Study Of Human Experience Research Articles

Exploring Phenomenology in Literary Analysis: A Novel Theoretical Framework

Phenomenology is a philosophical approach based on an understanding of subjective experience, offering a unique lens for exploring literary works. Synthesis of phenomenology and literary analysis reveal a complex relationship between human experience and creative expression. Phenomenology, a philosophical framework grounded in the study of human experience, offers a unique lens for understanding and interpreting literature. This article examines the theoretical foundations of phenomenology and its application in literary analysis, presenting in-depth analysis and case studies that demonstrate the wealth of insight it brings to the field of literary studies. Phenomenology, seeking to understand human experience and its underlying structure, has emerged as a valuable lens for analyzing literary works. Through a detailed literature review, discussion of theoretical frameworks, and examination of case studies, this article explores how phenomenology enhances our understanding of literary texts, enriches their interpretation, and explores the complex interactions between readers and texts.

Phenomenology and phenomenography in educational research: A critique

The use of phenomenology and phenomenography as a method in the educational research literature has risen in popularity, particularly by researchers who are interested in understanding and generating knowledge about first-person events, or the lived experiences of students in certain educational contexts. With the rise of phenomenology and phenomenography as a method, some conceptual mistakes and associated confusion have also arisen; however, accounts examining both are limited. As a result, this paper will be concerned with the discussion of two issues: (1) for the sake of conceptual clarity, I provide a brief outline of phenomenology and phenomenography; and, (2) I then turn my attention to a critical discussion of phenomenography. In the latter case, I argue that when phenomenography departs from phenomenology it actually weakens its legitimacy as an approach to research. In order to overcome this problem, I argue that it makes sense to consolidate phenomenography within the broader research agenda of phenomenology which extends on the work of Husserl. Of course, the caveat to this idea is contingent upon a significant shift within phenomenography so it closely aligns itself with phenomenological principles and methods. As a way forward, I offer research direction to those who may be interested in the study of human experience by opening-up interdisciplinary dialogue about phenomenology, and at the same time I explore core methods used in phenomenology that extend on the continental tradition of phenomenology.

Социальный опыт личности: междисциплинарный категориальный анализ

We present a detailed analysis of the “social experience” concept from the point of view of philosophy, sociology, psychology and pedagogy. When considering social experience as an in-tegral concept, we carry out a separate analytical interpretation of the “experience” and “socialization” categories in the context of various scientific disciplines. The analysis of the designated concepts from the point of view of philosophy contains a historical digression that reveals the position of the phenomena studied in different philosophical schools. Sociology is considered as a source of the concept of “socialization” in its contemporary meaning. Psychology is considered as a discipline in which the study of human experience and interaction with it occupies a central place. Socialization is considered in the context of pedagogy as a science with its own unique specificity focusing on work with the educational process and its subjects: we analyze the basic pedagogical concepts of understanding socialization as a process of mastering social experience, and variative interpretations of this concept in scientific and pedagogical sources are considered. As a result of the analysis, we conclude that social experience should be understood as the experience of human participation in joint activities, which determines the level of knowledge and skills, as well as understanding of life in general. We also reveal the position of this phenomenon in a contemporary pedagogy.

Turning back to experience in Cognitive Linguistics via phenomenology

AbstractCognitive Linguistics began as an apotheosis of lived experience, but has over the years diversified into many different stands, interpreting the notion of “experience” and along with it the notion of “cognition” in conflicting ways: individual or social, prelinguistic or linguistic, unconscious or conscious? These issues are not only philosophical as they hold crucial implications for methodology. Here, I propose that most of them can be resolved with the help ofphenomenology, “the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves to us in and through such experience” (Sokolowski 2000.Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2). Cogent syntheses are proposed to the individual/social and prelinguistic/linguistic debates, showing that scholars like Langacker, Talmy and Itkonen have focused on complementary aspects of implicitly phenomenological investigations. Third-person, “objective” methods are necessary for extending the scope of such investigations, but epistemologically secondary. Thus, the focus of Cognitive Linguistics can be brought back to experience, albeit in a more mature manner than 30 years ago.

Archaeologies of the Past and in the Present in 2014: Materialities of Human History

Research from the past year demonstrates archaeologists’ diverse contributions to the anthropological study of human experience and social relationships in time and space. I divide literature published from late 2013 to late 2014 into five themes. First, archaeological research on space focuses on the persistence and materiality of landscapes, the creation and dynamics of communities and cities, and the mobility and migration of people. Second, studies of climate change and environmental interaction stress that organizational relationships and their long-term legacies are fundamental to ecological sustainability. Third, archaeologists offer anthropology the ability to contextualize the causes and the manifestations of violence and conflict through longitudinal cases studies and material analysis. Fourth, work on objects, bodies, and identity emphasizes that social subjectivities are not only variable but are historically connected to material worlds. Finally, fifth, archaeologists engaged with the present offer critical understandings of heritage policies and promote an activism that seeks more ethical practices with descendent communities and within the discipline itself. Despite differences, the recent literature reveals archaeologists’ contributions to these significant anthropological topics by studying long-term, historical legacies and the materiality of human relationships. [archaeology, anthropology, materiality, history, year in review]

Humanistic Psychology a Rise for Positive Psychology

The first phase of humanistic psychology, which covered the period between 1960 to 1980, was largely driven by Maslow's agenda for a positive psychology. It articulated a view of the human being as irreducible to parts, needing connection, meaning, and creativity. As the intellectual core of the human potential movement, humanistic psychology had a broad impact both on the field of psychology as well as the culture at large. This holistic perspective on psychological development and self-actualization laid the foundation for the professions of individual and family counseling (Satir, 1964) and organizational development consulting (Massarik, 1992). The study of peak experiences and self-actualization was popularized throughout the culture. psychology also affected the educational system with its views on self-esteem and self-help, offering tools forpersonal and spiritual transformation. For example, the state of California funded a study of self-esteem which was sponsored by John Vasconcellos, past president of the Association for Psychology and at the time Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the California Assembly (Mecca, Smelser & Vasconcellos, 1989).The Psychology Division (32) of the American Psychological Association was founded in September, 1971 in response to the call for theory construction, research, and clinical professional education in humanistic psychology. psychology has continued as an oiganized movement that focuses research and educational efforts on the study of human experience. Besides Division 32, the organizational structures that carry the movement forward include the Association for Psychology, as well as the graduate programs of the members of the Consortium for Diversified Psychology Programs, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Saybrook Graduate School, Seattle University, Sonoma State University, State University of West Georgia, Union Institute, Universidad AutUnoma de la Laguna (Mexico), and Harmony Institute (Russia). It includes The Psychologist and the Journal of Psychology as well as the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology.The first brochure of Division 32 stated in its mission statement: Humanistic psychology aims to be faithful to the full richness of human experience. Its foundations include philosophical humanism, existentialism, and phenomenology. Its approach to the science and profession of psychology accepts the challenge to develop a systematic and rigorous understanding of human beings. psychologists investigate not only suffering and trauma, but also growth and creativity, dreams, ethics and values (Frankl, 1959; James, 1961; Maslow, 1971; May, 1958). They want to know what works, and how to assess outcome in therapy (Bohart, 1997; Schneider, & Eagle, 1996-7).Historic look on positive psychologyThe advent of positive psychology as we know it today can be traced back to Martin E. P. Seligman's 1998 Presidential Address to the American Psychological Association (Seligman, 1999). Following a serendipitous holiday meeting between Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi in winter 1997 (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003), and an epiphanic moment when gardening with his daughter Nikki (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), Seligman realized that psychology had largely neglected the latter two of its three pre-World War II missions: curing mental illness, helping all people to lead more productive and fulfilling lives, and identifying and nurturing high talent. The advent of the Veterans Administration (in 1946) and the National Institute of Mental Health (in 1947) had largely rendered psychology a healing discipline based upon a disease model and illness ideology (see also, Maddux, 2002; Maddux, Snyder, & Lopez, 2004). With this realization, Seligman resolved to use his APA presidency to initiate a shift in psychology's focus toward a more positive psychology (Seligman, 1999). …

Islamic Economics: A Survey of the Literature

A central thesis of this paper is that social science is the study of human experience, and hence strongly conditioned by history. Modern Western political, economic and social structures have emerged as a consequence of the repudiation of religion, and are based on secular principles. Many of these are inimical to Islamic principles, and cannot be adapted to an Islamic society. Muslim societies achieved freedom from colonial rule in the first half of the twentieth century and sought to construct institutions in conformity with Islam. The development of Islamic economics is part of this process of transition away from Western colonial institutions. This paper focuses on the contrasts between Western economic theories and Islamic approaches to organization of economic affairs.Neoclassical theory is centered around the acquisitive instinct of humans, and makes competition the driving force of economic analysis. Islamic approaches foster cooperation and encourage generosity as the fundamental principle for handling economic affairs. Human beings have potential for good and evil, and are free to choose between the two; their behavior is not subject to mathematical laws postulated by neoclassical economic theory. The main message of Islam is that we must strive to achieve the potential for good both at the individual and at the social level. Behavior in the economic realm is also governed by this goal.Islamic law (Shari'ah) provides the framework for all activity within an Islamic society. In the economic domain, Islamic law regulates both methods by which money may be earned and also the ways it may be spent. Acquisition of wealth is permissible only in ways which are just to all parties concerned; exploitation, arbitrary taxation, and individual profit resulting in social harm is not permissible in Islamic law. This puts numerous restrictions on business practices utilized to make profits. For example, polluting the environment, or selling products which lead to moral corruption would not be permissible in Islamic law. Wealth which has been acquired becomes private property, which is both a and a according to Islamic concepts. The trust aspect means that property must be used in ways beneficial to the individual and society. The test aspect means that those who have more than they need should take care of those who are in need. Ways in which acquired wealth can be spent is also subject to Islamic law. People are expected to strive to be self-sufficient and not ask from others. Thus striving to acquire wealth and spending it on personal and family needs is encouraged by Islamic law. Islam does not preach austerity and encourages a comfortable standard of living. At the same time, it strongly discourages spending on idle desires, luxuries, and ostentation. There is also a strong encouragement to spend what is beyond ones needs on social welfare.These fundamental principles for acquiring wealth, using property (acquired wealth), and spending it impact on all realms of economic activity. Since these are substantially different from Western ideas in all three areas, there are substantial contrasts between Western economic institutions and Islamic ones. The paper traces out these differences in many realms of economic activity. The primary objective of an Islamic state is to provide justice, and Islamic public finance is concerned with tracing the concrete implications of this abstraction in the economic realm. Western financial institutions have the acquisition and multiplication of wealth as their prime objective. Since acquisition of wealth can only be a means to an end, these institutions require modification in an Islamic society. Similarly, Islamic imperatives for social welfare require construction of certain uniquely Islamic types of institutions which do not have counterparts in the West. The paper discusses these issues in some detail.

Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China (review)

Reviewed by: Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China Chia Ning (bio) Pamela Kyle Crossley, Helen P. Siu, and Donald S. Sutton, editors. Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. x, 378 pp. Hardcover $54.95, ISBN 0–520–23015–9. This volume’s editors have recruited highly qualified academics in Chinese history, anthropology, sociology, and literature as contributors. Each of the ten chapters examines a particular portion of the Ming and the Qing imperial population under a specific ethnic label. The editors claim the volume as the “historical studies of ethnicity in early modern Chinese history” (p. 2). They argue that in the major frontier regions in the vast Qing empire people’s modern identities became crystallized (which means people gained their modern ethnic names) through rapid political, social, cultural, economic, and administrative changes, especially from 1600 to 1800. The volume serves as a conclusion to the U.S. scholarly movement in the study of modern China over the past two decades, during which the ethnographic studies of minority histories, cultures, and societies in frontier regions have been accomplished more than ever before. A number of eminent authors in this scholarly movement are recruited as the volume contributors. Moving beyond the previous achievements, the volume broadens the study of the ethnicity issues by including ten different groups under discussion, whereas the previous studies are mostly one topic oriented, single group focused, or regionally centered. The frontier experiences of these ten groups—the population in the eight banners originated in Manchuria, the Mongols, the Han-Muslims, the non-Han Muslims, the population in the Southwestern Tusi system, the Yao, the Miao, the Li, the She, and the Dan—varied a great deal and each one’s history was extremely intricate in unique ways. It is the editors’ ambition to draw a new conclusion to the early history of modern China with a higher level of comprehension [End Page 73] based on such diverse frontier experiences and ethnic histories. The volume thus leads to future research, teaching, and graduate training in the field. The introduction presents several notable efforts for success in comprehending a diverse China. First, the use of primary resources is a combination of imperial, local, and various native narratives. Preference is given to local gazetteers, sources with native voices, records with opinions from event participants, writings from individuals or groups representing ethnic communities, and the genealogies of families and lineages. Based on these sources, the effect (or not) of imperial policies is discussed in their interplay with local officials and group agents. The goal of the source analysis is to find the weight of “subject-object language” (p. 16), to review perspectives both inner and outer, to look at the dynamic interaction and interdependence “between informants and those informed” (p. 13), and to move the conceptions of present understanding into historical and native implications. To best interpret the sources in various forms, the volume advocates cross-disciplinary approaches, mainly between historians, who work on written documentation, and anthropologists, who are able to “fill in the gaps in the historical records” (p. 3). Placing “ethnicity” as the focal point in a study of human experiences, the editors state that culture, ideology, history, society, and people’s actions in forms of “dominance, submission, resistance, conversion, or subversion” (p. 1) are all rooted in ethnicity. Apart from social, cultural, economic, and political approaches, this volume marks, probably stronger than any previous publications in the field, an ethnic approach to human history, in which all the social, cultural, economic, and political forces have worked to shape people’s ethnic identities in historical process. With such an approach, the 1600–1800 Ming and Qing societies represent some “major political breaks” (p. 7) in Chinese history, owing to the emergence of new ways of understanding how various portions of the imperial population were marked, enforced, suppressed, or invented. Accordingly, language, religion, economic activities, and family organizations are ethnic institutions. The state, communities, and individuals are no different: ethnic consciousness laid the dynamic for people to envision Self and Other as well as center and periphery. Larger issues that...

Folk Religion in a Calvinist Context: Hungarian Models and Scottish Examples

Introduction President, members of The Folklore Society, and friends: I am deeply conscious of the honour which the Society has bestowed on me by its invitation to deliver the Katharine Briggs Memorial Lecture for 2001. This annual lecture was instituted in order to commemorate the life and work of a scholar who made a lasting contribution to our subject, to its wider understanding and its extending horizons. She worked tirelessly to ensure respect for folklore among the disciplines which have the study of human experience as their focus, and took a broad, inclusive and comparative approach to all she did. We remember Katharine Briggs with gratitude and affection. In my lecture tonight I wish to pay tribute to research in the field of folk religion carried out by a dedicated team who have also been inspired by a scholar with very special qualities, whose work deserves to have our attention. The Reverend Doctor Ambrus Molnar (see Figure 1), who was born in 1922 and died in 2000, gave encouragement to others in the study of religious life both within and beyond the bounds of officially recognised denominational practice by his own commitment and dedication, often at risk to his own personal safety. Since the late 1980s I have had the privilege of a growing acquaintance with, and limited participation in, the work of Dr Molnar and his team, carried out in a part of Europe where East meets West in the lands of Greater Hungary. The fact that the research findings of the group are published almost entirely in Hungarian means that they are not widely known to international folklore scholars. And because of their relevance to the study of religious phenomena in countries such as Scotland, where I am based, I have chosen them for the focus of this Katharine Briggs Lecture. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Some Personal Reflections But first of all, in a reflexive mode, let me say something about my own background which will help to place my interests in this conjunction of cultures in context. I was born in 1945 in the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan to parents who would not have called themselves anything but Canadian, but whose heritage was, in both cases, Highland, Scottish and Calvinist. My mother was born in Scotland, in the Badenoch community of Kingussie, and emigrated as a small child with her parents after the First World War. My father was a descendent of emigrants of an earlier period, Mackays from Sutherland in the north of mainland Scotland, who settled as part of a group migration in what is now Western Ontario--then known as Upper Canada or Canada West--in 1831. Like his father, his uncle and several cousins, he was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Growing up in a manse, in a ministerial household, provided me with experiences which I could recognise later in my life for their folkloric significance. There was exposure on a regular basis to the events in the human life cycle, and responses to them, among members of the congregation and community. Consciously or unconsciously came a growing awareness of the multiple meanings associated with foodways and expressive genres such as the in-group humour of the clergy, to select but a few examples. Life in a western Canadian city, Saskatoon, provided the multicultural context of a province which had been settled by Europeans within seventy-five years of my own birth, where Ukrainian and German could be majority mother-tongues and where the population of my primary school classroom in the early 1950s bore witness not only to several generations of settlement, but also to the influx following the Second World War of so-called New Canadians from Europe and from Asia. My acquaintance with the phenomenon of Hungarian Calvinism can be said to date from this period. There were Hungarian families in the St Andrew's Presbyterian congregation. …

Echoes of Silence: A Phenomenological Study of the Creative Process

Creativity, when studied from both psychological and philosophical perspectives, emerges as a significant and uniquely human experience. The phenomenological method, widely recognized as the philosophical method best suited to the study of human experience, is used both to organize this article and to interpret its findings. I correlate noematic (or static) data concerning the experience of the creative act as it is perceived by creative people with noetic (or dynamic) data concerning the nature and meaning of the creative act itself. Ghiselin's (1952) anthology, The Creative Process, is the main source for primary material on the creative experiences of artists and poets. These writings are then closely examined phenomenologically--contrasting Nietzsche's and Poincare's analyses of the creative process with more recent theories of creativity--and common themes identified. Thus, creativity is viewed through the medium of a phenomenologically informed process orientation, which excludes both the idea that creativity has as its end a finalized product and the idea that the personal traits of the artist somehow completely determine this product. I then explore the reciprocal nature of interdisciplinarity by incorporating the different perspectives and concerns of creator and audience, literary and visual artist, philosopher and psychologist.

Review of Psychology: The Study of Human Experience (2nd ed.).

Review of Psychology: The Study of Human Experience (2nd ed.).

The Evolution of Research Methods for the Study of Human Experience

Mainstream and not-so-mainstream shifts in human science methodology are reviewed, and new bases for standards for doing research are proposed. Implications based on Polanyi and Kuhn are used as starting points. With them in mind, recent developments in the evolution of research methods are traced, and the characteristics of new paradigm research are explored. The key is to recognize that the study of human experience is primarily a personal and a social process that is (a) only complete when it involves personal growth and (b) only acceptable if it improves human relationships. Objectivity is important, but not primary. Investigators do not exercise unilateral control over their research; rather, everyone who participates in the process is viewed as a collaborator.

Review of Psychology: The Study of Human Experience.

Review of Psychology: The Study of Human Experience.

Historical Geography: Focus On The ‘Geographic Past’ and ‘Historical Place’

What is historical geography? Until the recent concern with environment in America, few scholars took academic geography seriously, let alone historical geography. Even today the environment, its spatial structuring, and the manner in which people locate themselves and their activities in geographical space are issues easily subordinated to other disciplines. Geography is easily viewed as a mere dimension of some other aspect of human life. Historical geography is not something historians generally study as an end in itself. They use geography to help define political, economic, or social issues. Geography of the past (and often only the physical aspect) is viewed as an explaining variable, and rarely as a variable to be explained. Certainly, geography can influence human behavior. Opportunities for human life are distributed spatially in various ways. Human history evolves as individuals, communities, and other social groups pick and choose among these opportunities. It concerns the development of new ways of life, and the continual reorganization of new and old in an ever changing geographical mosaic. Geographers believe that this mosaic deserves explenation in its own right. The concept of place is central to geographical analysis. Places are discrete. They have specific locations. They have boundries which contain selected kinds of people, activities, and artifacts. Places exist in time. They open and close, and their activities can be periodized. They also vary in scale. A geographer might study the American South or the Middle West as a region. He might also study the manner in which people define personal spaces, distribute themselves in spaces as small as rooms, and how their spatial distributions change in time. Historical geographers focus on place and place change in the past. The study of place can be approached in at least two ways. Emphasis can be given to the structuring of geographical space which results when places are created and used by people. This is the dominant theme in human geography today. It has led to an emphasis on mapping spatial distributions, and comparing these distributions using quantitative techniques in hypotheses testing frameworks. This form of geographical analysis uses the scientific method. Its purpose is to identify causal relationships betweeen spatial patterns so that generalizations with high predictive capabilities can be derived. This study of distributions in space necessarily emphasizes groups of people. The individual is subsumed in the quest for central tendencies or measures of deviation from recognized norms across large populations. Focus on the individual, both as a decision maker and as an actor in geographical space, represents another approach. In studying human spatial behavior, emphasis is on how people view place. How do beliefs and attitudes about places influence human behavior? What kinds of satisfactions (or dissatisfactions) do people expect from different kinds of places and how do these anticipations influence locational and other choices? Emphasis on human spatial behavior involves both the study of population and the study of individuals, the latter inviting a clear humanistic orientation. Scientific method, especially the use of deductive models, has proved limited in the study of human experience. A broader epistemology is evolving. 2