Epistemological Role Research Articles

From Glory to Glory

This article argues that, in De Trinitate, Augustine’s ascent to God via a search for the Trinity is successful precisely because of the emphasis he places on the role of Christ in such an ascent. Unlike scholarship which reads this ascent as an exercise in Neoplatonism—whether as a success or as an intentional failure—this article asserts that Augustine successfully discovers an imago trinitatis in human beings by identifying the essential mediation of the temporal and eternal in the person of the Incarnate Word. Of the work’s fifteen books, Books 4 and 13 focus extensively on the soteriological and epistemological role of Christ, who, in his humility, conquered the pride of the devil and reopened humanity’s way to eternity. The Christology in these books plays an important role in Augustine’s argument by allowing his ascent to move from self-knowledge to contemplation of God. Indeed, it is his understanding of the Christological perfection of the imago dei which allows Augustine to discover a genuine imago trinitatis in human beings. For Augustine, the imago is observable in humanity to the extent that an individual is conformed to Christ, the perfect image of the invisible God. Thus, it is only through Christ that a human being can successfully contemplate the Trinity in this imago.

Is understanding reducible?

ABSTRACTDespite playing an important role in epistemology, philosophy of science, and more recently in moral philosophy and aesthetics, the nature of understanding is still much contested. One attractive framework attempts to reduce understanding to other familiar epistemic states. This paper explores and develops a methodology for testing such reductionist theories before offering a counterexample to a recently defended variant on which understanding reduces to what an agent knows.

Methodological reflections on Kant’s ethical theory

In an important passage in Kant’s Groundwork, he says: “[W]e cannot do morality a worse service than by seeking to derive it from examples. Every example of it presented to me must first itself be judged by moral principles in order to see if it is fit to serve as an original example—that is, as a model: it can in no way supply the prime source for the concept of morality” (4: p. 408). This is an important methodological pronouncement, and it appears to commit Kant to what might be called a “top-down” procedure for constructing an ethical theory—or at least for defending substantive moral principles. A contrasting method we might call “bottom-up” would attribute to what are commonly called intuitions, especially those concerning concrete cases, a basic epistemological role in such a theoretical normative project. This paper undertakes, first, to clarify both kinds of procedure and to sketch a philosophical methodology that can do justice to certain merits of each procedure; second, to explore, drawing on a methodological analysis the paper will outline, Kant’s actual operative method in much of his ethical writing, particularly but not exclusively the Groundwork; and third, to appraise some aspects of Kant’s actual methods of theory-building as it is seen in his development of his ethical framework. The concluding reflections will show that Kant’s overall achievement in moral philosophy does not depend on certain of his metaphilosophical views. The paper will also indicate some directions of moral inquiry that may be promising for both Kantian and other approaches in moral philosophy.

The metaphors of crises

ABSTRACTMetaphors, analogies, and other figures of speech are ubiquitous, and far from being mere ornaments they have heuristic, illustrative, analytical, methodological, or epistemological roles in scientific discourse. The present paper offers the prolegomena to a metaphorology of economic crises and business cycles, from the perspective of an historian of economic thought.The paper traces a general historical outline of the usage of metaphors applied to these phenomena, and offers a characterization of the metaphorical transfer of features from the source domain to the target domain. It shows, by referring to storm and pendulum metaphors, how the selective transfer to crises and cycles of some properties rather than others contributes to define different, even incompatible, interpretation of the role of these phenomena in the working of the economic system. The study of the actual usage of metaphors (as opposed to a cataloguing of source domains supposed to provide a unique view of the target) is therefore important to throw light the tacit presuppositions on which the understanding of crises is based.

Husserl’s Noetics – Towards a Phenomenological Epistemology

ABSTRACTFor Husserl, noetics is the most fundamental science and the centrepiece of a phenomenological epistemology. Since in his major works Husserl does not develop noetics systematically but uses its main ideas and achievements often in apparent isolation without clarifying their systematic unity, the significance of noetics is often overlooked. Although Husserl has repeatedly stressed the importance of a phenomenological epistemology, what the concrete theses of such an undertaking are supposed to be often remains obscure. We shall see that the best way to clarify this is by providing a detailed account of Husserl’s noetics as it is developed in Husserl’s lecture courses “Introduction to Logic and Theory of Knowledge” (1906/07) and “Logic and General Theory of Science” (1917/18). This is the main aim of the present paper. We will shed light on the significance, systematic unity, and concrete theses of noetics. Furthermore, I shall show in what way the main theses of noetics are present in Husserl’s other works, even if the term noetics does not even occur. Finally, we will see that some basic ideas of Husserl’s noetics play an important role in current analytic epistemology and we will indicate how a phenomenological epistemology could enrich current debates.

The Role of Feminist Standpoint and Intersectionality Epistemologies in Providing Insights into the Causes of Gender Disparity in Higher Education

Higher education plays a critical role in society’s development, particularly in the current era of globalization in which knowledge-based innovations are critical for development. However, women’s underrepresentation in higher education remains a persistent issue of concern, particularly, in sub-Saharan Africa. The gender gap in higher education is created by complex interconnected sets of deep-rooted factors. A clear understanding of the underlying causes of gender inequality in higher education is necessary to develop effective interventions to overcome this disparity. Feminist standpoint and feminist intersectionality epistemologies have been used to provide insights into gender disparities in higher education. Drawing on existing published literature, I will discuss the conceptual and theoretical frameworks of these two feminist epistemologies and explore the methodological implications of these epistemologies for critically examining gender disparities in higher education in the context of sub-Saharan Africa.
 Keywords: epistemology, feminism, gender, higher education, intersectionality

Reply to Wray

In this letter, I reply to two insightful remarks made by Wray on a study I recently published on Scientometrics. First, I clarify the method I used to assess the transition of Analytic Philosophy to a normal science phase, explaining in more details the epistemological role that different types of citations play. Second, I address the topic of the relationship between the normal science and the aging of the literature. I argue that more research is needed to understand the epistemological meaning of aging.

Epistemology and social work: enhancing the integration of theory, practice and research through philosophical pragmatism

ABSTRACTDebates regarding theory and practice in social work have often avoided detailed discussion regarding the nature of knowledge itself and the various ways this can be created and used to best effect. As a result, positivistic conceptions of knowledge are still assumed by many to be axiomatic, such that context-dependent and practitioner-oriented approaches to knowledge creation and use are assumed to lack epistemological rigour and credibility. By drawing on epistemology and recent empirical work by the author, this paper outlines the case for a renewed approach to knowledge definition, creation and use within social work and allied professions by reference to pragmatism. Pragmatism has the potential to act as an organising theoretical framework, taking account of the role of both ontology and epistemology, acting as a functional and integrative methodology for the further enhancement of practice-based knowledge and research activity.

Greek primary school teachers’ awareness of the special features of scientific language: implications for science curricula and teachers’ professional development

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study aims at investigating first the extent to which Greek primary school teachers recognize the features of scientific language (an archetype for the academic language employed in all school disciplines), and second and most importantly the functional role they attribute to these features in the construction of scientific discourse. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 30 teachers. Two versions of a one‐page extract, varying in linguistic specialization, were used as stimuli‐materials. Teachers correctly recognized the linguistically highly specialized version, but they were less able to spontaneously mention specific features (mainly syntactic complexity and terminology) contributing to this specialization. Worse still, they failed to recognize syntactic complexity as a feature of the specialized extract even after they were explicitly probed to do so. Moreover, teachers were found to only be partially aware of the functional role these features play in constructing the scientific world‐view. Specifically, teachers seem to put emphasis on the communicative rather than the epistemological role of the corresponding linguistic features. These findings stress the need for certain interventions both at initial and in‐service level of teacher education as well as at the level of science curricula.

Możliwości zastosowania społecznych badań internetowych w konstruowaniu wiedzy pedagogicznej

As a result of radical social and cultural transformations with the key role of new media technologies, epistemologies, methodologies and methods of social research have been changed around the academic world. In this worldwide process one of the emergent family of methods is social Internet research. The main aim of this article is to identify and characterise the nature, key features, and three general genres of social Internet research. The author presents this elaboration with special intention of stimulating application of Internet research on the field of constructing new educational knowledge as an important need of educational sciences in current Poland. Additionally, we can find in the text the author’s interpretation of virtuality understood as a methodological category, and a description of hypermedia research report understood as a new format of scientific elaboration.

Epistemic Environmentalism

I motivate and develop a normative framework for undertaking work in applied epistemology. I set out the framework, which I call epistemic environmentalism, explaining the role of social epistemology and epistemic value theory in the framework. Next, I explain the environmentalist terminology that is employed and its usefulness. In the second part of the paper, I make the case for a specific epistemic environmentalist proposal. I argue that dishonest testimony by experts and certain institutional testifiers should be liable to the sanction of inclusion on a register of epistemic polluters. In doing so, I explain the special role that experts and the relevant institutional testifiers play in the epistemic environment and how the proposal is justified on the basis of that special role.

Self‐Esteem and Ethics: A Phenomenological View

This paper aims to provide an account of the relationship between self‐esteem and moral experience. In particular, drawing on feminist and phenomenological accounts of affectivity and ethics, I argue that self‐esteem has a primary role in moral epistemology and moral action. I start by providing a characterization of self‐esteem, suggesting in particular that it can be best understood through the phenomenological notion of “existential feeling.” Examining the dynamics characteristic of the so‐called “impostor phenomenon” and the experience of women who are involved in abusive relationships, I then claim that self‐esteem fundamentally shapes the way in which self and others are conceived, and the ethical demands and obligations to which they are considered to be subjected. More specifically, I argue that low self‐esteem—which in the experience of women may be rooted in particular assumptions regarding gender roles and stereotyping—can hinder autonomy, make it difficult to question other people's evaluative perspectives and behaviors, and attribute to others responsibility for their actions.

How to Relate Models to Reality? An Epistemological Framework for the Validation and Verification of Computational Models

Agent-based simulations have become increasingly prominent in various disciplines. This trend is positive, but it comes with challenges: while there are more and more standards for design, verification, validation, and presentation of the models, the various meta-theoretical strategies of how the models should be related to reality often remain implicit. Differences in the epistemological foundations of models make it however, difficult to relate distinct models to each other and to ensure a cumulative expansion of knowledge. Concepts and the analytic language developed by philosophers of science can help to overcome these obstacles. This paper introduces some of these concepts to the modelling community. It also presents an epistemological framework that helps to clarify how one wishes to generate knowledge about reality by the means of one's model and that helps to relate models to each other. Since the interpretation of a model is strongly connected to the activities of model verification and validation, these two activities will be embedded into the framework and their respective epistemological roles will be clarified. The resulting meta-theoretical framework aligns well with recently proposed frameworks for model presentation and evaluation.

Об эпистемологической роли познавательного конструкта «глобальная экология»

Об эпистемологической роли познавательного конструкта «глобальная экология»

A complementaridade dos pensamentos narrativo e matemático na gestação da teoria da Relatividade Geral

Este trabalho investiga o papel de linguagens e pensamentos envolvidos nos processos de criação científica. É destacada a relevância da Matemática na Física. Mas qual é o papel epistemológico desempenhado por ela na construção da Física? O cientista é capaz de interpretar fisicamente a natureza somente usando linguagens e pensamentos formais, especialmente estruturados pela matemática? Nossa hipótese é que a resposta a essa questão é negativa. Encontramos nas ideias do psicólogo Jerome Bruner uma forma de encaminhar nossa discussão. A partir das ideias deste autor, e do nosso anseio por investigar o papel de pensamentos e linguagens que não são estritamente formais na construção da física, levantamos a seguinte questão: Qual o papel das narrativas e da matemática na construção da física? Para delinear uma resposta possível a esta questão, tomamos como contexto da nossa pesquisa alguns “capítulos” da construção da Teoria da Relatividade Geral. Nossa investigação mostrou que experimentos mentais importantes no desenvolvimento desta teoria foram construídos a partir dos pensamentos narrativo e matemático. Entendemos que estes dois modos de pensamentos se apresentaram de maneira complementar no contexto estudado.

Epistemology, pedagogy, and student affairs assessment: A voluminous framework for equity

For the past twenty years higher education scholars have stressed the need to educate senior student affairs officers, divisional staff, and graduate students about the importance of building and maintaining a culture of assessment (Yousey-Elesner, Bentrim, & Henning, 2015). However, few have advocated for educating burgeoning student affairs practitioners about how ways of knowing influence cultures of assessment. We argue that an emphasis on epistemological frameworks in student affairs assessment teaching is seemingly missing in the graduate curriculum and the current teaching paradigm impedes perspectives that resist oppressive structures in higher education—those which disrupt and dismantle colonized thinking and advance equity. In this paper we speculate on the dominant narratives within assessment teaching in student affairs, build a case for critical epistemologies and epistemological pluralism, and share recommendations in the form of a course plan designed to spur dialogue and learning around the role of epistemology in assessment practice.

The rooting of diligence in concept and terminology

Ijtihad is a human industry, not divine. It was characterized by methodological and constructive pluralism within a single school or a single sect. However, this plurality did not prevent the jurists from trying to control the diligent approach with scientific controls and objective criteria, which in turn differed according to the divergence of views adopted by each group, as their opinions formed directives. Epistemologically, I determined how they dealt with the topic of ijtihad, which represents a point of convergence and divergence at the same time, and represents the foundations and pillars on which it is based. Accordingly, ijtihad passed through historical and epistemological roles. Research and brief presentation.

Mapping Memory. Theories in Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy and Medicine

This paper discusses theories of memory as developed by philosophers and medical writers from Graeco -Roman antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. While philosophers had much to say on the nature of memory and recollection, their epistemological role and their relationship to other functions of the soul, medical writers concentrated on the anatomy, physiology, pathology and indeed the therapeutics of memory and recollection. Yet the close relationship between philosophical and medical approaches was most clearly visible in discussions about the bodily location of memory, where theoretical concepts of the hierarchy of faculties of the soul were connected with clinical observations of memory failure as a result of injury or disease .

Conceivability and possibility: some dilemmas for Humeans

The Humean view that conceivability entails possibility can be criticized via input from cognitive psychology. A mainstream view here has it that there are two candidate codings for mental representations (one of them being, according to some, reducible to the other): the linguistic and the pictorial, the difference between the two consisting in the degree of arbitrariness of the representation relation. If the conceivability of P at issue for Humeans involves the having of a linguistic mental representation, then it is easy to show that we can conceive the impossible, for impossibilities can be represented by meaningful bits of language. If the conceivability of P amounts to the pictorial imaginability of a situation verifying P, then the question is whether the imagination at issue works purely qualitatively, that is, only by phenomenological resemblance with the imagined scenario. If so, the range of situations imaginable in this way is too limited to have a significant role in modal epistemology. If not, imagination will involve some arbitrary labeling component, which turns out to be sufficient for imagining the impossible. And if the relevant imagination is neither linguistic nor pictorial, Humeans will appear to resort to some representational magic, until they come up with a theory of a ‘third code’ for mental representations.

Of Memory and Literary Form: Making the Early Modern Nation. Kyle Pivetti. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2015. Pp. x+187.

<i>Of Memory and Literary Form: Making the Early Modern Nation</i>. Kyle Pivetti. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2015. Pp. x+187.