Western Science Research Articles

Questioning Case Studies: Subverting Social Work Education and Practice Through a Lens of Queer Irreverence

ABSTRACT Queer theory pushes us to resist normativity, question power structures, and strive for liberation. Queer-affirming practice encourages trauma-informed, consensual, accountable, and reciprocal care. Theoretically, the values of queer theory, queer-affirming practice, and social work are adjacent, if not intrinsically interconnected. However, social work education often relies on practices rooted in oppressive frameworks wedded to traditionally western and colonist socio-behavioral science standards that go unchallenged. For example, encouraging the appropriation of clients’ lived experiences for students’ learning and instructors’ teaching needs reinforces this complex, as this practice can be exploitative and reductive. Similarly, training social workers to engage clinical exercises without the transparent consent of their clients dehumanizes clients and reinforces imbalances of power. Inspired by Alex Iantaffi’s approach of irreverence in Gender Trauma and queer theory’s analysis of power, the practice of case studies (i.e. formulations, analyses, etc.) is questioned and subverted. Through an example of how the gatekeeping process of gender-affirming surgery letters can be practiced with “queer irreverence,” this piece offers tools for applying such irreverence in clinical practice, informing liberatory paths forward.

Open with care.

Indigenous researchers and communities are reshaping how Western science thinks about open access to data.

Epistemology and History of Science in the reflections of Evandro Agazzi

The merit of Evandro Agazzi’s epistemological reflection can be found in the following proposal: the history of science should be understood and studied as a meeting point between philosophical reflection and scientific research. Science and philosophy are thus closely united. In the words of Kant, science without philosophy is blind and philosophy without science is empty. Not only that: for Agazzi, the philosophy of science helps society as a whole to better understand the cultural (and human) value of science. Conversely, the history of science helps us to understand the perennially progressive nature of our knowledge. Why is this so? Because we can never disregard the intrinsic historicity of scientific knowledge.The historical approach to science also helps us to understand how scientific development always takes place within different choices. Conversely, epistemological reflection also helps historical research to better understand the development of our cognitive and technical heritage. On this basis, Agazzi worked - in collaboration with Ludovico Geymonat - to spread the institutional presence of the philosophy of science and the history of science (as well as mathematical logic) in universities, especially in Italy. Today, all of us are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, since we can better understand the connections between science and philosophy precisely because we can avail ourselves of Evandro Agazzi’s historical contributions.

MODERNIZATION OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION LECTURE AT ISLAMIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA

This study aims to analyze the modernization of Islamic education literature at state Islamic universities in North Sumatra, in relation to efforts to increase students’ Islamic knowledge. This research follows a qualitative method, with a case study approach. The results revealed that the use of literature in the lecture process in general does not fully use Islamic-based literature. This can be seen from the Islamic education sources included in the lecturer’s course plan. It is found that there are three main efforts to modernize Islamic literature in the Islamic Education Study Program of PTKIN North Sumatra, namely (1) regulation, (2) development and updating references, literature content, and Islamicizing literature, as well as increasing the ability of lecturers and students, (3) innovation or the use of technology. Opportunities for modernization in increasing the scientific treasures of PAI (Islamic Education) study program students can be seen from the motivation, competence, resources and cooperation established. But there are also obstacles, namely internal obstacles, related to the lack of competence, attitude and campus facilities. External obstacles are related to the influence of journal trends and the dominance of western science. This research has novelty in the form of recommendations for a list of Islamic education lectures that are relevant in the modern era, guidelines for writing teaching materials based on Islamic lectures, and initiation of the formation of Islamic lectures research centres in Islamic universities.

A traditional ecological knowledge summit

A traditional ecological knowledge summit The Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters (GCTW) cohosts a Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit (1), as Gail Krantzberg (2), Peter Czajkowski, Dawn Martin-Hill, Rohini Patel, Hiliary Monteith, and Drew Gronewold explain. The Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters (GCTW) integrates hydroclimate modeling, water quality forecasting, and community-engaged mixed methods that harmonize and propagate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Indigenous Knowledge (IK), and Western Science (WS) into robust 21st-century transboundary water resources governance protocols. The U.S. National Science Foundation and the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council fund the Center. It supports a multinational network of researchers that is designed to promote information sharing across borders.

GAGASAN ISLAMISASI ILMU PENGETAHUAN SEBAGAI PONDASI PENDIDIKAN ISLAM MENURUT SYED MUHAMMAD NAQUIB AL-ATTAS

Abstract: This study aims to examine Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas's idea of ​​the Islamization of science as a basis for the reconstruction of the Islamic education system. This study was motivated by concerns about the influence of secularism and westernization that caused the de-Islamization of Muslim thought. To overcome this problem, Al-Attas proposed the concept of the Islamization of science which aims to free science from non-Islamic values ​​and harmonize it with Islamic principles based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. This article uses a qualitative research method with a library research type. The main data source is the written works of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, such as books, journals, and other writings. Secondary data was obtained through other literature relevant to the topic of the Islamization of science and the concept of Islamic education to enrich the discussion. The results of the study show that Al-Attas's Islamization of science is built on an Islamic worldview that is sourced from the teachings of monotheism. The epistemology of science needs to be reconstructed in line with Islamic principles by placing spiritual aspects as its foundation. Al-Attas also proposed the concept of ta'dib as a model of Islamic education that integrates physical, intellectual, and spiritual aspects with adab as the core of its method.

A Black-Archipelago Anticolonial Canon Speaks Psychology

In Euromodernity, the discipline of western psychology holds a unique place in the global knowledge order. It is the primary epistemic source, the authoritative voice of psychological knowledge. This essay explores epistemic problems with western psychological science and its canonical status. Epistemic selectivism—the failure to address phenomena which are detrimental to all human beings, not only those of concern to western subjects and their subjectivities—is identified as a problem to be solved in the discipline of western psychology. In order to address epistemic failures of western psychology I return to the knowledge that emerges from the geography where Europe launched its project of racial and racist modern life. I review the Black-Archipelago anticolonial canon that speaks psychology. I follow this anticolonial canon because it pierces and penetrates epistemic silences about psychological experience in Euromodernity. Of the plenitude of theories and concepts developed by Black, Caribbean anticolonial thinkers which are of relevance to understanding the psychological effects of Euromodernity I focus in this review on two fundamental ideas—Frantz Fanon’s sociogenic principle and the emancipatory thrust of consciousness. An embrace of the principle of open epistemologies is proposed as a solution to the problem of epistemic selectivism.

Политизация российской исламской уммы: анализ некоторых зарубежных и отечественных теоретических подходов

Based on the analysis of the works of leading foreign and domestic authors, a study of theoretical approaches to the politicization of Islam in our country is conducted. The main approaches to the politicization of Islam, formulated in the works of foreign experts, are considered separately. The author comes to the conclusion that two approaches dominate in modern Western science. The first is, when the politicization of the Islamic Ummah is associated with the development and spread of Islamism as an extremely reactionary position of the Muslim worldview. The second, when it is proven that today's problems are associated not so much with Islam itself as with geopolitics, playing out the "Islamic factor". Two main approaches are also identified, to the politicization of the Russian Islamic Ummah, existing in domestic science, both recognizing the fact of politicization and denying this phenomenon.

Science Fiction in the Post-occupation Iraqi Short Story in English Translation

English translations of Arabic literary works have interacted with -and possibly influenced- the Western context of science fiction literature. This thesis investigates how the English translations of post-occupation Iraqi short stories possibly contributed to the evolution of the Western science fiction genre. The study seeks to explain the relationship between post-2003 Iraqi literary works -that are a diverse range of corpus- as well as the possible influence of their translations and their counterparts in Anglophone literary systems. The research particularly focuses on Iraq +100 and The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq by Hassan Blasim. Blasim’s edited anthology, Iraq +100, is a prominent element in this study as it is analyzed to illustrate the interrelation between Arabic science fiction and Western traditions of this genre of fiction. As the roles of this edited anthology and short story collection are addressed and discussed in terms of the interaction between Anglophone and Arab literary systems, the study discusses the science fiction theories of Thomas Lombardo (2006) and Darko Suvin (2010). The primary objective of this study is to analyze the two selected books as they are introduced to the Western world and scrutinize how these books can be considered as a response to the evolution of the science fiction genre. Moreover, the translated works of post-occupation Iraqi short stories deal with the political and social impacts of the situation in Iraq after 2003. This thesis follows up by proposing that the anthologized English translations of these Arabic post-occupation Iraqi texts have contributed to the making of a dialogue between Arab and Western cultural and literary canons as well as traditions. The study also analyzes the short stories of the Iraqi writers, as illustrative of a specific expression of post-2003 Iraqi fiction that depicts the terror of violence in Iraq by delivering scenes of excessive violence in their texts. All in all, this study appears as an interdisciplinary work as it engages with translation studies, literary studies, history, and in a way, political science.

Why We Eat Calories: A Plurality Metaphor of Energy in Scientific Disciplines

AbstractIn the Next Generation Science Standards, energy is considered a “crosscutting concept” that bridges disciplinary boundaries and unites scientific disciplines. I examine how energy is represented in physics, biology, and chemistry contexts, using the reaction of molecular oxygen with sugar as an exemplar, and argue that disciplines disagree in how they represent the origin of energy that drives this process. In particular, while biology tends to locate energy as initially in the sugar molecule, chemistry locates the energy in molecular oxygen, and physics models energy as in the field between the molecules. That is to say, biology describes us as eating calories, chemistry as inhaling calories, and physics invents an abstract object (the field) as the container for energy. I then show how the conceptualizations made in each discipline stem from core disciplinary commitments, models, and concepts that structure what “counts” as an explanation. This conceptual plurality, then, is essential to disciplinary meaning. While such a pluralistic conceptualization appears to be contrary to scientific epistemology that prioritizes coherence and cognitive models that rely on unitary structures for transfer, I draw on recent research to argue that neither concern is fully founded. Finally, I suggest that building bridges between these contrasting conceptualizations may come later, in response to interdisciplinary questions and frameworks.

В.А. Базаров: от технологического эмпиризма к бергсонизму

The article presents an analysis of epistemology and philosophy of science of the Russian marxist philosopher V.A. Bazarov. In the first part of the work, two stages of the philosopher’s evolution are distinguished and analyzed: empiriocritical and voluntarist. First stage of Bazarov’s thought is characterized by anti-metaphysical and empiricist attitudes. What separates him from other representatives of empiriocriticism is his emphasis on the activeness of the cognizing instance. It is shown that around 1910 Bazarov’s views underwent a final shift towards voluntarism, considered as the second stage of his philosophical evolution. It is demonstrated that although Bazarov’s thought developed in this direction independently, the reception of H. Bergson’s philosophy played an important role in the transition between the two stages. Ultimately, the evolution of Bazarov’s views leads him to abandonment of the key commitements of positivism and to adoption of the Bergsonian “philosophy of action”. The second part of the work is devoted to an attempt to actualize Bazarov’s views in their development through their consideration in the context of “technological empiricism”, i.e. a position in the philosophy of science reconstructed by modern scholars that unites such thinkers as A.A. Bogdanov, O. Neurath and N. Cartwright. All of them stress technical, social and physical side of scientific experience, emphasizing the richness of reality under study and ways of its representation, as well as opposing fundamentalism about high-level theoretical constructions in science. The validity of Bazarov’s characterization at the first stage of his evolution as a representative of this position is substantiated. Then, Bazarov’s philosophical evolution is considered once again, but now through the optics of technological empiricism, which allows to draw conclusions about the internal tendency of this theoretical position towards voluntarism and relativism

Dislocating the Language of Modernity in Amitav Ghosh's The Circle of Reason

Abstract: Engaging with Amitav Ghosh's recent essays that link imperial modernity's mechanistic view of the world to the novel's failure to imagine climate change, this article examines how Ghosh's fiction attempts to dislocate narratives of modernity to reveal a world constructed by capital and naturalized through reason. Drawing on the work of postcolonial theorists on the introduction of Western science to India, this article returns to Ghosh's first novel, The Circle of Reason , to focus on the intimate scale of the transformations that imperial modernity enacted on the human body and psyche. Though underrepresented in scholarship on Ghosh, this novel is a critical site for understanding Ghosh's view of how the ideology of modernity gets entrenched as scientific reason, reshaping humankind's relationship with the human body and the surrounding world. The novel's representation of the body, moreover, proposes an intimate and uncanny space that discloses alternative ways of imagining the world.

Gut-Brain Axis: Role of Microbiome, Metabolomics, Hormones, and Stress in Mental Health Disorders.

The influence of gut microbiome, metabolites, omics, hormones, and stress on general and mental health is increasingly being recognized. Ancient cultures recognized the importance of diet and gut health on the overall health of an individual. Western science and modern scientific methods are beginning to unravel the foundations and mechanisms behind some of the ancient beliefs and customs. The gut microbiome, an organ itself, is now thought to influence almost all other organs, ranging from the brain to the reproductive systems. Gut microbiome, metabolites, hormones, and biological sex also influence a myriad of health conditions that range from mental health disorders, obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, and cardiovascular diseases to reproductive health. Here, we review the history and current understanding of the gut-brain axis bidirectional talk in various mental health disorders with special emphasis on anxiety and depressive disorders, whose prevalence has increased by over 50% in the past three decades with COVID-19 pandemic being the biggest risk factor in the last few years. The vagal nerve is an important contributor to this bidirectional talk, but other pathways also contribute, and most remain understudied. Probiotics containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species seem to have the most impact on improvement in mental health symptoms, but the challenge appears to be maintaining sustained levels, especially since neither Lactobacillus nor Bifidobacterium can permanently colonize the gut. Ancient endogenous retroviral DNA in the human genome is also linked to several psychiatric disorders, including depression. These discoveries reveal the complex and intricately intertwined nature of gut health with mental health disorders.

Advancing a High-Context Perspective for Active Fashion Research

Western science perceives knowledge from a low-context view, guided by logic, objectivity, and reproducibility. This approach perpetuates newness which contradicts the idea of circularity, in research and the fashion industry. In contrast, Indigenous science practices a more holistic, high-context approach, which values relational connections and interdependence. A high-context approach to put the earth first and reverse business growth logic is incredibly complex but necessary. If we measure our success by the true value of an integrated bottom line, the motives we embrace, and the criteria used to make decisions, we have the potential to promote behavioral change. We are all interconnected, yet are conditioned to take a short-term, individualistic approach. However, we exist on a planet with a long-term perspective, presenting a major conflict. Indigenous knowledge is not new, and a collectivist mindset is disconnected from sustainability science. Fashion research is insular and inaccessible to industry or policymakers. A high-context perspective is a foundational approach to future active fashion research.

The System of Social Sciences in the Context of Civilizational Approach: Formulating the Problem

In modern socio-humanitarian disciplines, the concept of a “system of social sciences” is absent. This concept existed in Soviet times and meant, among other things, the existence of a single conceptual social science apparatus and methodology. It is generally recognized that the interdisciplinary approach that replaced this system, which was recognized in our country after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is based on the difference in concepts, subjects and objects of research of the sciences of the entire socio-humanitarian block. At the same time, Russian social science practically does not pay attention to the theoretical and methodological relationship between the interdisciplinary approach and the concept of globalization, developed in Western science mainly in the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and which came to our country in the post-Soviet period in many ways in a “ready-made” form. At the same time, those researchers who state such a relationship consider this circumstance as a virtue of an interdisciplinary approach. In the first part of this article, an attempt is made to analyze the impact of the concept of globalization, in particular, its characteristic denial of the values of national statehood, sovereignty, including cultural and historical, on the formation and general principles of an interdisciplinary approach. The second part examines modern concepts of Russia as a civilization, first of all, the concept of state-civilization, currently introduced in the “Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation” dated March 30, 2023 and “Fundamentals of state policy in the field of historical education” dated May 08, 2024, in the context of the advantages of the Soviet Union identified by the author the experience of the social sciences system. At the end of the article, proposals are made to combine some basic principles of Soviet social science with a modern civilizational approach in order to create a unified value framework for the disciplines of the socio-humanitarian block.

Highly idealized models of scientific inquiry as conceptual systems

The social epistemology of science has adopted agent-based computer simulations as one of its core methods for investigating the dynamics of scientific inquiry. The epistemic status of these highly idealized models is currently under active debate in which they are often associated either with predictive or the argumentative functions. These two functions roughly correspond to interpreting simulations as virtual experiments or formalized thought experiments, respectively. This paper advances the argumentative account of modeling by proposing that models serve as a means to (re)conceptualize the macro-level dynamics of complex social epistemic interactions. I apply results from the epistemology of scientific modeling and the psychology of mental simulation to the ongoing debate in the social epistemology of science. Instead of considering simulation models as predictive devices, I view them as artifacts that exemplify abstract hypothetical properties of complex social epistemic processes in order to advance scientific understanding, hypothesis formation, and communication. Models need not be accurate representations to serve these purposes. They should be regarded as pragmatic cognitive tools that engender rather than replace intuitions in philosophical reasoning and argumentation. Furthermore, I aim to explain why the community tends to converge around few model templates: Since models have the potential to transform our intuitive comprehension of the subject of inquiry, successful models may literally capture the imagination of the modeling community.

Book Review - Azzano, Lorenzo. Dispositional Reality: A Novel Approach to Power Ontology and Metaphysics. Synthese Library. Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science 482, Cham: Springer, 2024.

Book Review - Azzano, Lorenzo. Dispositional Reality: A Novel Approach to Power Ontology and Metaphysics. Synthese Library. Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science 482, Cham: Springer, 2024.

Communicating science through films: the case of the International Festival of Scientific and Educational Film (1956–1975)

ABSTRACT The Rassegna Internazionale del film Scientifico-didattico (International Festival of Scientific and Educational Film [IFSEF]) was a pioneering science-based public event held at the University of Padova from 1956 to 1975 in collaboration with the Venice International Film Festival. The IFSEF is treated as a case of a multiform space to question the permeable boundaries between hard scientific content and its aesthetic dimension, educational role, and science communication activity. Through the notions of ‘surplus of meaning’, ‘boundary object’ and ‘boundary space’, which are concepts at the intersection of science and technology studies, film studies and media studies, the IFSEF emerges as a distinctive moment in the construction of science as a multiform object in society, thus providing an opportunity to analyse the management of the evolving boundaries between scientific expertise and science communication at the dawn of modern science communication practice. The main point that emerges from the analysis of the IFSEF is the idea that the identity, meanings, structures and logics that characterise the IFSEF in many ways reflect crucial issues at the heart of the historical evolution of the boundaries between science and society, between the scientific community and other social actors, and between scientific epistemologies and different views of science-related content, thus contributing to a redefinition of the roles and identities of the actors involved in the configuration of the festival.

Decolonizing epistemic justice: on inter-epistemology

ABSTRACT This article responds to the challenge of decolonizing epistemic injustice by offering the project of inter-epistemic thought or ‘Inter-Epistemology'. The point of departure is a critical epistemology of Western science, which seeks to go beyond the negative moment of self-critique. Instead, it seeks to confront Western science with actually existing divergent systems of knowledge. This kind of confrontation implies epistemic plurality and requires the theory and methodology of inter-epistemic knowledge. The paper argues that a main challenge to inter-epistemic theory is the paradox of knowing the epistemic other. To face this challenge, it is proposed that the preliminary task of inter-epistemology is not to overcome the absence of the epistemic other but to overcome the simulated other, through operations of un-knowing.

Healing country together: A seagrass restoration case study from Gathaagudu (Shark Bay)

Ecological restoration is a key part of the global solution to help repair damaged ecosystems and moderate climate change. However, there are enormous challenges to contemporary restoration. Solutions that integrate western science and traditional ecological knowledge offer great opportunities to overcome these challenges. Partnerships with Indigenous Ranger programs can assist with solutions to some of the age-old restoration challenges. Managing and caring for a living and dynamic Country is at the heart of wellbeing for all Indigenous Peoples. The act of participating in restoration activities On Country assists with connecting to Country, healing people and Country. We describe the development of a successful partnership between western science and Indigenous traditional knowledge via a collaborative Malgana Aboriginal Corporation Ranger program that included On Country workshop-based knowledge sharing in north-west Western Australia, with a focus on seagrass restoration. Field-based restoration workshops helped people reconnect with Country through two-way knowledge sharing. Additional benefits of the partnership included education and preservation of Malgana language, educating western scientists and general public about Malgana culture, and adapting and field trialling seagrass restoration methods for Gathaagudu. Restoration can be successfully implemented through partnerships that share western science and traditional ecological knowledge.