Epistemological Concepts Research Articles

Un estudio y análisis de las técnicas de ilustración de Sanai con una montaña en Divan y Hadigheh al-Haqiqa

Sanai is considered one of the prominent mystic poets in the field of Persian literature. Relying on various concepts and techniques, he has described his ideas and by simplifying the ambiguous categories, he has increased the power of understanding of his audience. "Mountain" is one of the natural elements that has been repeated many times in Divan and Hadiqah al-Haqiqah. Using literary arrays and various forms of imagination, the poet has created new images that are somehow related to the "mountain". In the present article, based on descriptive method and content analysis technique, Sanai illustration techniques have been explored. The most important findings of the research show that the poet, using literary tools and symbolic capacities of the mountain, has succeeded in representing and explaining the moral and educational, mystical and epistemological concepts, romance and in some cases, descriptive application. And has been praised. Among imaginary forms, simile has the highest frequency and exaggeration has been the most frequent literary array. Using the aesthetic capacities of "Mountain", Sanai, in addition to creating pristine literary images, has made his epistemological ideas attractive and objective.

Digital learning of art theory

The purpose of the paper is to substantiate of the pedagogical design of digital education of future art teachers, in particular, the study of art theory in a virtual art class. The essence of the author’s concept is manifested in the metadialogue (oscillation) of two approaches: cluster (focused on statistical visualization of neural a network of genre-style signs outside the spiritual context, i.e. on the “wealth of art”) and semasiological (focused on the anthropological interpretation of these genre-style signs as icons, indexes and symbols, i.e. “wealth of understanding of art”). The proposed project is based on the concept of research-oriented professional education (Inquiry Based Science Education) and technology of advanced learning (Technology Enhanced Learning), which provide bachelors with many opportunities to conduct art research as a performance. The organisation of the design environment of the virtual art class involves non-linear scaffolding in the process of remote virtual experiments on the portal Go-Lab (“Search Facility”, “Inquiry Spaces”, “Related Labs” or the link “Online Labs”); GRAASP environment for the implementation of author’s developments and pedagogically structured programs in the process of performative interaction between teacher and students. The systematic thinking and methodology of the proposed project — the methodology of performative action — implements the phenomenological-hermeneutic method of coherent modeling and expert evaluation of the theory of conceptual integration, connective theory of metaphorical interpretation,the concept of nonlinear epistemology, synthesis, principles of antinomy. The advantage of digital learning in creatively integrated art theory is that in the computer space the student feels unprecedented freedom of creativity and gets unique opportunities for performative action. Thus, the understanding of the causality of historical changes in the theory of art is the result of a performative act, in particular in the laboratory of errors. This requires the introduction of nonlinear logic of functional and meaningful expansion of artistic didactics, implementation of computational visualization technologies, network analysis, thematic intermedia modeling. The visualised results of the study demonstrated the successful integration of performative methodology of cognition as artistic creativity in the process of professional training of future art teachers.

Theologia perennis. O poznaniu teologicznym

Faith, which, by its very nature, wants to know the One it loves, results in theology – a love-inspired rational reflection on its own content. Hence, it is the guarantee and the motive for the permanence of theology as a cognitive eff ort, humbly and courageously reaching the Mystery of God Himself, who is the first to be known as the truth to the one who seeks for love and to subject what they see to the judgement of reason. In confrontation with the contemporary concept of epistemology, which considers only mathematical and natural cognition to be scientifically practised, theology convinces about the limits of reason and the methodologically necessary role of living, ecclesiastical faith. Such instrumentarium ensures a unique synthesis of objectivity and subjectivity in the cognitive process – the knowledge of the truth about reality demands personal involvement. Theology, which in fact values human reason, allowing it to reach out to the reality of the highest rank – God Himself – appears to be a great opportunity for today’s mankind, plagued by spiritual and intellectual confusion.

David Hume’s Epistemology and Its Contemporary Importance

The paper is about some epistemological ideas of David Hume. At first, I give a review of his most influential epistemological conceptions: his exposition of the problem of induction in the context of his investigation of the nature of empirical reasonings, his analysis of epistemic status of the principle of causation, and his skeptical arguments concerning existence of external world and demonstrative knowledge. Then I discuss those Hume’s epistemological ideas which, as I believe, are usually not rightly understood in literature about Hume’s philosophy. They are connected to his theory of probabilistic reasonings. It is quite common to contrast his theory with approach of Thomas Bayes, but I try to show that in reality Hume’s theory is in perfect agreement with the Bayes’ theorem. In order to do this I interpret a topic of probability of our belief in testimonies of miracles, which Hume discusses, in terms of Bayes’ theorem: P(miracle/testimony) = P(testimony/miracle) x P(miracle) // P(testimony). According to this interpretation a probability of veracity of testimony of a miracle diminishes with diminishing of probability of miracles and diminishes when probability of testimonies increases. That’s very Hume’s position. At the end of the paper I discuss Hume’s insights on non-rational aspects of human cognition, which had anticipated some recent developments in cognitive psychology. In this context I also consider a possibility of justification of our principles of empirical cognition in Hume’s epistemology. I argue that Hume gave a kind of justification of them after all in terms of final causes, and quite legitimate.

Octavia Hill y sus aportes en el origen de Trabajo Social en la Inglaterra del siglo xix

En este artículo se hace un análisis del origen del Trabajo Social desde la perspectiva de género, haciendo énfasis en los aportes de Octavia Hill como pionera del Trabajo Social, a partir de su intervención social ante la pobreza y la carencia de vivienda y espacios dignos para las personas más vulnerables de Londres a mediados del siglo xix. Además, se destacan sus concepciones teóricas y las principales corrientes epistemológicas, tradicionales y emergentes que guiaron su quehacer profesional y al Trabajo Social, en general.

Engenharia didática de primeira geração no Ensino Superior: generalização e extensão da sequência de Fibonacci

Este trabalho faz uma reflexão sobre a Dissertação desenvolvida; no programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino de Ciências e Matemática do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia do Estado do Ceará; pelo docente da SEDUC/CE Arlem Atanazio dos Santos. Nesse sentido, este trabalho tem o objetivo de realizar uma análise das etapas da Engenharia Didática que Santos (2017) construiu no Ensino Superior. Assim, tem-se dois objetivos específicos: (i) evidenciar o potencial metodológico (dessa engenharia) de transposição didática de modelos matemáticos não triviais; (ii) oportunizar ao leitor o desenvolvimento de uma concepção epistemológica sobre o ensino de História da Matemática com ênfase no processo histórico-evolutivo do modelo de Fibonacci. Essa dissertação assumiu a Engenharia Didática como metodologia de pesquisa em complementaridade com a Teoria das Situações Didáticas. Numa visão panorâmica, foram abordadas definições e relações matemáticas oriundas da generalização e extensão da Sequência de Fibonacci. Contudo, para a sala de aula, foi considerada a Fórmula de Binet como modelo de generalização e extensão dessa sequência. Assim sendo, seguindo o paradigma dessa engenharia, compreende-se que foi realizada uma transposição didática do modelo Fibonacciano generalizado, em que a experiência didática foi efetivada no Ensino Superior. O que pode oportunizar o desenvolvimento de uma concepção epistemológica do ensino de História da Matemática durante a formação inicial de professores de Matemática. Além do mais, diante do processo histórico-evolutivo que envolve o modelo de Fibonacci, pode-se concluir que o surgimento de novas definições e propriedades contribuem para ampliar o repertório da História da Matemática.

Hacia una objetividad científica abierta: una reflexión desde la concepción epistemológica de Evandro Agazzi

Ante las distintas maneras de entender la objetividad científica, con prevalencia del sentido empirista, que propugna una discriminación sobre la cientificidad de las distintas áreas del conocimiento, Evandro Agazzi, con su realismo científico y su concepción epistemológica abierta, configura un concepto de objetividad adecuado para todo quehacer científico y académico. Con su distinción entre objetividad en sentido débil y fuerte, Agazzi sostiene que estas formas de entender la objetividad pueden incluir y armonizar los variados horizontes epistemológicos desde los cuales es posible hacer ciencia.

Postmodernity in Corporate Biographies: The Perspective of Relational Epistemology

In this article the author intend to use an epistemological concept and its categories of description to analyse two specially chosen biographies reflecting diverse postmodern life patterns. Postmodernity, or in fact the postmodern order, refers to the concept of order-making dimensions discussed in the previous article concerning hypermodernity. It is treated there as casual and variable with regard to the category of relations and work, and the only certainty for the individual, in regard to future possibilities or necessities, is the individual’s own identity. This article adds the category of resonance to the characteristics of postmodernity, as a synonym for a person’s primary entanglement in the world. It is a category of which individuals are increasingly aware, on which they reflect, and which they make an object of their experience.

Перспективи перформативної художньої дидактики у метамодерністичному середовищі

Представлено результати дослідження перспектив оновлення дидактики сучасної мистецької школи. Проаналізовано зміст (закономірності, принципи, форми, методи і критерії результативності) енантної постмодерністської теорії навчання, зосередженої на еґоцентричному індивідуалізмі, що спонукає майбутнього фахівця до рефлексії доцільності своєрідного машинного кенозису – трансгресії у «тіло» трансформера, кіборга, робота-андроїда. В якості альтернативи пропонується авторська перформативна концепція професійної підготовки, яка передбачає надситуативну активність майбутнього акціоніста під час моральнісно-смислового опосередкування принципів організації надскладних естетичних метасистем в умовах а-топічного метаксису. Миследіяльнісна методологія пропонованого дослідження реалізувала феноменологічно-герменевтичний і семіотичний підходи, методи коґерентного моделювання і експертної оцінки теорії концептуальної інтеграції, коннективної теорії метафоричної інтерпретації, концепцію нелінійної епістемології, принципів антиномічності, верифікації, комплексності, диз’юнктивного синтезу. Наукова новизна матеріалу полягає у розкритті сратегій упровадження перформативної дидактики вищої школи і технології метаної для їх реалізації у сфері метафоричної когнітивістики.

The trouble with academic reading: exposing hidden threshold concepts through academic reading retreats

Acknowledged as a troublesome threshold concept for students and teachers alike in higher education (HE), academic reading persists as a significant yet under-investigated challenge. This paper introduces an exciting teaching innovation launched in 2017 at Keele University to meet that challenge: academic reading retreats. Adapting a writing retreat format, they deliver a range of strategies for reading journal articles and provide opportunities for private practice and shared reflections, which can facilitate deep learning about complex epistemological concepts. They open a dialogue within the academic community that helps students better understand the relationship between reading and enquiry, and helps academics better understand their students’ reading challenges. This case study provides a brief literature review and personal reflections about facilitating student reading, an introduction to our academic reading retreats and a preliminary evaluation of their potential. It concludes with a recommendation for extended time and space for academics and students to explore academic reading together, alongside an acknowledgement of the challenges that entails.

How to Assess and Categorize Teachers’ Views of Science? Two Methodological Issues

This paper addresses two methodological issues related to the assessment of teachers’ views of science. The first concerns the distinction between the “nature of science” (NOS) and the nature of “scientific inquiry” (SI): should the points related to NOS and those related to SI be analyzed independently? The second concerns the categorization of teachers’ views: is it relevant to analyze them according to a grid of predefined epistemological conceptions? Alternatively, does an empirical approach allow the emergence of epistemological profiles with an overall consistency? To investigate these issues, an empirical study has been performed based on a questionnaire on teachers’ views of science (called the “VOS questionnaire”) which has been submitted to 160 in-service primary teachers. With respect to the first issue, the analysis of the outcomes brings to light implicative relations between teachers’ views on NOS-type items and their views on SI-type items. This calls into question the alleged necessity of separating NOS and SI when assessing teachers’ epistemology. Concerning the second issue, a multiple correspondence analysis leads us to identify clusters of teachers with various levels of expertise concerning different epistemological points and without an overall consistency from the point of view of philosophy of science. This suggests that teachers’ consistency has to be found not in their view of science taken in isolation but considered in combination with other kinds of knowledge (e.g., pedagogical content knowledge) and their practices of science teaching.

Abordaje Triangular. Estudio crítico

En el ensayo se expone una síntesis de un estudio crítico sobre el Abordaje Triangular, resultado de una investigación bibliográfica de carácter cualitativo, cuyo objeto de estudio fundamental lo constituyó la producción teórica de Ana Mae Barbosa sobre la enseñanza de las artes visuales en el contexto escolar. A modo de introducción se sintetizan los problemas concretos que afrontaba la educación artística en el Brasil de la década del ochenta del siglo XX, de los que partió la autora para proponer su concepción de enseñanza de arte. A seguidas se ofrecen consideraciones teóricas sobre los principales aspectos conceptuales del Abordaje Triangular, tales como: alfabetización visual, creación basada en la relectura visual, contextualización, lectura de la obra de arte. La revisión crítica de las ideas de la autora permite concluir que su concepción epistemológica de la arte-educación sigue siendo un estímulo a la reflexión, y admite ser actualizada, ampliada y profundizada con base en las propias intuiciones teóricas de la autora.

Black Epistemologies and Blues Methodology: Engaging Liminal Ontological Space in Qualitative Research

This article demonstrates how liminality provides methodological possibilities that consider affective, social, and cultural knowledge domains in interdisciplinary qualitative research. Arguing that researching perspectives of liminal citizens whose intellectual traditions exist outside the bonds of the most liberal citizenship conceptions requires liminal ontological space for researchers to un think the research process. In this blues poetic narrative, I recount how Black Studies liminal concepts of alterity, blues epistemology, and forms of life twisted in my research praxis informing a critical culturally appropriate methodology which is the blues methodology. The methodology is a social inquiry designed to use community knowledge to identity and address issues of democratic governance, spatial displacement, and educational equity. Situated within the Black Studies theoretical perspective, blues methodology employs cultural tools to create liminal ontological space for historically marginalized Black epistemologies to challenge and recreate citizenship knowledge and practices from the alterity vantage point.

Una revisión desde la epistemología de las ciencias, la educación STEM y el bajo desempeño de las ciencias naturales en la educación básica y media

El artículo presenta una revisión sistemática de literatura a partir de los conceptos de modelización, epistemología y didáctica de las ciencias, con el propósito de obtener los fundamentos teóricos para la construcción de un modelo didáctico que aporte a la enseñanza de la educación STEM. El problema de investigación propuesto se estableció desde la perspectiva del bajo desempeño de los estudiantes en ciencias naturales y matemáticas. Siendo esta problemática de interés mundial estudiada por académicos, investigadores e instituciones educativas. A partir del análisis de la literatura y los resultados de las pruebas censales nacionales y muestrales internacionales, se infiere que no existe una cabal comprensión de los conceptos científicos y matemáticos, y hay una tendencia a disminuir el número de estudiantes que estudian carreras en las que dichos conceptos se aplican. Finalmente, se concluye que la integración de la epistemologia y la educación STEM permiten construir una alternativa didáctica desde la modelización que aporte a la enseñanza de las ciencias.

Fundamentality, Scale, and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

We examine arguments for distinguishing between ontological and epistemological concepts of fundamentality, focusing in particular on the role that scale plays in these concepts. Using the fractional quantum Hall effect as a case study, we show that we can draw a distinction between ontologically fundamental and non-fundamental theories without insisting that it is only the fundamental theories that get the ontology right: there are cases where non-fundamental theories involve distinct ontologies that better characterize real systems than fundamental ones do. In order to reconcile these distinct ontologies between fundamental and non-fundamental theories, we suggest that ontology must be understood as scale-dependent.

Converging Concepts of Evolutionary Epistemology and Cognitive Biology Within a Framework of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis

Evolutionary epistemology (EE) has experienced a continuous rise over the last decades. Important new theoretical considerations and novel empirical findings have been integrated into the existing framework (Gontier and Bradie 2018). In this paper, I would like to suggest three lines of research that I believe will significantly contribute to further advance EE: (1) ontogenetic considerations, (2) key ideas from cognitive biology, and (3) the framework of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. (1) EE, in particular the program of the evolution of epistemological mechanisms (EEM), seeks to provide a phylogenetic account of the generation of cognitive processes underlying knowledge creation (Bradie and Harms 2017). Traditionally, EE and EEM have been oriented towards an account of evolutionary theory that mainly drew from the tenets of the Modern Synthesis. The Modern Synthesis largely dismisses ontogenetic processes and considers them irrelevant for evolutionary explanations. If anything, the role of development in evolution is believed to be that of a constraint. There is, however, ample evidence for a tight intertwinement of developmental and evolutionary processes. Organisms employ their cognitive apparatus to interact with the environment in order to achieve a fully functioning perceptual and cognitive nervous system. Also, ontogeny provides generative potentials to enable variations that natural selection can act upon. EEM’s agenda may, therefore, strongly benefit from bringing together ontogenetic and phylogenetic approaches. To grapple with this challenge, an alternative vision of the evolutionary theory termed Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (Pigliucci and Muller 2010) could be used. This extended evolutionary theory explores relationships between the processes of individual development and phenotypic change during evolution (i.e., EvoDevo) and can provide a more suitable framework for EEM to draw from. (2) In recent years, cognitive biology has gained momentum as an independent research field. Cognitive biology builds on the concepts of EEM and understands knowledge as a biogenic phenomenon. Its main objective is also the formulation of substantiated interrelations between cognition and evolution but it focuses on cognitive functionality at all levels of biological organization. It thus employs a “vertical” approach that encompasses nested hierarchies which span from single molecules, cells, and tissues to the organismal level, communities, and societies. In contrast to cognitive biology, EEM is here understood to adopt a “horizontal” approach that focuses on phylogenetic explanations of cognition and knowledge acquisition (Kovac 2006). Linking EEM with the key ideas of cognitive biology could make EEM’s research program stronger as it can more easily accommodate phylogenetic and ontogenetic questions within a hierarchical, multilevel perspective. This is of particular importance for a more comprehensive account of cognition since living systems are subject to context-dependent causal influences from different organizational levels. (3) In addition to EEM, there is a second program of EE. This program has been labeled evolutionary epistemology of theories (EET) and understands the increase in human knowledge, such as scientific theories, as naturalistic accounts of evolution. Both, EEM and EET initially drew from the core concepts of the Modern Synthesis. Several scholars have severely criticized the analogies made between EET and the Neo-Darwinian key processes of evolution. In particular processes of random mutation, the rate of variation, natural selection as the unique driving force, and the adaptationist agenda are believed to reveal disanalogies. In contrast to the Modern Synthesis, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis not only recognizes developmental processes but also ecological interactions and systems dynamics as well as social and cultural evolutionary reciprocity as important evolutionary processes. Concepts of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis are therefore expected to be more fruitful for re-conceptualizing parallels between scientific theorizing and biological evolution.

Una historia sobre el cosmos del Ccapo: identidades y alteridades de en el Surandino

El ccapo está unida a la vida de las poblaciones altoandinas de la américa del Sur, en esta proyección graficar la diversidad cultural que adquiere esta herbácea, donde su uso e identidad está expuesto en el calor que brinda a los parroquianos en noche gélida de la altipampa, y como denuda en elemento de la fiesta patronal, Es necesario señalar que se precisan, interactúan y construyen una trama social. A diferencia de otras épocas, los protagonistas: danzantes, banda de Ccaperos, entrada de ccapo, la misa, entrada de cirios, el convite; actúan en una modernidad. Es más importante la organización; la representación y el saber mostrarse; relegando la herencia histórica del fervor que involucraba la fiesta religiosa. Entonces justamente este estudio se enmarca en indagar en la otredad, lo que no se buscó y no se vio: el origen prehispánico y colonial de esta tradición, la cual permite un conocimiento a partir de la estampas de la entrada de ccapo, la construcción de una historia cultural de Arequipa; y de otro lado la alteridad definida en una visión del ccapo como concepto epistemológico entendida como “la rebelión de los objetos” que cobran identidad y son recurrentes a la acción humana como natural consecuencia. El método, está definido por una mirada cualitativa e histórica, desde el registro etnográfico, la observación participante y entrevistas a profundidad, dentro de la mirada antropológica; y la recolección de fuentes realizado en Archivo de Cayma, Municipal, Regional y Arzobispal de Arequipa. La cual presta información vital para reconstruir y valorar la historia de Arequipa.Resultados, nos acerca hacia un percepción de un origen a partir de sistemas y estructuras como son: la cosmovisión andina, del fuego, los desastres y como estas son atendidas en la colonia mediante santos y patronos; de otro lado los caminos servirán como elementos fundamentales para fortalecer cultura, economía y sociedad, trasladando esta herbácea que servirán inicialmente para disminuir los gélidas noches de la región pero que entraran de lleno a la víspera de la fiesta patronal la cual se llena de alegría, música, banda ccaperos y la quema del ccapo, además en la actualidad la entrada ccapo se ha redefinido y se ha trasformado en un gran pasacalle en la ciudad, y en las partes altoandinas en festejos con particularidad como taripay.

Knowledge Objects of Synthetic Biology: From Phase Transitions to the Biological Switch

Following Hans-Jorg Rheinberger’s epistemological concept we show how a generic element of synthetic biology, the “biological switch”, can be integrated into an experimental system. Here synthetic biology is assumed to be a technoscience. Hence, the biological switch becomes a technoscientific research object. Consequently, the experimental system has to be analyzed in a technoscientific experimental setting, showing differences in comparison with the former. To work out the specific properties of the technoscientific experimental system, biological switching behavior (bistability) is compared with the scientific research object laser light in its classical setting. For the analyses, both the laser light and bistability, enabling a biological switch, are considered as epistemic things connected by the same theoretical concept of phase transitions. The so-called Schlogl model is used to model both biological switching behavior and induced emission of radiation and becomes an epistemic thing in itself. It becomes clear that the answer, whether one is dealing with the emission of laser light or with bistable switching behavior, is linked to the perspective taken. The technoscientific orientation towards applications and the development of basic scientific theories require different perspectives on one and the same epistemic thing, here also represented by the model. The research objects of synthetic biology as a technoscience thus also enter into the corresponding experimental systems as techno-epistemic objects. (Please note especially footnote 4 for an explanation and the differentiation of the used notions of “research object”, “knowledge object” or “object of knowledge”, “object of interest” and “epistemic thing” and “techno-epistemic object”. A clarification of the way how these notions are used is essential for further reading.) Their analysis leads to a more complete understanding of what constitutes synthetic biology.

Perspective isomorphs - a new classification of molecular structures based on artistic and chemical concepts.

Models are a quintessential part in research as well as for scientific communication in general. A special challenge is the visualization of the invisible, such as atoms and molecules. Visualizations are also deeply rooted in the discipline of art offering in the respect untapped potential in cross-fertilization with natural sciences. Here we show a new classification of molecular structures, so-called perspective isomorphs, applying an interdisciplinary crossing of epistemological concepts between chemistry and art. The idea is based on the notion that molecules can be classified, if they appear equivalent from one standpoint in a specific orientation. We termed such a group of such molecules perspective isomorphs. The general concept is outlined together with a nomenclature system. Furthermore, this concept has been visualized by artistic representations of molecules. The concept of perspective isomorphs and its discussions herein will extend current models and stimulate the discourse about the nature of atoms and molecules and especially their models.

On the Underpinning Mechanisms of (Epistemically) Reliable Processes

Abstract The paper aims to evaluate the success of two different philosophical interpretations of prediction error minimisation theory in dissolving a notorious problem of philosophy, i.e., the New Evil Demon Problem (ned). In this paper, I argue that the inferentialist interpretation could not dissolve the strong form of ned. Alternatively, the embodied construaldissolves ned. However, in doing so, i.e., in dispensing with the cognitive judgment, the embodied construal might also eliminate some basic concepts of epistemology.