Epistemological Dimensions Research Articles

A Study on Management Philosophy in the Context of Philosophy and Basic Concepts of Management

Philosophy is the field which investigates the perspective on and attitude against life in the dimensions of logic, values, knowledge and existence. It is obvious that management, which is defined as directing and management process, involves a philosophical dimension. Main purpose of this study is to discuss the basic issues regarding management philosophy and field of philosophy in the context of organiza-tional management. The views on management in the dimensions of ontology, epistemology and axiol-ogy; nature of the knowledge of the aforesaid dimensions and definitions of basic issues and concepts in management are investigated and discussed. The study is based on document analysis and systematic compiling pattern. It is observed in the study that organizations are at the extremes in terms of materi-al and moral values based on idealist and materialist philosophies within the context of ontology. In the context of epistemology, management of organizations is differentiated based on true, practical, prag-matist, idealist and realistic knowledge. In the context of axiology, values are formed based on subjec-tive, constant, unchangeable, absolute and objective, variable and factual situations. In the second sub-dimension of the study, social responsibility, quality, efficiency, effectiveness, organizational justice, ruling class, management authority and individual as basic concepts in management are examined in terms of various philosophies. According to idealism, dedication, rationalism and sense of ideal bureaucracy become prominent while control, consideration of reality and assessment prevail in realistic philosophy. According to materialism, labor, collective ownership and class struggle themes are the premises. In reference to liberalism, freedom, individual, private property, efficiency, effectiveness and quality notions are dominant. Pragmatists highlight the principles of benefit, functional work and industrial democracy. As for Postmodernism, labor entrusted to market, deregulation, total quality, liberalism, the concept of bureaucratic elitist groups versus bureaucratic cosmopolite power and the motto of anything goes are prominent. It is suggested that issues regarding management be examined in detail by qualitative and quantitative studies.

The Chinese Conception of the Rule of Law and Its Embodiment Under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative (BRI)

Although China has consolidated the aim of reforming its society towards the rule of law, the Chinese version of the rule of law differs significantly from its counterparts in the Western tradition. Increasing attention is being paid to the peculiarities of the Chinese conception as China strives to expand its influence through launching the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative (BRI). This article focuses on the question of whether and by what means various BRI projects are impacted by and impact upon the Chinese conception of the rule of law. The uniqueness of the Chinese approach can be examined from three dimensions: the ontological dimension, describing the preference for integration over convergence in the governance models of economies; the epistemological dimension, in which a posteriori justifications prevail over a priori ones; and the methodological dimension, in which the coordination between the public and the private spheres overshadows the confrontation between them. Following this, the paper profiles the practices of BRI investment and assesses whether these practices present consistently with the Chinese conception. Finally, this article examined the strong needs often embedded within BRI projects that call for sustainable cooperation, market-generating governmental intervention, as well as the coordination of various social interests. All these factors are consistent with the peculiarity of the Chinese conception of the rule of law. The paper argues that the BRI is highly consistent with the Chinese conception of the rule of law and may help further enhance it. This conclusion further suggests that the distinctive conception is not solely the result of ideological or political factors but also of the unique demands of certain types of economic undertakings. World Trade Organization, WTO, World Economic Forum, WEF, business community, stakeholder engagement, institutional change, collaboration, reform (OFDI), state-owned enterprises (SOEs), state-directed economies

Researching research affects: in-between different research positions

A significant amount of research has highlighted the different ontological and epistemological dimensions of insider and outsider research positions. In the field of education, this topic could benefit from more research. In this study, three researchers and former early childhood centre directors discussed their own research positions in a completed research project. Based on field notes from following the daily work of the centre leaders – positions the researchers formally held themselves – it is illustrated that the research affects continued to flow after the project had ended, raising new questions about how specific situations and the data had been handled. This study, a folding, unfolding and re-folding of data, highlights the ethical considerations actualised in the movements between research positions. The movements between research positions are understood as a source of tension that can produce affects, becomings and data with the ability to question given positions and established knowledge.

Beyond the Favelas: An Analysis of Intraurban Poverty Patterns in Brazil

Despite evidence to the contrary, favelas still loom large in Brazilian social imaginary as the quintessential poverty pockets. No study to date has systematically examined the place of favelas within the broader geographies of poverty in Brazilian cities. How prominent are these settlements in the context of urban poverty? How do they fare when compared with other kinds of poor settlements? We tackled these questions by examining the sociospatial patterns of the poor population living in five metropolitan areas across the Brazilian territory. Using tract-level data from the 2010 census, we compared favela and non-favela residents through exploratory, inferential, and spatial analyses. Our results suggest that, although sharing the same socioeconomic and ethnic profile, favela and non-favela households are contrastingly distributed across urban spaces: Whereas favela inhabitants tend to live nearer city centers, non-favela inhabitants tend to concentrate in peripheries. This finding has multidimensional implications. At the empirical dimension it reinforces the importance of evidence-based geographical targeting for poverty alleviation policies. At the technical-normative dimension it challenges the official geospatial definition of favela currently in use. At the epistemological dimension it calls attention to the politics of labeling—calling a settlement a favela helps produce it as such—and how scholars must be critical of them.

‘Capacity for what? Capacity for whom?’ A decolonial deconstruction of Research Capacity Development practices in the Global South and a proposal for a value-centred approach.

Whilst North to South knowledge transfer patterns have been extensively problematised by Southern and decolonial perspectives, there is very little reflection on the practice of Research Capacity Development (RCD), still strongly focused on technoscientific solutionism, yet largely uncritical of its underlying normative directions and power asymmetries. Without making transparent these normative and epistemological dimensions, RCD practices will continue to perpetuate approaches that are likely to be narrow, technocratic and unreflexive of colonial legacies, thus failing to achieve the aims of RCD, namely, the equitable and development-oriented production of knowledge in low- and middle-income societies. Informed by the authors’ direct experience of RCD approaches and combining insights from decolonial works and other perspectives from the margins with Science and Technology Studies, the paper undertakes a normative and epistemological deconstruction of RCD mainstream practice. Highlighting asymmetries of power and material resources in knowledge production, the paper’s decolonial lens seeks to aid the planning, implementation and evaluation of RCD interventions. Principles of cognitive justice and epistemic pluralism, accessibility enabled by systems thinking and sustainability grounded on localisation are suggested as the building blocks for more reflexive and equitable policies that promote research capacity for the purpose of creating social value and not solely for the sake of perpetuating technoscience.

Organizational responses to sustainable development challenges – conditions & consequences

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to discuss assumptions that stand behind the idea that, in order to analyze a way in which organizations are willing to respond to environmental challenges, it is necessary to consider how the diffusion of knowledge related to sustainable management practices can impact on decision making dependent on managers’ cognitive frames. The analysis is focused on the sensemaking process initiated by a necessity to make a decision on whether to engage in a sustainability project involving steps to be made to protect natural environment. The attention is paid to its possible realization dependent on cognitive frames used by decision makers. This way of analysis allows for better understanding of factors which may hinder enterprises from implementing sustainability idea. In the paper current literature related to the topic is reviewed and next selected issues considered as critical for understanding the matter are described and discussed. Design/methodology/approach: Theoretical analysis is conducted and the key assumptions of critical realism related to ontological and epistemological dimensions are implemented. The importance of abductive way of thinking is outlined. Findings: In general, it is argued that managers who are more likely to accept paradoxical nature of challenges related to the implementation of sustainability tools should find it more useful to follow multidimensional paths through which they may reach stakeholders. It is also presented that in order to show how decisions as to implement the sustainability idea can be made, it is necessary to take into account consequences that are to arise from the fact that attitudes towards sustainability management are influenced by historical conditions. Because of the wide array of actors who may contribute to the successful implementation of the sustainability idea, it is predicted that different cognitive approaches should be used. The arguments that are provided appear to also prove that it is useful to consider deeply relations among sensemaking process and cognitive frames used by managers. Originality/value: The paper includes an authorial analysis in which conclusions are inferred based on hitherto conducted research and formulated research propositions related to sensemaking process, cognitive aspects of making decisions as well as to issues of building legitimacy in the light of environmental challenges which modern enterprises need to deal with. The analysis can provide decision makers with some new insights as to why they make decisions as they used to, which next should allow them to change their habits

The Temptations of Metaphysics: Epistemological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Mou Zongsan's Critique of the Cognitive Mind

The Temptations of Metaphysics: Epistemological and Metaphysical Dimensions of Mou Zongsan's Critique of the Cognitive Mind

Максима «коммунизма» в этическом кодексе Роберта Мертона и ее действие в эпистемологическом дискурсе традиционного общества

The article examines one of the maxims of the code of scientific ethos, formulated in 1942 by R.K. Merton, namely “communism” (translated in Russian also as “communalism” and “collectivism”). Although the Merton Code was derived from the study of relationships among European scientists since the 17th century, the author substantiates the possibility of using this maxim to characterize the communication that develops between the subjects of epistemological discourse in traditional society, primarily in the civilizations of the ancient and medieval East (ancient Egypt and Babylon, India, China, the Arab-Muslim world). The epistemological dimension of “communism” is rendered relevant, provided that the re- search community, a community of researchers, is united by common cognitive and professional attitudes. This commune covers not only real-life people performing in various cognitive roles (pioneers, commentators, experts, analysts or popularizers), but also individuals represented virtually. The latter are either the authors of the surviving works, determining the format and problem field of definite epistemological fragment, or future successors of the study, which will connect to it after a while. Violations of ethical principles implicitly perceived by this maxim (such as full mutual trust and equality among study participants, respect for results achieved by others, the priority of common goals over personal competition, etc.) are perceived as treasonous to the spirit of science and behavior worthy of censure. Despite interpersonal and inter-group conflicts accompanying the research work, the view of knowledge as a common, communal property of a commonwealth of scientists or, at least, this team, is an important factor in the effectiveness of scientific research. On the contrary, the privatization of knowledge and its total secrecy, characteristic of periods of scientific stagnation, is accompanied by a break of contacts between the subjects of discourse and the fading of interest in cardinal, breakthrough, innovative epistemological problems.

A adoção de um currículo interdisciplinar na educação e no estudo das culturas eruditas e populares no contexto brasileiro

O texto que se segue analisa as duas concepções de interdisciplinaridade - a concepção a-histórica e a concepção histórico dialética, tanto nas ciências como na educação. Sob essa perspectiva serão avaliados os currículos interdisciplinares com o intuito de minimizar a fragmentação epistemológica instaurada após o cartesianismo. Nesse sentido gestores da educação devem apresentar propostas curriculares interdisciplinares focadas em três dimensões epistemológicas de forma integrada – dimensão ética, cultural e social. Os relatos aqui produzidos estão fundamentados basicamente nos escritos de M. F. Gomes da Silva (2009) e A. C. Lopes e E. Macedo (org) (2005). O texto culmina com a análise de E. Fubini, entre outros musicólogos, apontando o isolamento epistemológico presente na produção musical contemporânea, o que corrobora um fazer musical fragmentado e hiperespecializado, na contramão de um padrão cultural híbrido instaurado na sociedade contemporânea.

Time and Southern Theories: Relation, Consequences, and Debates

In Southern theories, time has remained little examined. This article uses the hypothesis that time is an epistemological aspect and central to the construction of sociological knowledge. If our hypothesis is established, it would make the adequacy of European theories unviable as a standard, as general, and as universal since these would be imbued with their temporal conceptions while other societies have their own approaches to time. So, there is a new dimension for Southern theories to explore. The article has three main parts: In the first part I present the hypothesis, a new approach to time (as an epistemological dimension) and its importance for Southern theories. In the second part, I review the ongoing debate about time in Southern theories, decolonial studies, and postcolonial approaches. In the third part, I return to the initial hypothesis thinking about the implications that it brings to epistemology, social sciences, and the debates that arise.

Quine's Scientific Realism Revisited

AbstractIn order to reconnect Quine's views to the current debate on scientific realism, I reframe Quine's scientific realism into a semantic, a metaphysical, and an epistemological dimension. With this conceptual background, I review the historical development of Quine's scientific realism from the late 1940s until his death in 2000. I challenge Soames's view that Quine is a phenomenalist at the time of “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (1951) and show that he remains agnostic between a realist and an anti‐realist conceptual scheme instead. I also argue that Quine's early views on regimentation are incompatible with a strong formulation of semantic realism. I proceed in reconstructing how he becomes a metaphysical and epistemological realist in the mid‐1950s and argue against the view of Keskinen and Fogelin that interprets Quine as being a metaphysical anti‐realist. Contrary to Davidson, I defend the view that he never gave up normative epistemology and really is a proper epistemological realist. Finally, I discuss how he tries to reconcile his realism with his thesis of ontological relativity and how this necessitates the switch to a stronger form of semantic realism.

“Doomed to a kind of double consciousness”: treacherous hospitality and the inversion of tradition in A.S. Byatt’s “Morpho Eugenia”

ABSTRACT A.S. Byatt’s “Morpho Eugenia” marks a significant moment in the consideration of (narrative) hospitality in neo-Victorian fiction. It expands on the concerns of neo-Victorianism by foregrounding the theme of hospitality in discourses that are central to the Victorian novel and to contemporary re-interpretations of Victorian culture. Among these are the trope of the visit to the family house in the English novel, in which guests are often then assimilated into the family, and the perils and threats to personal identity that come with the crossing of the threshold of hospitality. A third is the relationship with the ‘other’ in the un/conditional hospitality that is experienced by the protagonist. All of these sub-themes are contained in an epistemological dimension defined by science and religion, problematically interrelated at the time. This article thus considers the conceptual standpoint and the narrative strategies with which Byatt engages with the literary tradition of hospitality, from Homeric parallels through the nineteenth-century novel’s interest in self-identity, to the implications of the limits of knowledge and recognition of otherness. It also assesses the novella’s neo-Victorianism as a literary reimagining of the nineteenth-century world and examines its receptiveness to a post-structuralist questioning of traditional notions of hospitality.

Towards Rivalry or Concert? A China–US Financial Competition Triumvirate

Abstract Given the pivotal role of finance in interstate relations as a prominent source of international power, China–US financial competition, or even confrontation, could be more intense and devastating than trade conflict. It hence merits greater policy and academic attention and communication between the two states. This article takes stock of a triumvirate of Chinese views regarding China’s financial rise and potential China–US financial competition that has empirical and epistemological dimensions. Empirically, it signifies three major issue areas: Renminbi (RMB) strategies and dollar hegemony; the China–US financial imbalance and debt relations; and US dominance of global financial governance and ‘Zhongguo Fangan’—Chinese Solutions. RMB strategies to break dollar hegemony include a further three areas: International Monetary System reform; RMB internationalisation; and financial opening-up. Epistemologically, the empirical analyses present a triumvirate of embedded and interweaved angles: normative and universal; technical and micro level; and power and nationalist. Based on a triumvirate of perspectives, it argues that China’s financial rise is variously limited in relevant fields, and that China–US financial competition also varies according to different issue areas associated with different financial powers, and thus calls for a reductionist, field-specific, and pluralistic approach to managing China–US financial competition.

Contribuições das produções sobre a complexidade: aportes para a educação científica escolar

A perspectiva da complexidade anuncia uma forma de pensar e agir frente às situações da realidade que, de modo geral, referem-se a sistemas abertos e dinâmicos. Para buscar aproximações com essa perspectiva e propor sua efetiva incorporação nas ações dos sujeitos, nos parece fundamental considerá-la no processo educacional, por meio de diferentes dimensões: Dimensão Educacional, Dimensão de Ensino-Aprendizagem e Dimensão Epistemológica. Cada uma dessas Dimensões incorpora a complexidade em contextos distintos da educação e formação científica escolar. Elas, ainda em construção, buscam organizar alguns elementos da complexidade que podem mobilizar os sujeitos para uma mudança de paradigma. Nossa hipótese é a de que essas Dimensões, ao permear os discursos e as ações docentes, contribuam para uma formação mais complexa, próxima da realidade dos sujeitos. Diante disso, esse artigo busca investigar de que forma as questões da complexidade estão presentes nas produções de membros de grupos de pesquisa espanhóis que as incorporam no contexto da educação científica escolar. Ao investigar tais grupos, pretende-se aprofundar o sentido dessas Dimensões e suas especificidades, através de aproximações não nacionais. Metodologicamente, a pesquisa compreende dois momentos: (1) identificação dos pontos de partida de aspectos da complexidade na Dimensão Educacional, na Dimensão Ensino-Aprendizagem e na Dimensão Epistemológica; e (2) identificação desses aspectos, tomando como material de referência as produções em periódicos de alguns grupos educacionais espanhóis especialistas no assunto. Para análise dos dados, considerar-se-á a Análise Textual Discursiva, tomando como parâmetro a perspectiva da complexidade e as estratégias usuais em estudos etnográficos. Dentre os resultados, constata-se uma significativa convergência de perspectivas, ainda que com matizes. Reitera-se que uma mudança nas propostas de educação científica, que busquem ir além de um pensamento simples e trabalhar na perspectiva mais complexa, é potencializada quando a complexidade leva em conta, de forma articulada, aspectos de todas suas Dimensões. Ou seja, uma educação para a complexidade requer que ela seja incorporada em um conjunto de ações/ atitudes/ reflexões; caso contrário, a escola está apenas acentuando alguns modos de pensar e atuar que podem levar apenas às mudanças pontuais e individualizadas.

Confesar lo que no se sabe. Jacques Derrida y las políticas de la confesión

El propósito del presente estudio consiste en abordar el carácter político del género literario de la confesión a partir de la obra de Jacques Derrida. El interés de esta cuestión radica en que, lejos de hallar en la confesión un dispositivo biopolítico de subjetivación, como hiciera clásicamente Michel Foucault, Derrida encuentra en el género un ejercicio de deconstrucción de la soberanía del sujeto y una destitución de la idea misma de género. Ello implica un desplazamiento de la confesión de su dimensión epistemológica –conocimiento y (auto)vigilancia del sujeto- a su dimensión práctica para valorarla como lenguaje performativo. De esta forma, Derrida ofrece un desarrollo insólito de la teoría de los actos del habla, donde la performatividad se caracteriza no por ser una actividad del lenguaje, sino una pasividad; no por constituir un sujeto a través del lenguaje, sino por alterarlo mediante la palabra, destituirlo. Ello implica, de un lado, que uno confiesa algo que no sabe; y, de otro, que la confesión es un dispositivo textual que contamina a cualquier discurso: todo texto es una confesión. Esta posición supondrá una reconsideración de la figura del autor y de la distinción vida-escritura en la que esta clásicamente se sustenta.

Towards a conceptual understanding of dispossession – Belo Monte and the precarization of the riverine people

The construction of the hydroelectric power plant Belo Monte in the Brazilian Amazon displaced thousands of families and caused complex impacts for the affected population. This paper argues that previous studies about dispossession in development contexts have considered both material and immaterial consequences but have not brought these dimensions into a conceptual context. In order to contribute to a deeper analytical knowledge of the mechanisms and multi-level effects of dispossession processes, the paper introduces a perspective on dispossession that focuses on its embeddedness in the symbolic order, its epistemic and ontological dimensions and its psychosocial consequences. Using the example of the affected riverine people, this paper shows that the politics of non-recognition used by the construction consortium caused a process of precarization. This comprised the epistemological dimension, and in turn led to a process of deterritorialization, heavily affecting the riverine people on a psychosocial level.

Banality of mathematical expertise

Practices within research mathematics can and do serve as models for mathematics education. However, typically such inspirations impose a devastating narrowness in relation to reflections on mathematics. This narrowness I refer to as the “banality of mathematical expertise”. Reflections on mathematics can be expressed through a philosophy of mathematics that goes beyond the traditional emphasis on ontological and epistemological dimensions, to become four-dimensional by also addressing social and ethical issues. Many working philosophies of mathematics operate within a narrow scope of reflections, seemingly located within an ethical vacuum. The consequence is a cultivation of a banality, manifest in many university studies in mathematics as well as in dominant research paradigms in mathematics. This constitutes a serious limitation in providing models for mathematics education. By contrast, there exist examples of practices of mathematics education that demonstrate a richness of reflections on mathematics. Accordingly, I address the extent to which such practices of critical mathematics education could serve as models for research mathematics and mathematics education at the university level.

Longo caminho a percorrer na volta para a sociedade: o Ministério público e a desinstitucionalização em saúde mental

A busca pela garantia dos direitos civis e sociais como direitos indissociáveis foi crescente a partir dos anos 1970, influenciando a reorganização dos modelos assistenciais à saúde diante do reconhecimento de novos sujeitos de direitos. Um dos aspectos mais evidentes desse cenário no Brasil foi a visibilidade da Reforma Psiquiátrica como parte estruturante da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira que acompanhou o movimento dos direitos humanos. Este estudo tem como elemento central contribuir com a qualificação do processo de monitoramento da política de saúde mental pelo Ministério Público Estadual a partir da observância dos principais aspectos debatidos academicamente em relação ao processo de desinstitucionalização de pessoas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa constituída de busca sistemática de evidências nas literaturas técnica (normativas, portarias, leis, resoluções) e científica, a partir de dados eletrônicos da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde e que utilizou como descritores: “desinstitucionalização” AND “saúde mental” OR “hospitais psiquiátricos”. Destaca-se que o Ministério Público é uma instituição permanente e essencial do Estado de Direito, incumbido por obrigação constitucional de atuar na defesa dos interesses sociais, da ordem jurídica e do regime democrático.

Music teacher professional agency as challenge to music education policy

This article examines the relationship between the professional learning of music teachers and their capacity and opportunity to act and engage agentically with the structures and discourses of music education. The authors begin by drawing on a range of education and music education scholarship to examine the concepts of teacher autonomy, teacher agency and professional development. They propose a socio-cultural understanding of teacher agency which draws on Gidden’s theory of structuration and Priestley, Biesta and Robinson’s ecological approach. Here, the relationship between structure and agency is not determinant but dynamic, with teacher agency dependent on the extent to which music teachers are able to engage in the discourses of music education. They explore the way professional development structures and policy in England and China affect teacher agency and especially how policy developments, the changing structures of music education, and the fetishization of advocacy narratives have constrained and marginalized the voice of the classroom music teacher. The authors conclude with a call for music teacher professional development to support music teachers to act agentically through reengaging with the epistemological and ontological dimensions of music and the policy discourses of music education.

Development of Eighth Grade Students’ Epistemological Beliefs through Writing-to-Learn Activities

The aim of the present study was to develop the epistemological beliefs of eighth grade students through writing-to-learn (WTL) activities. A one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was utilized in the study. The sample group consisted of a total of 18 eighth grade students, attending a secondary school in the rural part of Trabzon in Turkey. To improve the epistemological beliefs of students, WTL activities were developed and utilized in the "Matter and its Structure" unit of the science subject. Each WTL activity focused on one dimension of epistemology, such as source of knowledge, organization of knowledge, certainty of knowledge, speed of learning, and learning control. The WTL activities in the study were conducted throughout a total of 24 lessons. Semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data. Beliefs regarding each dimension of epistemology were identified to be at the level of absolutist, multiplist or evaluatist by means of the "Epistemological Belief Levels Rubric". The findings of the study revealed that the WTL activities increased students’ levels of the epistemological beliefs. Hence, students’ epistemological beliefs can be developed further by dwelling more on the history of science unit within the subject of science by raising students’ awareness.