unconscious information

Prevailing views of delusional beliefs frame them as pathological and harmful, leaving little room for understanding why delusions may emerge. Lisa Bortolotti’s book, “Why Delusions Matter,” offers a more compassionate perspective on delusions, framing them as adaptive and meaningful responses to crises. Many psychologists and philosophers have asserted that delusions can function as psychological defense mechanisms or adaptive coping strategies that protectively obscure painful realities. However, some delusions, especially those that arise in the context of traumatic experiences and psychosis, can be better understood as the body’s attempt to alert us to sources of harm and reveal, rather than obscure, important information. Drawing from neuroscience literature and the author’s personal encounters with psychosis and trauma, this article explores the ways in which some delusions can help us access interoceptive information from the body, uncovering sources of pathology, as well as previously unconscious information about harmful traumatic experiences. Ultimately, taking an epistemic justice lens to delusions, uplifts their value in revealing very real embodied experiences of the individual expressing them.

Deconstructing Deep Active Inference: A Contrarian Information Gatherer.

Active inference is a theory of perception, learning, and decision making that can be applied to neuroscience, robotics, psychology, and machine learning. Recently, intensive research has been taking place to scale up this framework using Monte Carlo tree search and deep learning. The goal of this activity is to solve more complicated tasks using deep active inference. First, we review the existing literature and then progressively build a deep active inference agent as follows: we (1) implement a variational autoencoder (VAE), (2) implement a deep hidden Markov model (HMM), and (3) implement a deep critical hidden Markov model (CHMM). For the CHMM, we implemented two versions, one minimizing expected free energy, CHMM[EFE] and one maximizing rewards, CHMM[reward]. Then we experimented with three different action selection strategies: the ε-greedy algorithm as well as softmax and best action selection. According to our experiments, the models able to solve the dSprites environment are the ones that maximize rewards. On further inspection, we found that the CHMM minimizing expected free energy almost always picks the same action, which makes it unable to solve the dSprites environment. In contrast, the CHMM maximizing reward keeps on selecting all the actions, enabling it to successfully solve the task. The only difference between those two CHMMs is the epistemic value, which aims to make the outputs of the transition and encoder networks as close as possible. Thus, the CHMM minimizing expected free energy repeatedly picks a single action and becomes an expert at predicting the future when selecting this action. This effectively makes the KL divergence between the output of the transition and encoder networks small. Additionally, when selecting the action down the average reward is zero, while for all the other actions, the expected reward will be negative. Therefore, if the CHMM has to stick to a single action to keep the KL divergence small, then the action down is the most rewarding. We also show in simulation that the epistemic value used in deep active inference can behave degenerately and in certain circumstances effectively lose, rather than gain, information. As the agent minimizing EFE is not able to explore its environment, the appropriate formulation of the epistemic value in deep active inference remains an open question.

Uncle, Look at This!

Abstract This article considers the epistemic value of Iraqi first-person documentaries of family life, or domestic ethnographies, during the Iraq War (2003–2011). The article analyses Life After the Fall (Abid 2008) and Homeland: Iraq Year Zero (Fahdel 2015), two documentaries about the everyday life of the videomakers’ family members in the advent of the US-led 2003 invasion and shortly after the occupation. The article examines how Iraqi domestic ethnographies dispute and complement dominant (Western) media, filmic and historical discourses of the conflict. I argue that these videos provide a nuanced understanding of the complex social, cultural and historical dynamics of this period, exceeding essentialisms and hegemonic discourses of violence, terror and victimhood. In addition, I demonstrate how this approach facilitates the participation of historically marginalized voices of young female family members, particularly in the representation of the conflict, and situates otherwise unusual discussions around Iraqi women’s rights and gender issues at the core of everyday life in post-invasion Iraq.

What motivates U.S. restaurant customers to choose plant-based meat alternative dishes?

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine how different consumption values influence consumer intentions to choose a dish featuring plant-based meat alternatives at a restaurant by applying the theory of consumption values. The present study also investigates the mediating role of attitude in the relationships between values and consumer intentions. Responses were collected through the Qualtrics panel service and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. The results, based on a total of 682 usable panel responses, indicate that emotional and epistemic values acted as significant driving forces, directly promoting consumers’ intention. Attitude was aroused by distinctive, functional, emotional, and conditional values and in turn, significantly impacted intention. Furthermore, it was found that attitude fully mediated the relationship between conditional value and intention. The results offer useful implications for restaurants that offer menus with plant-based meat alternatives.

Green Consumption Values and Environmental Concerns Nexus: The Moderating Role of Buying Involvement in Organic Food Consumption in Pakistan

ABSTRACTThe food industry is a major contributor to climate change and has been linked to environmental and health issues due to excessive use of agrochemicals. To address these issues, responsible consumption and production have emerged. Organic certification is a common strategy for assuring consumers about sustainability. However, there is little research on organic food consumption in emerging countries. This study aims to examine the impact of green consumption values on environmental concerns using the theory of consumption values and also looks at the moderating effects of buying involvement. The researchers gathered data from 48 farmer markets in Punjab, Pakistan. They analyzed 730 respondents' data and found significant positive correlations between environmental concerns and multi‐dimensional green consumption values. The epistemic value was identified as a highly significant predictor of environmental concerns. The studied relationships are influenced by the buyer's level of involvement (low, average, and high), with significant differences in the connections between environmental concerns and consumption values among consumers with different levels of buying involvement. The findings have important implications for increasing organic food consumption in the mainstream market. This initiative is a significant milestone in achieving Responsible Consumption and Production (SDGs‐12th), as organic production benefits human health and promotes a sustainable environment.

Model-based experiments as epistemic evidence in paleoecology

Where ordinary experiments are impossible and observational data scarce and indirect—particularly in paleoecosystems—computational experiments are often our only means to learn about reality. There are good arguments to count such model-based predictions as evidence, testing hypotheses and updating our beliefs about the world. However, the epistemic weight of computational experiments depends on an adequate model representation of the target system, transparency about predictive uncertainty, and the avoidance of confirmation bias. I argue that mechanistic models are particularly suited for paleoecological predictions but that iterative uncertainty analyses should guide their development. Using a Bayesian framework I propose preregistration and blinded analysis as tools to strengthen the epistemic value of computational experiments. Here, a preregistration marks the boundary between exploratory model development, which establishes credence in the model, and predictive model application, which tests hypotheses. As good modeling practice I suggest clarifying epistemic goals at the outset of a project and accordingly choose methods to maximize the epistemic weight of the computational experiment.

How does food neophobia effect local food preferences?

The term "food neophobia" is used to describe the behaviour of individuals who exhibit a fear of new or unfamiliar foods. The phenomenon of food neophobia can influence the consumption of novel foods by tourists during their visits to unfamiliar destinations. This paper sets out to determine the moderating role of food neophobia in the effect of local food consumption value on attitudes and behavioral intentions towards local food. In this context, a questionnaire was used to measure the values, attitudes, behavioral intentions and food neophobia levels of 509 foreign tourists visiting Turkey (Istanbul province) towards Turkish food. The findings show that consumption values such as emotional, epistemic, health, taste/quality and price value the attitudes of foreign tourists towards local foods. In addition, food neophobia has a moderating role in the effects of health value and epistemic value on attitudes towards local foods.

The effect of meta-commerce consumption value on consumer satisfaction and continuous usage intention: the moderating roles of meta-verse involvement and consumer competency

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between Meta-commerce consumption value, consumer satisfaction and continuous usage intention in light of the moderating effects of involvement and consumer competency.Design/methodology/approachA survey for hypothesis testing was conducted targeting 200 domestic consumers in South Korea aged 19 years and above with experience in Meta-commerce. In order to examine the data, we used exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling using SPSS and AMOS.FindingsThe paper discovered that Meta-commerce consumption value affects consumer satisfaction and continuous usage intention. Specifically, the extrinsic value and the epistemic value of Meta-commerce have a positively significant effect on satisfaction. Additionally, the hedonic value of Meta-commerce has a positively significant effect on continuous usage intention. It also presented the differences in influence between low-involvement/high-involvement groups and low-competency/high-competency groups and examined consumer perceptions in detail.Originality/valueThe paper discovered that Meta-commerce consumption value affects consumer satisfaction and continuous usage intention. Specifically, the extrinsic value and the epistemic value of Meta-commerce have a positively significant effect on satisfaction. Additionally, the hedonic value of Meta-commerce has a positively significant effect on continuous usage intention. It also presented the differences in influence between low-involvement/high-involvement groups and low-competency/high-competency groups and examined consumer perceptions in detail.

Unveiling Indian farmers’ adoption of climate information services for informed decision-making: a path to agricultural resilience

ABSTRACT Amidst the intensifying ramifications of climate change on economic conditions, there exists an imperative for farmers to adopt climate forecast information in agricultural decision-making proactively. The research employed an extended theory of planned behaviour to examine the factors influencing farmers’ intentions to incorporate climate information in their decision-making process. Data from 343 male farmers in India were collected using a multi-stage sampling technique and analysed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results confirm that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, perceived benefits and epistemic values significantly and positively affect the farmers’ intention to use climate forecasts in making informed decisions in farming. The findings carry significant importance for advancing adaptation strategies within the agricultural sector, calling for essential measures like fostering the development of farmers’ associations and promoting fruitful collaboration in climate prediction initiatives. Such actions are instrumental in equipping farmers with the necessary tools and knowledge to tackle climate-related challenges and ensure sustainable agricultural practices effectively.

Factors Influencing Automotive Lubricant Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Conceptual Model

The automotive industry's rapid expansion and rising consumer appetite for automobiles have created an unprecedented demand for automotive lubricants. This surge in demand reflects lubricants' essential role in ensuring optimal performance, longevity, and efficiency of automotive engines and mechanical components. In the present day, consumers exhibit increased precision and selectivity in their purchasing behavior, underscoring the necessity for careful deliberation before making a purchase decision. Given the diverse range of products available, it is essential to understand consumer preferences to ensure that the selection is aligned with market demands and expectations. Thus, this paper aims to develop a conceptual model for automotive lubricant purchase behavior based on the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV), which are divided into five parts: functional value, emotional value, social value, and epistemic value. The consumption value theory, applicable across diverse goods and services, emerges as a valuable framework. Its versatility enables a comprehensive understanding of consumer preferences and behaviors across various markets, facilitating informed decision-making for businesses and policymakers. Through this conceptual model, the paper endeavors to provide insights into the complex interplay of value perception and provide insights into the drivers behind consumers’ choices regarding automotive lubricants.