Epistemological Context Research Articles

L1-Didactics and the global pressure from Anglo-Saxon New Literacies

Within Scandinavian teacher education L1-didactics and literacy have, since the 1990s, developed from delimited areas of knowledge to full academic disciplines. This scientific essay asks whether achieved L1-didactic disciplinarity is at risk encountering increased influence of New Literacies. Historical roots and further development of L1 and L1-didactics in Norway and Scandinavia, are outlined, extracted from other resources. Further relevant disciplinary concepts are problematised, in two ways, firstly facing the challenge of mediating between languages and secondly searching possible epistemological processes behind increased academisation of L1-didactics in teacher education. Four processes are discussed in detail: Literacification, referring to increased political dissemination of and research on literacies. Disciplinarisation, concerning processes of generating school subjects and academic disciplines. Didactisation, integrating knowledge of both learners and subject matter. Internationalisation, referring to application of international political, linguistic, and academic policies, pedagogies, and practices. Finally epistemological and methodological challenges are discussed in light of a possible tension between L1-didactics and New Literacies, especially whether competence-based (new) literacies may obstruct Bildung-oriented L1 and L1-didactics. In case, clarification of curricular means-and-ends are disrupted and both L1-didactics and New Literacy research challenged. Although final answers are not given, the study has offered extended epistemological contexts for further discussions.

Motivation of Employees’ Personal Self-Construction

The aim of the article is to analyze the phenomena and features of motivation as a psychological phenomenon regarding the implementation of constructivism in the «relationship» of personnel and the organization, when the initiative of interaction belongs to a person as a subject of self-creation and production activity. Мethods: with the help of methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison, career phenomena are highlighted in the relationship of self-design and its management at the individual and organizational levels, which stimulates a positive personal environment of interaction, promotes active behavior in the application of positive personality resources. The categorical and structural-functional methods, units of analysis of motivational structures in the manifestation of conflictogens-tensions of a personal-constructive and communicative character were used. Methods of systematization and generalization as well as modeling method were applied . Research results. The congruence of well-being and personal self-construction of the organization’s personnel in the context of motivation for higher quality and effective organizational activity on the one hand and movement in the direction of one’s own well-being on the other is determined. The practical possibilities of motivation of self-reinforcement, self-regulation, self-efficacy, as well as the effectiveness of the application of the complex theory of motivation are considered in detail. The key problem of motivation in the process of personal self-construction of personnel is determined by the interdependent formed value orientations in relation to the profession and the vision of the personal meaning of the activity, which corresponds to deep personal meanings. Conclusions. The specific epistemological context of social constructionism in the motivational paradigm of personal self-construction of personnel, based on integrity, contextuality and preventiveness, is proven. The PERMA model of positive psychology is an important tool in relation to the concepts of self-construction motivation of personnel. Local structure-forming characteristics of the personal self-construction of the personnel of organizations in the motivational dimension are the behavioral capabilities of employees, realized in the recognition of achievements, positive feedback, which initiates the subject of self-construction.

Nkrabea and Hyɛbrɛ in African Philosophy of Life

The concepts of nkrabea and hyɛbrɛ in Africa’s philosophy of life present very distinctive nomenclature and epistemology of how it applies within the socioreligiocultural cosmology. As a challenge to normative definition, the epistemology of the African philosophical context engenders new nomenclatures that hitherto were rejected by the hegemonic frameworks of Western paradigmatic nomenclature. The African philosophy of life which is formed by a very distinct socioreligioculture and framed by fascination and experience of the supernatural does not fail to recognise the existence of vast dimensions and active spiritual cosmology. If there is anything conceived with such an aura of reverence, it is life, beyond biological classification and, experiences such as the ability to think, feel, or be aware of one’s existence. Life is “energy” (spiritual force) which provides every element its function or purpose and nkrabea and hyɛbrɛ are the function or purpose predetermined for every element. The objective of the study was to find out the meaning of nkrabea and hyɛbrɛ and how they apply to the African philosophy of life. The study used a qualitative research method. Data was gathered from journals, articles, and library materials. Ethical responsibilities defined a set of principles and protocols that guided the study. The study concluded that the concepts of nkrabea, and hyɛbrɛ are conceptualised within the African philosophy of life and present critical nomenclatures on the function, or purpose of life within the context of human destiny and inform new epistemology. Its belief provides a perspective that informs the idea that nothing is purposeless. Keywords: Nkrabea, Hyɛbrɛ, Cosmology, Spirituality, Philosophy

EARNING MANAGEMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INSAN KAMIL

This article aims to analyze earnings management actions from the perspective of Insan Kamil, characterized as an ideal and perfect human figure. In the portrayal of Insan Kamil, there exist strength, insight, deeds, and wisdom. The interpretative method is employed to analyze earnings management actions ontologically, epistemologically, and axiologically. From an ontological standpoint, earnings management is regarded as a science that can be observed and measured based on empirical evidence. In the epistemological context, Insan Kamil is considered to have a profound understanding of ethical and moral values, such as honesty, integrity, transparency, and adherence to professional ethical standards. Earnings management practices involving manipulation or concealment of information are viewed as violations of these values. Axiologically, earnings management actions may be considered as a potential failure to align rationality with moral values, unless such practices do not violate principles of morality and ethics.

Is it Antislavic racism, or how to speak about liminality, stigma, and racism in Europe

AbstractThis article discusses the present‐day positionality of Polish immigrants in Germany and the discursive possibilities for articulating their experiences of discrimination as racism. As interviews with these immigrants do not capture explicit accounts of racism, and there is practically no research on racism directed at Eastern Europeans in Germany, this article scrutinizes the epistemological context in which the voicing of discrimination is embedded. They include the imagined liminality of Poland in Europe, the binary and coloured understandings of racism in Poland and Germany, and the socialisation of Poles to lean towards silence on racism. Based on empirical data, the article discusses three intersecting forms of experiences of racism: disappearance through effort, devaluation of experience, and cultural precarity. Finally, the article argues that metaphors of liminality, stigma, stickiness and cultural precarity offer a nuanced understanding of Eastern European positionalities in Western Europe.

Historična perspektiva preučevanja jezikoslovnih ved. Nekateri vidiki antičnega razumevanja jezika

When studying the history of linguistics, two options seem to be obvious: on the one hand, a better insight is gained into the sciences which have contributed to the development of modern linguistics, while, on the other hand, we can almost rediscover those studies, which are not part of the linguistic tradition in the West. This article is a schematic portrayal of some linguistic sciences of the Antiquity. Part of these can easily be placed within the Western epistemological context, since, in many aspects, they represent the very origins of this tradition. Such historical perspective, however, proves to be much more problematic with some other sciences or their studies, such as semiotics and so-called metaphysical etymology, for instance. Questions arising in such cases are: How to study these sciences? How to define them? Is it at all reasonable to study them?

A política educacional da nova Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC): um olhar a partir da biopolítica

Abstract This article discusses the educational policy of the new Brazilian National Curricular Common Base (NCCB-BNCC) in the epistemological context of biopolitics. It brings together international authors and works that contribute to elucidate elements of this context, such as the concepts of "life" and "death," "citizenship," and "bare life." The text presents the criticisms of some Brazilian educators on the subject, focusing primarily on Dermeval Saviani's diagnosis, one of the important references in the field of Brazilian educational policy. It concludes that such concepts can shed new light on the subject, demonstrating the fragility of this educational policy that, by being exclusively guided by biopolitical criteria, excludes a broader and civic education.

Ֆալիբիլիզմի զարգացումը 19-րդ դարի պրագմատիզմի փիլիսոփայությունում / THE DEVELOPMENT OF FALLIBILISM IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAGMATISM IN 19TH CENTURY

The primary goal of the article is to reveal the development of fallibilism and its main principles within the epistemological and scientific frameworks of various 19thcentury philosophers, with a particular emphasis on the pragmatist movement. To achieve its goal, the article seeks to address several key objectives: to scrutinize the epistemological, scientific, and other philosophical perspectives of numerous 19th-century thinkers who played a pivotal role in shaping and advancing fallibilism; to investigate the similarities and distinctions among the pragmatist philosophers who significantly contributed to the development of fallibilism; and to identify the main trajectories in the emergence and expression of fallibilism during this period. Many primary sources and articles were used in the research, employing a variety of methodological approaches including analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy, and historical comparison. The main conclusion of the research is that several 19th-century philosophers and scientists, notably Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, played a critical role in articulating and advancing the core tenets of fallibilism. Their work highlighted the inevitability of perpetual doubt and error in the process of knowledge acquisition, underscoring the significant epistemological and methodological roles of fallibilism. This research demonstrates that the foundational principles of fallibilism were not only recognized in the 19th century but were also applied across various domains of knowledge, addressing social and political issues. Such insights are crucial for future investigations into the broader applicability of fallibilism beyond strictly epistemological contexts.

EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF TRANSFORMATION OF ANTI-CORRUPTION LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

The article reveals the epistemological context of transformations of anti-corruption legal requirements in the conditions of European economic integration of Ukraine. It has been established that the elimination of the dominance of human defects by the tools of legislation and law enforcement practices becomes effective when the reproducible knowledge reflects the scientific awareness. The subject of knowledge is the whole complex of issues of fostering the manifestation of good virtues and their suppression. Otherwise, both economic reproduction and economic progress are excluded. For Ukraine, both processes now depend on an understanding of the respective progressive solutions that the highly developed nations of the EU have to offer. In fact, integration into the EU is historically determined and currently historically inevitable, and therefore requires meaningful dynamic transformations of domestic legislation. The most urgent direction of these transformations requires interdisciplinary knowledge related to the fight against corruption and its minimisation. It has been established that the epistemological context of the creation and application of anti-corruption legal norms consists of scientifically proven, comprehensive knowledge about the mechanism of neutralisation of corruption by means of coercion and stimulation. The methodology of gaining knowledge through human consciousness involves the use of logical resources, namely 1) rational conclusions of formal logic; 2) contradictions and patterns of dialectical logic; 3) actions and events of historical logic; 4) artefacts of art logic. The truth of knowledge, verified by these means of reasoning and empirical experience, is then partly expressed by mathematical and linguistic symbols, and the rest is conveyed in an intuitive way. The understanding of that which does not fit into the forms of words and numbers is done mentally and sensitively. At this point, it should be emphasised that the praxeological dimension of pure epistemology requires taking into account the characteristics of the cognitive subjects of a specific social community. This requirement extends the scientist's sphere of responsibility beyond epistemology and involves mastering knowledge of its historical determinants. It is concluded that the teleological attitudes of the Ukrainian nation include the study of the values of European nations, which have united for the purpose of economic well-being. Integration into the EU requires knowledge of the mechanisms for combating human vices, eliminating corrupt distortions and using human virtues in EU structures. Regional civilisational stratification persists due to both intra-national and international dishonesty. Accordingly, global integration based on fundamentally unified legal standards requires the elimination of counterproductive factors at both levels of social communication. The focus of attention on good virtues is determined differently from the existing configuration of national associations. Economic and other issues of cultural heritage are first a consequence and then a cause of the manifestation of good virtues. At the same time, military alliances confirm the deep ideological contradictions of nations. This shows the denial of the possibility of creating a global union of nations based on the manifestation in legal reality of the good virtues of its members. It is on the basis of the legal manifestation of the degree of virtue that nations and their associations are formed in the modern world.

The Study of Notes and Notebooks: Some Epistemological and Ontological Issues

"The aim of the present paper is to situate the recent attempts to study the phenomena of knowledge management in a larger epistemological context. More precisely, I intend to look at it from the perspective of the philosophy of the humanities. This involves understanding it as an endeavor concerned with the search for regularities. As a result, key notions figuring in the repertoire of this kind of undertaking, primarily those of notes and notebooks, are scrutinized for the purpose of revealing their theoretical function. This points towards some ontological issues, such as the idea of taking notes as cultural kinds, namely something analogous to the idea of natural kinds. Keywords: notes, notebooks, cultural kind, cultural artefact, pattern, commonplace-book"

The operational paradigm in psychiatry: How valid is it?

One of the criticisms of the operational/diagnostic criteria, generalised since DSM-III, has been that they were shaped solely to achieve the best inter-peer reliability with no considerations for validity. This does not fully reflect reality since throughout the development of the criteria, there was an effort to define and fulfil some validity requirements. However, despite several attempts to create alternative diagnostic systems, there is still a widespread misunderstanding of the epistemological foundations that support this paradigm. In this article, we intend to analyse the epistemological context in which the operational criteria (OC) emerged and some of the validation processes they have undergone since their conception. On the epistemological basis of these operational criteria (OC) the influence of Hempel has been widely discussed. However, the group from St. Louis and, also the DSM-III editors, never openly acknowledged his role and his contribution and revealed other influences such as other medical specialties (that used and validated several OC in the diagnosis of their diseases). On the other hand, contrary to what has often been mentioned there has been a continuous attempt to validate the OC since their conception. In the implementation and development of the operational paradigm, a more instrumental trend was followed, focused on utility, but with successive attempts to achieve realistic validity by searching for biological or psychological causality. The methodologies were initially expert-driven and gradually more data-driven and included some variables external to the construct itself, such as familial aggregation, diagnostic consistency over time, prognostic and other psychometric measures.

Between incursions and appropriations: digital technologies and pluriversal modernities in the Global South

Abstract Based on a recent body of scholarship that addresses the epistemologies of the South, our goal is to incite a shift in how we conceptualize technology adoption in the Global South. We interrogate the notion that the role of digital technologies in these regions follows a linear model of progress from traditional lifeways toward industrial modernity. Joining a recent shift toward decolonizing the study of the flow of digital technologies in the Global South, this article calls for a new approach that prioritizes specific historical, cultural, and epistemological contexts in the Global South and acknowledges the fragmentation left behind by colonization and divergent economic policies. We argue that communities appropriate digital communication technologies in complex ways and weave them into their existing ancestral epistemologies.

History of the administration of psychedelics in France.

This article reviews the historical protocols for the administration of "classic" psychedelics in France, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Taking a chronological approach, it investigates the way mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin were administered, the subjects involved, the route of administration, the dosage, and the epistemological context of the research. From the 1930s, the Sainte-Anne school dominated French experimentation with psychedelics, inserting these studies on "hallucinogens" into a biological conception of therapeutics, where the notion of "shock" dominated. The sessions show particularly anxious experiences, sometimes described as "torture" by the patients who underwent them. With just a few rare cases of recovery reported, these substances were not considered as medicines, but rather as tools for exploration in the context of experimental research; thought of not as psychedelics ("mind manifesters") but as psychodysleptics ("mind disruptors"). While these tools could be useful for the diagnosis of sick patients, French physicians did not manage to demonstrate clear therapeutic benefits in the use of psychedelics, perhaps because of their reluctance, in most cases, to determine an optimum dose, and also very often to appreciate the context of administration and the relationship with the patient. This article allows us to understand the reasons for the therapeutic failures reported by these early French psychedelic researchers, but also to help explain the current reluctance of French health professionals who in the face of the "psychedelic renaissance" remain strongly influenced by the very negative early representations of these substances.

“They're training us to be helpless:” Medical student socialization around social determinants of health

Social factors are the primary drivers of health inequity in the United States. Yet, medical trainees remain underprepared to address the social determinants of health in practice, despite curricular innovations. Therefore, there is a critical need to explore how social determinants of health curricula is taken up by medical students. This study, which draws upon ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews at a medical school in the United States, explores how medical students understand their role in addressing social determinants of health. I find that epistemic invulnerability, defined as the closure to affect or to be affected in relation to others, generates feelings of helplessness, closure to alternate possibilities, and rigid professional boundaries that prevent medical students from incorporating the responsibility to act on the social determinants into their clinical purview. These findings provide novel epistemological context to better align health equity curricula in medical education with the aim to train physicians that both understand and address the social determinants of health.

Perceptions of Chemical Engineering Students on Decolonizing the Curriculum by Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Practices

The #FeesMustFall movement, which rocked institutions of higher learning in South Africa in 2015/2016, inspired robust engagement around the decolonization of knowledge. Students argued that the epistemological context of higher education in South Africa does not reflect the African context. Activists argued that if the curricula did not speak to local issues, the challenges facing higher education would remain. Incorporating indigenous knowledge practices into mainstream education could signify a shift away from Western dominance in the local episteme. Engineering is not immune to decolonization. This paper attempts to extract the views and observations of 38 chemical engineering students, from second year until PhD level, at the University of Johannesburg on decolonizing the curriculum by incorporating indigenous knowledge practices. The data was generated through an open-ended questionnaire. The questionnaire required that participants briefly describe indigenous practices with the potential for elucidating chemical engineering principles. Participants identified umfuso, which is the process of drying vegetables in the sun, sieving with leselo, which is made up of reeds and is used to separate light materials from heavy ones, drinking cow urine as a remedy to cure various diseases, making traditional mageu, brewing traditional beer (umqombothi) and milling and grinding maize meal, as practices which they believe had potential to reshape the curriculum. The findings of the study show that students concurred with the call for decolonization and transformation of the chemical engineering curriculum, but that there was a lack of consensus on whether incorporating indigenous knowledge practices could help achieve it, as the system of acquiring education itself needs decolonization.

Encircling discourses-A guide to critical discourse analysis in caring science.

The aim of this article was to introduce Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) in caring and nursing science, to provide a guide on how to perform such an analysis, and to describe the wider context of discourse epistemology. The article is designed as a methodological paper, including (a) epistemological roots of discourse analysis, (b) an overview of discourse analytical research within caring and nursing science which points out an increased trend, and (c) a guide to conducting a CDA. It is important that discourse analysis is available and accessible to nursing and caring researchers. Through the process of encircling discourses, valuable insight is given into fields that otherwise would be lost or would not be available. Our summary stance is that discourse analysis as it is presented in this article is strongly advisable for use in nursing and caring sciences.

SOCIOLOGY OF CHANGE UNDER DIFFERENT THEORETICAL IDEOLOGIES

This study aimed to analyze the phenomenon of change theoretically, by evoking the concept within its epistemological contexts, from the perspective of researchers and academics, who devoted their studies to develop a clear conception of the concept of change.
 There have been many perspectives that have studied the subject with the efforts of scholars and researchers affiliated with different theoretical ideologies. We find functional interpretations of change as a vital process, and Marxism as a picture of contradictions, while other theories emphasize the role played by the conflicting elites over social power, or cultural and technological factors, especially the factor Invention in the process of change.

Myth, virtue and method in Plato’s Meno

This paper challenges the prevailing interpretations about the role and the function of recollection in Plato’s Meno, by suggesting that recollection is a cognitive process inaugurated by a myth. This process sets out the methodological and epistemological context within two transitions are feasible: On the one hand, the methodological transition from the elenchus to the method of hypothesis and, on the other hand, the cognitive upshift from opinions to knowledge. Furthermore, this paper argues that Socrates uses the myth of recollection just when Meno niggles and tries to escape the inquiry, introducing the paradox. Based on my deductions, Socrates’ myth imprints on Meno’s soul a true belief which facilitates the process of recollection by rending Meno valiant in continuing the inquiry.

Theology of Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers as a Specific Way of Philosophical Thinking in an Epistemological Context

The article presents the theological ideas and mystical–religious teachings of the Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers, which, at the same time, are philosophical because Byzantine theologians also reflected on human and their life, on the relationship between man and God, on the possibilities of God-cognition and obtaining higher sacred knowledge. Based on the analysis of the anthropological and epistemological ideas of the Greek Church Fathers, we highlight that philosophizing was always at the heart of Byzantine theology. Therefore, the Byzantine tradition of the Church Fathers is considered a unique type of philosophy of religion, which originated in the historical formation of the Christian faith in the era of the Triadic and Christological theological debates of the 4th to 7th centuries. This article reflects the teachings of three of the brightest thinkers-theologians of Byzantium—John Climacus, Maximus the Confessor, and Symeon the New Theologian. Their teachings are the foundation and main source of the mystical–religious tradition of Byzantine theology and philosophy. John Climacus’s conception of human self-improvement and self-cognition on the path of theosis is revealed as one of the first philosophical and moral systems of early Byzantium and the source of subsequent Christian concepts of Eastern Christianity. Maximus the Confessor’s conception of the logoi—or energies—of God is presented as a system of symbols with profound philosophical and anthropological meaning. The human being in St. Maximus’s doctrine is the main and self-sufficient symbol of the universe, connecting the two worlds—the Divine and the earthly ones. The doctrine of Symeon the New Theologian on uncreated light is revealed as a personal comprehension of God in the perception of Divine Light. The transforming power of the Light is demonstrated, which changes the nature of a human being and raises an individual to the height of spiritual unity with God. Finally, conclusions are made about the beginning and formation of the philosophy of religion as a special type of philosophical–religious thinking found already in the period of early Christianity.

The methodological and epistemic narrative of narrative productions

ABSTRACT The empiricism underlying the research techniques developed in the context of the discursive turn of the late 1980s opened up various polemics during the 1990s on the practice of critical research. This effervescence led in the 2000s to the development and consolidation of Narrative Production Methodology as a qualitative research technique in the Catalan academic and activist context. Its grounding in feminist epistemology and dialogism provides a set of methodological principles for articulating and transforming partial positions of knowledge in the production of what Haraway considers ‘objective knowledge.’ The article provides the academic and epistemological context for the emergence of the Narrative Production Methodology and outlines the main technical procedures involved in the technique. Finally, the text reflects on the ontological implications of the narrative perspective.