Categories Of Existence Research Articles

The theme-centred interview and the map of meanings: A phenomenological approach to the analysis of experience

This paper presents a methodological proposal for phenomenological interviewing, the theme-centred interview, designed to facilitate in-depth exploration of the meanings experienced in relation to a theme. The method is rooted in the phenomenological tradition, but incorporates innovative aspects, including the systematic use of aphorisms, a specific coding system with qualitative criteria that encompasses elements of the researcher's experience, and the use of existential categories to frame results within a phenomenological context. This approach includes a graphical output, the map of meanings, which extend the analysis by providing a visual representation of the structures of meanings in relation to the theme.

Associations between Serum Iron Indices and Self-Assessed Multiple Intelligence Scores among Adolescents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Micronutrient deficiencies, including iron deficiency, are linked to different cognitive impairments and sensory functions. However, whether circulating iron levels affect self-assessed multiple intelligence (MI) scores in adolescents remains uninvestigated. This study aimed to investigate associations between serum iron levels and self-assessed MI scores in adolescents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Recruiting 434 Saudi adolescents (174 boys and 260 girls, aged 12-17), we administered the McKenzie questionnaire to assess MI across nine categories. Anthropometrics and fasting blood samples were collected to measure circulating iron and transferrin levels. Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) levels were calculated. Notably, girls exhibited significantly higher MI scores in the interactive domain than boys (age and BMI-adjusted OR = 1.36, 95% confidence interval = 1.07-1.73, p = 0.01). No significant correlations were observed between serum iron and MI. However, normal TSAT levels (TSAT > 20%) corresponded with higher age and BMI-adjusted odds of MI scores in the musical (OR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.1-2.2, p = 0.006), linguistic (1.57, 1.1-2.3, p = 0.016), kinesthetic (1.48, 1.1-2.1, p = 0.024), spatial (1.45, 1.1-2.1, p = 0.03), and existential (1.56, 1.1-2.1, p = 0.01) categories compared to ones with lower TSAT levels (TSAT ≤ 20%), only in boys. In conclusion, serum iron levels may not directly influence MI domains in adolescents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; however, lower TSAT levels, indicative of iron-deficiency anemia, may influence MI, only in boys, indicating a possible relationship between iron metabolism and cognitive functions.

Beyond Truth-Telling: Embodying and Dwelling in Truth and Hope

This paper seeks to argue that truth is not something that relates to telling/speaking only. Its main aim is to show that in their quest for communion with God, other human beings – and one should add – the entire creation, humans need to go beyond truth-telling toward the ways of embodying and dwelling in truth and hope. To introduce its argument, the paper proceeds in the following steps. First, it expounds a Christian perspective on truth, employing notions such as sacrament, desire, and relationality. Through the image of communion with God, a link between truth-telling and hope is outlined. Second, it tries to show that truth-telling is not only an affective but also an existential category. As such, it involves the whole of human being. Therefore, it makes sense to turn to the concept of body and embodiment when reflecting on the human pursuits of truth. The paper then, third, examines various constellations of this central claim by exploring a specific case from popular culture, namely, ‘Crocodile’, an episode from the Netflix series, Black Mirror. In particular, a proposal is made for the significance of embodying and dwelling in truth for Christian theology and practice. Finally, in the last step, this embodying and dwelling is given more concrete contours with respect to hope by probing into the images of home and feast.

The Future Orientation of Italian Adolescents in Post-Pandemic Times: Associations with Self-Efficacy and Perceived Academic Achievement

Future orientation refers to an individual’s conscious portrayal of upcoming events, encompassing thoughts, motivations, and emotions. Research on future orientation has primarily focused on adolescents due to their perceived necessity to prepare for adulthood. To investigate the hopes and fears of Italian adolescents in post-pandemic times, as well as age and gender differences and the associations between future orientation, self-efficacy, and perceived academic achievement, a survey was conducted with 388 Italian high school students. The Future Orientation and Life Course Prospective Questionnaires, along with the Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy Scale, were administered. Data analysis involved content analysis of hopes and fears, as well as statistical methods (t-tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis) were employed. A greater number of fears than hopes were mentioned. Age differences were marginal. Compared with males, females expressed a greater number of hopes and fears and provided more detailed insights into their fears within the domains of higher education, self, and the general existential category. As expected, positive and modest correlations were observed between future orientation, self-efficacy, and academic achievement. Notably, self-efficacy and work/career future orientation were found to predict academic achievement. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for school educational programs.

Permanent Impermanence in the Anthropocene. The emergence of a guest-worker society in a Patagonian Mountain village

At a stage of capitalism where “the environment” emerges as an existential category, conservation policies become weaved into processes of expulsion. The idea that there is not enough for everyone reconfigures social relations according to the logics of guest-worker societies, where rights and belonging are contingent on employment. Through the exploration of mobile homes as a practice of im/mobilization and resistance to the dynamics of expulsion in El Chaltén (Argentina), I develop the concept of permanent impermanence as a way of theorizing the affective experience of Anthropocene im/mobilization, and its patterning across spatial and temporal dimensions.

ЕКЗИСТЕНЦІЙНІ МОТИВИ У НАРАТИВАХ УЧАСНИКІВ РОСІЙСЬКО-УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ВІЙНИ

The need to investigate the peculiarities of existential categories in active and passive participants in the war is determined by the basic postulate of existentialism, in which existence precedes essence. Such a situation requires the use of a specific methodology that does not belong to the philosophical methodological base. The narrative approach is used to study the experience of an individual and his life space. The article is devoted to the analysis of the situation of the Russian-Ukrainian war, worldview reflections of its participants. The main existential categories are considered. The narrative is used as the main research method. In the first place are the categories of absurdity of existence, evil, fear, despair, loneliness, suffering, death. Attention is also paid to the categories of freedom of choice, risk, communication and trauma, responsibility, fatigue, sense, values, and others. Emphasis is placed on the importance of non-material priorities for the existence of war participants. The phenomenon of memory in the conditions of war is analyzed as one of the driving forces for actions. Existential narratives are characterized from the «classical» position of the French philosopher and writer Albert Camus and the «non-classical» position of the psychiatrist and philosopher Viktor Frankl. The choice of thinkers is determined by the need to discover different existential categories and their interpretation in the wartime worldview. The article refers to the interviews and reflections of 2022-2023 Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers, medical instructors, entrepreneurs, journalists, managers, heads of charitable organizations, mostly women. A total of twenty one interviews are analyzed.

<i>Otherness</i> as Basis of Artistic Chronotope: Script vs. Film

The article describes the existential category of the Other and the Otherness in V. Sorokin's screenplay for the film called 4, which was directed by I. Hrzhanovsky in 2004. The Otherness helped V. Sorokin to realize his artistic idea of post-Soviet Russia. According to Jean Paul Sartre, the Other conveys a feeling of the last days: without a single scene of physical violence, the reader develops a feeling of nausea. The essence of the Other is based on the principles of rejection, fear, and inevitability; the Other is the only verifier of one’s existence. In 4, the frightening atmosphere of the Other World is created by such artistic means as coding, dying, masking, and deconstruction of symmetry. They highlight the artistic intent to portray the chaotic nature of being and the absence of time, where human fate is meaningless, and people are reduced to functions in the game of life. The Otherness of the chronotype gives the script and the film a new code: the loss of the holy number four desacralizes existence, thus condemning the world and people in it to a life of hopeless dismay.

INTENTIONAL APPROACH TO THE INTERPRETATION OF EXISTENTIAL CATEGORIES IN THE “KHIKMETS” OF AKHMET YASSAWI

In the article helped by conceptual and phenomenological research methods, existential categories in the “Diwani Khikmets” by Akhmet Yassawi are studied. The aim of the article is to analyze human existence problems, the meaning of life, the relationship of being and time, true love for the Creator, and the phenomenon of life and death. Although Akhmet Yassawi does not belong to the existentialists, existential categories can be clearly distinguished in the “Khikmets”. The concepts of “The Book of Wisdom” are a storehouse of answers to transcendental questions for people in existential crisis. The main purpose of the “Khikmets” is religious, and Akhmet Yassawi presents “intentional” advice on vital issues such as world creation and human nature (being), using existential categories. When we talk about the intentional meaning of existential categories, we mean the understanding of intentionality in Husserl's phenomenology, which considers the act of orientation as the inclusion of the subject in the analysis of an exclusively given object of philosophizing without distraction to other cognitive constructs. It is this subjective experience and living of the act of contemplation that is vividly expressed in “Khikmets” by Akhmet Yassawi. Akhmet Yassawi talks about such deep and exclusively existential categories as life and death. In modern philosophy, it was existentialism that revived attention to these concepts. From the point of view of existentialists, life, even in a situation of absurdity, is of the highest value. But this is life, always “borderline” with death. Life on the verge of death, loss and the search for the meaning of life are situations that Akhmet Yassawi raised long before the existentialism of the twentieth century. Keywords: Akhmet Yasawi, “Khikmets”, Existential Motives in Intentionality, Transcendental Experiences.

Outline of the Psychophysical Educational Problem in the Work of Walter Benjamin

This article contributes to the growing literature on Walter Benjamin as an educational philosopher. In particular, it reassesses the claim made by prominent Benjaminian scholars that education can be defined as a form of awakening. To further develop this central educational claim, the article turns to Benjamin’s early essay “Outline of the Psychophysical Problem” and in particular, its emphasis on the existential categories of nearness and distance in relation to corporeal substance (Körper) and collective body (Leib). Subsequently, Benjamin’s reflections on various educational practices are evaluated in terms of how well they balance nearness and distance to produce the ethical, political, epistemological, and embodied dimensions of freedom. The dialectic that emerges between nearness and distance can become a powerful interpretive lens for understanding Benjamin’s criticisms of instruction and indoctrination while also giving new insight into his embrace of proletarian children’s theater and epic theater as preferred educational practices.

Категория жалости в «Расторжении брака» К.С. Льюиса и «Властелине колец» Дж.Р.Р. Толкина

The article analyzes the main features of the category of pity in the texts of two inklings — C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien in the context of the ethical binary opposition of “good and evil”. This binary opposition is not randomly chosen: Lewis wrote “The Great Divorce” in order to refute the famous artistic idea of William Blake about a fruitful union or the marriage of Heaven and Hell, which personifies the creative mixture of good and evil, and as a result, the blurring of the boundaries of the main ethical categories, manifested in the moral relativism of man of the twentieth (and, perhaps, the twenty-­first) centuries. The genre of the text “The Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien can be defined as an epic fantasy dedicated to the eternal struggle of good and evil. The confrontation between the two members of the ethical binary opposition of interest to us is at the center of Tolkien’s narrative. In both Lewis’s text and Tolkien’s work, good and evil are not relative categories inherent in the consciousness of the perceiving person, but existential categories of the world order. This binary opposition is, according to Lewis’s thought, “the key to understanding the universe”. The method of comparative analysis makes it possible to reveal the unity and at the same time minor differences in the representation of the category of pity in the work of the two inklings. From the point of view of correlation with the basic ethical binary opposition, the category of pity in the texts of Lewis and Tolkien is analyzed. Different meanings (models) of pity are considered, the main features of realisation of this category in the texts of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Great Divorce” are described.

ОСНОВНЫЕ ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛЬНЫЕ КАТЕГОРИИ В ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ ДЖОНА СТЕЙНБЕКА

This article is devoted to the works of John Steinbeck from the position of the functioning of the main existential categories or "existentials" of human Being. Existentialism is considered here as a phenomenon that has gone beyond specific philosophy and literature and entered the cultural tradition as a conglomerate of issues that directly concern anthropology. Existential categories are derived as a result of the analysis of the philosophical and cultural base of existentialism, as well as by means of addressing a specific historical situation. The term "existential" belonging to M. Heidegger is interpreted here as a "base-forming value category", "pillar for existence" and is used as an element of literary analysis. The authors identify and investigate a number of existentials characteristic for literature and capable of being modified in the angle of the plot of a particular work. As a result of the study, it is concluded that in the works of J. Steinbeck, existential categories associated with the problem of human existence in a specific situation and representing the existentials of "support and overcoming" are the most frequent. This is a "dream", "hope", "meaning of life", which is directly related to the context recreated by the author. In general, the analysis of a literary work from the angle of the functioning of existential categories allows to analyse the work in its historical and cultural terms, as well as to make a deeper and more comprehensive characteristic of a literary character.

Repetition and the Art of Writing Novels

Abstract In this paper we wish to analyze how Kierkegaard understood the art of writing novels, that is, as a way to express and develop the life-view of the author. We would like to argue that this notion, presented for the first time in From the Papers of One Still Living (1838), was put into practice in the short novel Repetition (1843), in which Kierkegaard used the biblical story of Job to explain the development of selfhood through the existential category of repetition. According to Kierkegaard, true repetition—which is the central category of the life-view he is trying to convey—helps the individual “recollect” the past correctly so he or she can reconcile with the present and grow into the future.

Freedom, joy and wonder as existential categories of childhood – reflections on experiences and memories of outdoor play

ABSTRACT This study conveys how young adults reflect upon their childhood experiences and memories of outdoor play, friluftsliv and outdoor places. Inspired by a phenomenological approach, we conducted walking interviews in nature areas where they used to play as children, revisiting the same informants and places as in a research project 14 years earlier. Today the respondents emphasise the experience of freedom encompassing joy, wonder and communication with surrounding nature and people, associating it with autonomy and self-determination. Joy, wonder and communication in someone’s experience are subjective existential categories often used to characterise friluftsliv in outdoor education. Personally meaningful to the young adults, these experiences have become important parts of who they are today. These results differ from previous research on outdoor play as it highlights freedom, joy and wonder. Based on this, we argue for facilitating self-directed outdoor play, and emphasize conscious choice of location for outdoor pedagogical work.

The concept of time as a factor of regulation of social behavior of an individual

The article considers the factor of time perception as a factor of social, cultural regulation and self-regulation of human behavior. The article describes the monochronic and polychronic perception of time, which affect cross-cultural communication and the formation of a monochronic and polychronic personality. Time is considered as a personal, existential category of a person’s life. The definition of a situation that helps to perceive a certain period of time, while connecting the past and the present, the present and the future, is given. The results of the study of the perception of time as a factor of motivation and self-regulation of the individual at different ages are presented

How Do Managers Make Sense of Their Crisis? Disrupted Relationships and Rediscovering Co-existence

Managerial work is associated with the experience of critical situations that affect not only the work performance of managers, but also their daily lives. This study presents the results of extensive qualitative research that examines, through interpretative phenomenological analysis and existential hermeneutic phenomenology, how managers make sense of their crises and other specifics disrupting their daily practice and personal lives. An existential-phenomenological approach based on the idea of co-existence – relating to the world and to self through interpersonal relationships – provides a useful framework for interpreting the lived experience of managers within the transformative process related to their identity and modes of being. Research shows that critical moments are often associated with disrupted interpersonal relationships. These can be analysed in several existential categories, such as work, struggle, play, love, and death. This article points out the fact that critical situations are inherent in managerial work and provides a novel philosophical understanding of the importance of interpersonal relationships to overcome these challenging crises. The article provides a model of managerial self-development that is extended to include the level of existential disruptions – critical situations that lead managers to question their being a manager. It is the personal crisis that is significant in initiating a new process of meaning-making, which gives rise to a new managerial self-concept that is the basis for self-development.

Парадоксы русского эроса в романе Ф.М. Достоевского «Идиот»

The article is devoted to the analysis of the love story line of F. Dostoevsky’s novel “The Idiot”. In the novel, the element of Russian eros found its artistic realization, that was comprehended by the great Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev in his essay “Reflection on Eros” (1940) as an existential category. The mutual love between Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna was the perfect embodiment of Russian eros: the erotic tension here is fertilized by compassion and mystical experience of soulmates. The tragic ending is predetermined by the fatal incompatibility of the true, rising eros with the reality of earthly world.

Conceptual Categories Represented by English Language Epizootological Terms

The article considers the conceptual categories represented by English terms of epizootology. The urgency of research is due to the need to systematize epizootological terminology through the modeling of conceptual categories represented by linguistic means. The aim of this paper is to study the categorization of English-language epizootological terminological units according to the types of concepts which they represent, and to determine the percentage of selected groups within the analyzed field of knowledge. The study was based on a sample of lexicographic data recorded in English specialized and explanatory dictionaries. During the analysis of lexicographic material, continuous sampling methods of language material, definition analysis, classification, as well as comparative analysis and statistical method were proposed. In accordance with the purpose of the study, the approaches of scientists to determine the category typology are analyzed. Different scientific disciplines have their own set of categories based on existential (ontological) categories as the most abstract quantities, which are integral characteristics of reality and reflect its most common properties and relationships. The typology of categories varies depending on the affiliation of terminological corpora to the technical, natural or human sciences. Analysis of the epizootology terms showed that they are structured by the following categories: "biological object", "process", "features and properties", "methods and technologies", "quantities and units" In the studied terminology, these categories perform functions of classification, informativeness and identification. The article identifies the most and least common conceptual categories, which are expressed in English terms of epizootology. It was substantiated the importance of typology studying terminological units for the analysis of the system organization of specialized vocabulary.

Kierkegaard: A Seducer Resorting to Irony, Comic Jest and Humor

Abstract While the role of the comic in Søren Kierkegaard’s thought has been thoroughly studied by diverse scholars, in this paper I will ask whether humor in Kierkegaard’s religious sphere amounts to seduction or to temptation. By “seduction” I will mean a luring that can be viewed as positive or neutral, whereas by “temptation” I mean a negative seduction that takes advantage of the tempted fool, leaving him empty-handed. Irony, comic jest and humor are existential categories in Kierkegaard’s three spheres of existence. Irony and comic jest play a seductive role and can be regarded as neutral or even positive. In the religious sphere, humor can be assessed as temptation. Kierkegaard humorously lures the one who wishes to believe. With humor, one is readying oneself for a leap of faith. The leap may fail; one can fall, crash, and be left empty-handed.

The existential reflection in Kazakhstan society during the Great Patriotic War

The article analyzes the existential experience of a person on the home front and internal states of a person, which lead to the deepest emotional experiences of death, pain, fear. The tragedy experienced in the life and consciousness of the Kazakh people is an existential experience. The focus of this article is the analysis of existential reflection in Kazakhstan society during the Great Patriotic War. The authors come to the conclusion that during this period the citizens of Kazakhstan developed existential experiences. It was established that during this period the inhabitants of Kazakhstan felt all the fragility of their existence, which they must overcome by making great moral, moral and physical efforts. In the course of the authors’ scientific analysis it was established that the citizens of Kazakhstan made a significant contribution to the defeat of the enemy. The article analyzes the role of existential reflection in resolving the subject of such problems as reflections on the meaning of life, anxiety, responsibility to the family, compassion, death, feelings, freedom, conscience. Since all these fillings are existential categories, the main pivot of the article is expressed by these concepts. It not only tells about existential unrest in the minds of people of the war period, but also sets out examples that determine the inner state of human existence. The experience of Kazakhstan society analyzed in the article showed that in many respects the terrible and unfair situation of war requires overcoming, that is, purification, and there is an opportunity to show moral strength, that is, to show a worthy way out of a person’s life tragedy.

REACHING OF JESUS VIS-À-VIS LASSWELIAN THEORYG

Mediation is generally a terrestrial element. In heaven, we will see God face to face through the beatific vision. There will be no mediation because we will be there face to face with God. However, in our present life, it has pleased God to reveal himself to us in a mediated way. He has done this through different means which we call medium of God’s communication to the human person. This mediation happens in the context of the world – in the existential categories of life. Mediation takes place in this world – in our daily experiences. This agrees very much with the existentialism of Heidegger but without neglecting the transcendental categories of Kant.