Holistic Theory Research Articles

Daniel Bar‐Tal, on the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict, before and after October 7, 2023: In conversation with James Liu and Veronica Hopner

AbstractThe Israel‐Palestinian conflict is one of the most well‐known and polarizing issues that has impacts on societies, and institutions beyond Israel, and Palestine. This interview with prominent social scientist Daniel Bar‐Tal, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, focused on the situation in Israel and Palestine following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. Interviews such as this are an academic inquiry drawing on the expert analysis of a scholar‐activist, grounded in research and theory. As such an analysis, Bar‐Tal explains the causes of this war, its context, its process, the contribution of each side to its escalation, and its effects on the possibilities of peaceful conflict resolution between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. He describes the current situation as governed by considerations of realpolitik, contestations over what defines antisemitism, and whether Israeli conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide or ethnic cleansing. This interview enables the application of Bar‐Tal's systematic and holistic Theory of Intractable Conflict to the current crisis to interrogate how ethos of conflict, collective memory, and collective emotional orientation dynamically interconnect to form a culture of conflict. But also, how these elements can also be addressed for solutions to enable peaceful resolutions.

(Supervised) Practice Makes Progress: Student Meaning Making And Development Through Internship Experiences

ABSTRACT Informed by Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Baxter Magolda’s holistic theory of student development, this qualitative study explores the experiences of graduate students in a supervised internship. From an analysis of written assignments completed during the internship experience, our findings reveal abundant meaning-making opportunities for graduate students to gain valuable insights about their personal and professional development, navigating transitions, and application of educational content to real-world settings.

Chance, probability, and uncertainty at the edge of human reasoning: What is Knightian uncertainty?

AbstractResearch SummaryFor more than a century, Frank Knight's Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit has significantly influenced entrepreneurship theory development by exploring the nature of uncertainty and the epistemic limits of entrepreneurial action. Knight's work highlights how economic actors cannot fully predict the consequences of their actions. Despite its broad influence, debates persist regarding the nature of Knightian uncertainty. This study addresses these debates through a comprehensive analysis of RUP and Knight's other published and unpublished writings to offer new insights into the nature and meaning of Knightian uncertainty, revealing Knight's holistic theory that integrates “real indeterminism,” “partial knowledge,” and “subjective beliefs.” This analysis provides much needed construct clarity to advance contemporary theories of entrepreneurial action and the role of uncertainty in business venturing processes.Managerial SummaryThis article revisits Frank Knight's foundational work, Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit, a cornerstone in entrepreneurship research for over a century. We highlight Knight's holistic approach to uncertainty, which integrates the concepts of real indeterminism (the inherent unpredictability of future events), partial knowledge (the incomplete understanding of the present and future), and subjective beliefs (individual perceptions and interpretations). The study offers new perspectives on how Knightian uncertainty influences entrepreneurial decision‐making and action, highlighting how this unique type of uncertainty plays a critical role in the business venturing process. These insights provide valuable contributions to contemporary theories of entrepreneurship, emphasizing the complexity and multifaceted nature of navigating uncertainty in business.

Municipal Entities Stimulation: The Concept and Essence

The paper draws attention to the lack of a holistic theory of encouraging municipal entities, which makes it difficult to develop an effective incentive policy in relation to them. The paper examines doctrinal approaches to understanding legal stimulation, and expresses the author’s position on this issue. The difficulty of creating a unified theory of legal encouragement is noted due to the presence of incentive norms in legislation with different industry affiliation. Attention is paid to incentive legal relations, which made it possible to consider municipalities as their participants. The paper describes the features of the public-incentive relationship, gives the characteristic of municipalities as a subject of public-incentive legal relations. It is noted that the object of incentive relations with the participation of municipalities is based on public relations aimed to stimulate municipalities, represented by their bodies, and the local community to effective managerial activities. For this purpose, funds are to be allocated through inter-budgetary transfers and grants. The basis for encouraging municipalities is formed by the performance indicators of their activities, expressed in quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The content of the legal structure "municipal entities stimulation" is defined as the activity of authorized entities aimed at establishing conditions and criteria for encouraging municipalities and stimulating them to effective management activities through the use of incentive measures.

The Ecofeminism Practice: The Women's Movement in the Documentary Film “Sangihe Melawan”

Ecofeminism is an interrelated and holistic theory and practice. Ecology, in conjunction with discourses on women's freedom and radical democracy, constitutes one of the primary pillars of democratic confederalism, which is the development of the political paradigm in Indonesia. Ecofeminism also manifests in several areas, including the women's resistance movement against gold mining by PT Tambang Mas Sangihe (TMS) in Sangihe. This study aims to describe the representation of the women's movement in the documentary film "Sangihe Melawan," which was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Watchdoc Documentary on July 1, 2022. This research employs semiotics techniques. The data analysis unit in this study includes images or visuals, audio (dialogue and narration), acting, setting, type of shot, and angle, which collectively demonstrate the role of women in the concept of Social Ecofeminism. The results indicate that women are represented as the most disadvantaged parties in the exploitation of natural resources. The women's movement to protect the environment is also depicted as an effortful endeavor. The women's resistance to the expansion of gold mining in Sangihe was manifested in various actions, including awareness-raising activities, a women's rally, legal action against PT TMS through the Manado and Jakarta Administrative Courts, and other legal avenues.

The Role of Innovation Management Tools in Generating Innovation Market Success

The extensive literature on innovation management lacks a holistic theory, yet offers valuable frameworks, concepts, and tools for analyzing and managing the innovation process. Research gaps are evident in understanding the impact of specific innovation management techniques or tools (IMT) on innovation performance. Notably, limited studies demonstrate the influence of IMT on performance, primarily through qualitative case studies, and there is a notable shortage of diverse methodologies examining the interaction and collective impact of these tools alongside other innovation drivers. This paper investigates the significance of IMT in relation to other factors contributing to Innovation Market Success (IMS). Using Bootstrapped Structural Equation Modelling and Necessary Conditions Analysis on a dataset of 354 medium-sized enterprises in Germany and Austria, the study examines the interconnectedness and significance of IMT with other innovation performance determinants. Findings suggest a need to reassess the perceived importance of innovation management tools, highlighting an overemphasis in current research, while overlooking other crucial success factors. This study enhances understanding of IMT's role and impact, advocating for their strategic use in harnessing a firm's resources and capabilities to generate new competitive advantages, aligning with the Resource-based View of the Firm.

Reply to Kottler

ABSTRACT The author appreciates Kottler’s suspension of her own theoretical framework in order more fully to enter and grasp his framework. He finds his theory of needed relationships/complex selfobjects and hers of twinship/alterego selfobject experience to be compatible if it is recognized that the two sets of constructs represent two different categories of analytic theorizing: what the author terms “holistic” vs. “categorical” constructs. Holistic theories and constructs pertain to the analytic relationship as a whole whereas categorical theories and constructs describe particular dimensions of that relationship. He argues that the major concepts of his model—the needed relationship, fittedness, specificity of recognition and specificity of connection—are all holistic constructs whereas twinship and alterego transference phenomena are categorical in that they refer to particular dimensions of certain treatments. The author’s concept of complex selfobject experience is also a categorical construct but “moves in the direction of” a holistic construct. Finally, the author is in full agreement with Kottler that our theories and ways of working need to take into account and address the realities of otherness and difference between ourselves and our patients in such a way that our patients feel met, understood and fully welcome in the analytic space.

Decision making in complex land systems: outline of a holistic theory of agency

ContextModels of human agency within research on land systems and landscapes do not fully account for social and cultural factors in decision making. Conversely, within social theory, parallel concepts of agency do not fully take biophysical and spatial factors into account. This calls for a synthesis of conceptual models addressing human decision making in land systems.ObjectivesThe review identifies parallels between social and ecological perspectives on humans as co-constituent parts of complex land systems. On this basis selected models of agency combining insights from social theory and land systems research are outlined and compared, and improved concepts are outlined.MethodsElements of agency in modern agricultural land systems are reviewed. A case study illustrating the application of agency concepts in an analysis of decision making among farmers on the Canterbury Plains (New Zealand) is presented. On this basis it is discussed how to improve understandings of human agency in land systems.ResultsThe review identifies and compares parallel conceptions of agency, practice and holism in landscape ecology and social theory. Taking the agency of farmers in contemporary agricultural landscapes as an example, theories currently used to characterise and interpret the agency of farmers are discussed and improvements considered. Potentials for improvement of current conceptual models are indicated and discussed, and an improved model of agency is suggested.ConclusionsBased on the review, the article presents an improved conceptual model of agency in land systems emphasizing the position of agents in social-ecological contexts of action.

Secession from and secession within the European Union: Toward a holistic theory of secession

Abstract After presenting some convergent tendencies and eclectic approaches to moral theories of secession in light of some practical applications of these theories, the article outlines the constitutional landscape on the regulation of secession and analyzes the legal right to withdraw from the European Union, arguing that this right to secede from the Union helps to justify a right to secede from EU member states. Through the exploration of several arguments that may distinguish between these rights of exit, the article contends that their regulation and qualification should not be substantially different from one another. Taking a holistic approach, the article defends a qualified right to secede from the European Union as a whole and from its individual member states.

The Spemann-Mangold organizer discovery and society

This paper analyzes the influence of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold's discovery of the embryonic organizer on society outside the narrower confines of embryology. It begins by overviewing how in the 1920s–1930s, the organizer discovery fit well into the agenda of both right-wing and left-wing political camps, as it supported holistic theories of biological development that aligned with their ideological views. The paper then explores the organizer's influence on the formation and interdisciplinary discussions of the 1930s Cambridge Theoretical Biology Club. Club member C.H. Waddington's concept of the epigenetic landscape, inspired in part by Spemann and Mangold's work, went on to impact diverse fields including mathematics, psychology, anthropology, architecture, and art. Examples include mathematician René Thom's catastrophe landscapes and the field of ekistics (the science of human settlements). Spemann and Mangold's creation of an embryo chimera by combining tissues from different newt species also helped shape philosophers' and artists' understanding of the relationship between nature and technology as an integrated whole rather than separate entities. Additionally, Spemann's embryonic field concept helped influence field theories in other areas of science, and thinkers have pointed out metaphorical similarities between the organizer experiment and philosophical dialectics, film editing, or historical events. However, several factors likely limited the long-term societal impact of Spemann's holistic perspective, notably the rise of molecular biology and DNA-centric reductionist views of biology in the mid-late 20th century. While such reductionism still dominates public perceptions of biology, there seems to be a renewed openness to holistic perspectives reminiscent of Spemann's views.

Beyond developmental psychopathology: Positive child development.

The field of developmental psychopathology has made significant contributions to our understanding of both typical and atypical development. However, while there are established theories for developmental psychopathology with detailed criteria for pathological outcomes, there is less agreement regarding development under optimal conditions and the definition of positive outcomes. In this conceptual paper, I make the case that a better understanding of positive child development is crucial because it will not only advance our general knowledge on human development but also complement current work on developmental psychopathology. After defining positive development as the development of positive functioning in children, such as skills, strengths, competencies, and wellbeing, rather than the absence of problems, current concepts with relevance for positive development are reviewed, before highlighting gaps in our knowledge on positive development and suggestions for future research. Although several of the reviewed frameworks provide important contributions to the conceptualization of positive development, most of them focus on positive functioning in adults with limited consideration of development in the early years. More research is needed that specifically targets the development of positive outcomes from early childhood onward in order to develop a more comprehensive and holistic theory of positive child development.

Superdeterminism without Conspiracy

Superdeterminism—where the Measurement Independence assumption in Bell’s Theorem is violated—is frequently assumed to imply implausibly conspiratorial correlations between properties λ of particles being measured and measurement settings x and y. But it does not have to be so: a superdeterministic but non-conspiratorial locally causal model is developed where each pair of entangled particles has unique λ. The model is based on a specific but arbitrarily fine discretisation of complex Hilbert space, where λ defines the information, over and above the freely chosen nominal settings x and y, which fixes the exact measurement settings X and Y of a run of a Bell experiment. Pearlean interventions, needed to assess whether x and y are Bell-type free variables, are shown to be inconsistent with rational-number constraints on the discretised Hilbert states. These constraints limit the post-hoc freedom to vary x keeping λ and y fixed but disappear with any coarse-graining of λ, X, and Y, rendering so-called drug-trial conspiracies irrelevant. Points in the discretised space can be realised as ensembles of symbolically labelled deterministic trajectories on an ‘all-at-once’ fractal attractor. It is shown how quantum mechanics might be ‘gloriously explained and derived’ as the singular continuum limit of the discretisation of Hilbert space. It is argued that the real message behind Bell’s Theorem has less to do with locality, realism, or freedom to choose, and more to do with the need to develop more explicitly holistic theories when attempting to synthesise quantum and gravitational physics.

Universal Complexity Science and Theory of Everything: Challenges and Prospects

This article argues that complexity scientists have been searching for a universal complexity in the form of a “theory of everything” since some important theoretical breakthroughs such as Bertalanffy’s general systems theory, Wiener’s cybernetics, chaos theory, synergetics, self-organization, self-organized criticality and complex adaptive systems, which brought the study of complex systems into mainstream science. In this respect, much attention has been paid to the importance of a “reductionist complexity science” or a “reductionist theory of everything”. Alternatively, many scholars strongly argue for a holistic or emergentist “theory of everything”. The unifying characteristic of both attempts to account for complexity is an insistence on one robust explanatory framework to describe almost all natural and socio-technical phenomena. Nevertheless, researchers need to understand the conceptual historical background of “complexity science” in order to understand these longstanding efforts to develop a single all-inclusive theory. In this theoretical overview, I address this underappreciated problem and argue that both accounts of the “theory of everything” seem problematic, as they do not seem to be able to capture the whole of reality. This realization could mean that the idea of a single omnipotent theory falls flat. However, the prospects for a “holistic theory of everything” are much better than a “reductionist theory of everything”. Nonetheless, various forms of contemporary systems thinking and conceptual tools could make the path to the “theory of everything” much more accessible. These new advances in thinking about complexity, such as “Bohr’s complementarity”, Morin’s Complex thinking, and Cabrera’s DSRP theory, might allow the theorists to abandon the EITHER/OR logical operators and start thinking about BOTH/AND operators to seek reconciliation between reductionism and holism, which might lead them to a new “theory of everything”.

Fazang’s mereology as a model for holism

Recently, much attention has been given to Buddhism as a precursor to contemporary holistic theories, and more specifically to the Huayan school’s radical holistic metaphysics (often given the metaphorical name of The Net of Indra), as well as to Huayan’s most elaborate theoretician, Fazang. Nevertheless, contemporary interpretations of Fazang have been weighted by either too strict an adherence to atomistic logic or by unfortunate translations. In this paper, I present new translations of the key passages of Fazang’s The Rafter Dialogue, as well as a philosophical commentary that his departure from atomism. I then proceed to argue that the six characteristics Fazang attributes to a whole that cannot be reduced to its parts are both sufficient and necessary for holism.

Theoretical Approaches to Disrupting Historical Trauma Among Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ Elders

Introduction: Indigenous holistic theory (IHT) is a multi-faceted framework grounded in traditional cultural knowledge that emphasizes Indigenous world views, cultures, and traditions with a focus on the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical elements of health and wellness (Absolon, 2010). Objective: To describe the role of historical trauma and health-related behaviours among Two-Spirit and Indigenous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (2S/LGBTQ+) Elders and how the emergence of IHT and its guiding constructs could work to inform culturally responsive interventions for the study population. Method: IHT constructs were applied to historical trauma intervention tailoring among Indigenous 2S/LGBTQ+ Elders, including a relevant theoretical model. Results: Applying the IHT framework to Indigenous 2S/LGBTQ+ Elder interventions could be an effective pathway for understanding the population while helping to inform more culturally responsive health promotion efforts that will lead to wellness in later life. Discussion/Conclusion: The paper concludes with a discussion of how IHT helps to advance our knowledge about addressing historical trauma most responsively, along with future research recommendations.

Analysing the rationality of the Gaia hypothesis

AbstractThe Gaia hypothesis is often used as the basis for demonstrating environmental integrity in current arguments within the field of ecological philosophy. However, when citing the Gaia hypothesis, people are often vague when defining its connotations and extensions. By analysing the controversies surrounding the Gaia hypothesis, we can achieve an appropriate conception of its ontology, including the blindness of the strong theoretical approach and the rationality of the weak one. Gaia's naturalistic epistemology, holistic methodology and systematic values can thus be discriminated. Gaia has strong significance for allowing human beings to understand the Earth's ecological environment and is an effective ecological holistic theory.

The embodied mind in motion: a neuroscientific and philosophical perspective on prevention and therapy of dementia.

The embodied mind in motion is a concept in which health and well-being, prevention and therapy, as well as lifestyle and habits meet. The mind changes profoundly in the course of dementias, affecting daily living and resulting in reduced quality of life. Interdisciplinary approaches are required for a holistic understanding of how the mind is affected by dementia. We here explore what such a holistic theory of dementia might look like and propose the idea of "embodied mind in motion". The paradigm is biopsychosocial or biocultural, the theoretical anchor point is the lifeworld, and the guiding concept is "embodiment," as body and mind are constantly in motion. Physical activity is, hence, central for the experience of health and well-being, beyond being "exercise" and "health behavior". We discuss the embodied mind in motion referring to phenomenology, enactivism and (philosophical) anthropology. In our view, habits are embodied long-term memories and a philosophical equivalent to lifestyle. They unfold the meaningfulness of moving the body, complementing the objectifiable benefits of physical exercise. Empirical studies on "holistic activities" like hiking, yoga, music and dance illustrate improved integration into everyday life. Their meaningfulness enhances compliance and increases the preventive and even therapeutic potential. A crucial factor for this is the emotional dimension of lifestyle, exemplified by the virally popularized performance of "Swan Lake" by wheel-chair bound ex-ballerina Marta Cinta González Saldaña, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. A number of epistemological and ontological consequences anchor "embodied movement" as a valuable principle for dementia research.

A Structural Relationship Model in the 21st Century Teaching and Learning of Filipino Teachers

Aims: To determine the best fit model of 21st century teaching and learning of Filipino teachers.
 Study Design: Quantitative non-experimental design.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted among teachers teaching Filipino subject in all public schools in Region 11.
 Methodology: The respondents were 400 Filipino teachers from public schools in Region 11, Southern Mindanao, Philippines. The respondents were chosen using stratified random sampling. The data were collected using google forms.
 Results: The overall results showed that the information and communication technology (ICT) integration in teachers' teaching, teachers' classroom management strategies, and teachers' professional identity as Filipino teachers have a significant influence on the teaching and learning of 21st century teachers. Among the five models, model 5 best fits the study.
 Conclusion: The use of the structural model strengthened this study because the analysis conformed to the sequential process of the specific model. The result showed that the level of integration of ICT in teaching, classroom management strategies, professional identity, and teaching and learning in the 21st century is high, and there is an indication that these variables are agreed upon in all opportunities for Filipino teachers in public secondary schools in Region XI. This is supported by Holistic Theory of Language Teaching of Richards at Rogers. Based on the results of the study, the researcher proposed the recommendation to continue and maintain the appreciation of the four variables of ICT integration in teaching, classroom management strategies, professional identity, and teaching and learning because they both gained the highest descriptive level.

Narrative simulation of social experiences in naturalistic context – A neurocinematic approach

Narratives may be regarded as simulations of everyday social situations. They are key to studying the human mind in socio-culturally determined contexts as they allow anchoring to the common ground of embodied and environmentally-engaged cognition. Here we review recent findings from naturalistic neuroscience on neural functions in conditions that mimic lifelike situations. We will focus particularly on neurocinematics, a research field that applies mediated narratives as stimuli for neuroimaging experiments. During the last two decades, this paradigm has contributed to an accumulation of insights about the neural underpinnings of behavior and sense-making in various narratively contextualized situations particularly pertaining to socio-emotional encounters. One of the key questions in neurocinematics is, how do intersubjectively synchronized brain activations relate to subjective experiences? Another question we address is how to bring natural contexts into experimental studies. Seeking to respond to both questions, we suggest neurocinematic studies to examine three manifestations of the same phenomenon side-by-side: subjective experiences of narrative situations, unfolding of narrative stimulus structure, and neural processes that co-constitute the experience. This approach facilitates identifying experientially meaningful activity patterns in the brain and points out what they may mean in relation to shared and communicable contents. Via rich-featured and temporally contextualized narrative stimuli, neurocinematics attempts to contribute to emerging holistic theories of neural dynamics and connectomics explaining typical and atypical interindividual variability.

Che “effetto” fanno i colori sull’organismo?

The aim of this paper is to show the relationship between “health” and the “efficacy of colours” on human life. What is the importance of colours in our life? An interesting case, from a biological and philosophical point of view, is the neurologist and psychologist Goldstein’s investigation on colours. The first part of this article deals with his holistic theory of the human organism. The second part has to do with Goldstein and Rosenthal’s study on the effect of colours on the human organism (1930). The final part of this paper analyses the positive or negative impact of certain colours on our psycho-physical health.