The political idea of John Locke as “the father of liberalism” cannot be sustained. There is little to no resemblance to modern liberalism. That view is usually based upon his famous Two Treatises of Government (1689). It can be considered as his most coherent, and perhaps somewhat modern political theory. The same John Locke, however, wrote his first political theory in 1660 -1662. That was the so-called Two Tracts on Government. It is a defence of absolute and arbitrary rule by (...) a magistrate. The main purpose of those two tracts is to argue against liberty of conscience, as part of a wider discussion on religious toleration. The tracts specifically focus on the moral status of the so-called things indifferent (adiaphora) within worship. (shrink)

The study discusses the political in Jean-Paul Sartre's work, focusing principally on the conceptual constructions through which the agent acting in a political action situation can be interpreted from the texts. Sartre's conception of the political agent is discussed against the background of the operational concepts and the limit-situation as an ideal type action situation construed as conceptual devices in the work for showing both Sartre's fashion of using and of construing concepts. In addition certain metaphors such as theater, play (...) and mask are used for highlighting the political reading of the texts. The theme of the agent, in one form or another, runs through Sartre's entire work. It is a theme which largely gathers together the different conceptual devices and different perspectives he takes in his work. In this study, through concepts and figures interpreted from the texts, especially from Critique de la raison dialectique, itis shown that Sartre's construction of the agent forms a challenging attempt of a revised view into the classical concept of subject. It is also shown that his agent is both a political and a moral actor which cannot be reduced to a subject or to a person, but can be described as an actor, as a player of the political condition, and as a user of political action strategies through the concepts of limit, change and non-identity. Sartre's central point of view of action is that of the agent acting in an interior space of action in a construed world. This forwards a view within which the perspective of production forms a framework for the argumentation where the main themes through which the portrait of the agent can be drawn are temporality, interiority, exteriority and subjectivity. The agent of the Critique as a non-identifiable actor acting in a temporally and dimensionally produced action situation is produced in the process of internalization and externalization of the historical and inherently political condition of being condemned to freedom. In the study it is shown that it is this agent through whom the political comes to the world and who is condemned also to politics. It is also shown that this agent forms a perspective of interpretation as well to Sartre's plays as to the central concepts of his morals. (shrink)

This study examined the relationship between meaning in life and functioning in old age: Firstly, the relationship between meaning in life and cognitive functioning was investigated. Secondly, the role of physical activity for enhancing meaning in life and physical health and functioning was studied. Thirdly, the role of meaning in life was examined by applying two models of functioning: a multidimensional model of functioning and a model based on Antonovsky's theory. In addition, the interrelationships between several meaning-in-life measures were investigated. (...) The study was part of the Evergreen project, a longitudinal, multidisciplinary research programme which studies people aged 65 - 92 in Jyväskylä, central Finland. The sample sizes of the present study varied from 55 to 320. The participants were interviewed and some of them attended a medical examination and laboratory tests designed to assessing physical, psychological and social functioning. Meaning in life was measured by interview questions, a questionnaire and a life-line drawing. The results showed that the degree of meaning in life was independent of the level of cognitive functioning. However, the content of meaning in life was related to cognitive functioning: persons with high cognitive functioning mentioned human relationships more often as a reason for meaning in life and a source of strength in life than the comparison group. Those persons with high cognitive functioning had also more often found a new field of activity giving meaning in life after retirement and this new activity was more likely to be a social activity. Physical activity was an important factor enhancing meaning in life: persons exercising frequently had a stronger sense of meaning in life and in turn rated their physical health and functioning better. The multidimensional model of functioning showed that the different measures of meaning in life were related to both physical and psychosocial functioning. The relationships were stronger with respect to subjective than objective functioning. A stronger meaning in life was related most closely to such aspects of functioning as fewer depressive symptoms, greater satisfaction with life, less frequent sense of loneliness and better self-rated health. In Antonovsky's model, important background factors facilitating the sense of coherence were cognitive functioning and physical exercise in the whole sample and being married or cohabiting in men. A strong sense of coherence enhanced in turn physical and especially psychological and social health and functioning. The interrelationships between several measures of meaning in life showed that the sense of meaning in life was related to change in zest for life and to sense of coherence. Representing one's life by a linear line and upward trend in the life-line drawing was related to a stronger sense of coherence. A higher life-line was related to a stronger sense of meaning in life. (shrink)

Waqar Ali Shah conducted an interview with Sinfree Makoni on May 21, 2024. In this interview, Professor Makoni discusses how to rethink applied linguistics in relation to southern epistemologies, decolonization, and globalectics. He also discusses his views on disinvention and reconstitution of languages, ethnolinguistic response to linguistic boundaries and identity politics, language purity, Black linguistics, integrationism, and epistemological racism. He further discusses how ideas are articulated from a specific geopolitical setting; for example, those in the Global North are privileged within (...) the field of applied linguistics while silencing those from the Global South. Makoni further argues that scholars from the Global South can enrich the field of applied linguistics because of their local experiences, knowledge of the local intellectual traditions, and familiarity with Northern theories and contexts. (shrink)

The goal of this essay is to clarify positionality as an epistemological scientific concept and address related misunderstandings to help researchers assess whether statements thereof contribute to their work. Positionality statements can be useful for various research designs across scientific fields, when they are used knowingly.

As the founding text of Daoism, Dao De Jing has in the course of its thousand-year history powerfully influenced many dimensions of the political, social and philosophical traditions both in China and beyond. In this thesis, I delve into the central Daoist notions of Ziran-Wuwei (自然 无为 “spontaneity” and “non-action”) and explore the epistemological differences they inspire in our approaches towards education. Using a hermeneutic text analysis of Daoist texts and a Critical Theory framework to explore Daoist implications in education, (...) I seek to introduce a new imagination of approaches to education - rooted in the century-old Daoist tradition - that challenges the dominated ways of thinking and practices in the education. I argue for a Ziran-wuwei education that aligns with the operation of Dao; it highlights the development of a state of being in which one engages in spontaneous ways with the surrounding environment of relatedness with minimum impositional actions and normative paradigms of thinking. (shrink)

In this conceptual article, we discuss the idea of students’ epistemic agency as an overlooked link between assessment, knowledge and society. We transcend the contemporary discourses around assessment that focus on its authenticity and student-centredness and instead investigate assessment from the viewpoints of knowledge and knowing. This approach sees assessment as functioning not only as a promoter of student learning but also as a means to prepare students to be responsible graduates and citizens as epistemic agents. First, we adapt the (...) theory of epistemic agency—that is, students’ capability to agentically evaluate, produce, use and transform knowledge—by situating it within the specific context of assessment. Second, we suggest practice-oriented ideas for assessment and feedback design to nurture epistemic agency. Overall, we do not depict epistemic agency as yet another ‘soft skill’ in higher education but as a necessary focal point for assessment that aims to nurture a transformative relationship between students and knowledge. We suggest epistemic agency as a powerful concept in understanding and nurturing the three-way engagement between assessment, knowledge and society. This concept allows us to understand whether and how assessment shapes students as epistemic agents. (shrink)

This paper engages critically with Dimitri Gutas’ recent characterization of post-classical Islamic philosophy and theology as a form of paraphilosophy or intellectual activity that merely simulates philosophy. I argue that this view arises from a misguided understanding of the concept of philosophy that should provide the standard for its historiography. In order to avoid a number of problematic consequences, such as gaps in historical continuity or a disconnection from what we understand by philosophy today, we must take our cue from (...) a sufficiently uncontroversial contemporary concept of philosophy instead of any particular historical concept, such as the Peripatetic amalgam of metaphysics, theory of science, and the empirical sciences. Such a strategy provides a sound basis for the inclusion of post-classical thinkers, as well as many classical thinkers who are not falāsifa, in the history of Islamic philosophy without vicious circularity or loss of a normative concept of philosophy. (shrink)

In the introduction to the volume, the editors explain the overarching aim of the volume and contextualize the main themes of its chapters. Even if the notions of biopolitics and biopower have played a crucial role in philosophy, the humanities, and the social sciences over the last decades, they have been used in various and at times diverging senses, which has also produced different narratives about the history of biopolitics. The main aim of the volume is to clarify whether and (...) to what extent the concept of biopolitics is applicable to antiquity. To answer such questions, the chapters collected in the volume address three main topics, namely the possible presence of biopolitical discourse in ancient thought, the extent to which the application of a biopolitical approach to ancient thought requires qualifications, and some influential contemporary interpretations of the relation between biopolitics and antiquity. (shrink)

Specialisation, by seeking theoretically deeper explanations or more accurate predictions, is common in the sciences. It typically involves splitting, where one model is further divided into several or even hundreds of narrow-scope models. The Information Systems (IS) literature does not discuss such splitting. On the contrary, many seminal IS studies report that a narrow scope is less strong, less interesting, or less useful than a wider scope. In this commentary, we want to raise the awareness of the IS community that (...) in modern scientific progress, specialisation – an activity that generally narrows the scope and decreases the generalisability of a hypothesis – is important. The philosophy of science discusses such positive developments as splitting and trading off a wide scope in favour of accuracy. Narrowing the scope may increase value, especially in sciences where practical applicability is valued. If the IS community generally prefers a wider scope, then we run the risk of not having the information necessary to understand IS phenomena in detail. IS research must understand splitting, how it results in narrowing the scope, and why it is performed for exploratory or predictive reasons in variance, process, and stage models. (shrink)

This open access book explores the gendered reality of learning philosophy at the university level, investigating the ways in which women and minority students become alienated from the social practices of a male-dominated field, and examining pedagogical solutions to this problem. It covers the roles and the interactions of the professor and student in the following ways: (1) the historical situation, (2) the affective, social and bodily situation, and (3) the moral situation. This text analyzes women’s passion for philosophy as (...) a quest for truth, as well as their partial alienation from the social practices of philosophy. It demonstrates that recognition, generosity, and care are central ingredients of good learning and teaching experiences. Providing case studies of experimental courses in philosophy, the book discusses a variety of pedagogical approaches that might increase the inclusiveness of a philosophical education: novel and more gender-balanced ways of interpreting the history of philosophy, problem-based learning as a means of emancipating the student from the traditional master–disciple relationship, body awareness practices as a way of challenging the “disembodying” tendencies of philosophy, and a pluralism of methods to address the needs of different kinds of learners. Thanks to these features, the book is particularly useful for philosophy professors at the university level, but it also provides insights for all readers who feel puzzled about the persistent underrepresentation of women in philosophy. (shrink)

A rich body of empirically grounded results and a solid theory base have often been viewed as signs of a mature discipline. Many disciplines have frequently debated what they should accept as legitimate kinds of theories, the proper roles of theory, and appropriate reference disciplines. Computing education research (CER) in particular has seen a growing number of calls for the development of domain-speciic theories for CER, adaptation of theories from other ields, and engagement with theory-based experimental and predictive research in (...) CER. Many of those calls share the same concerns and aims, yet they use very diferent vocabulary and lack a consensus over an essential concept: theory. This article presents sticking points and trouble spots in CER’s theory debates and presents a number of suggestions and ways forward. Firstly, by slightly shifting towards a model-based view of science, CER can avoid centuries of conceptual baggage related to the concept of theory. Secondly, insofar as ields like design, engineering, and social science are considered to be legitimate parts of CER, the role of theory in many CER studies needs to be judged by the criteria of the philosophy of engineering, technology, and social science, not the philosophy of (natural) science. Thirdly, instead of force-itting elements of ill-suited research paradigms from other disciplines, the philosophy of CER should focus on building a consensus on CER’s own paradigm and describing the ield’s relationship with theory in CER’s own terms. (shrink)

This study aims to highlight how an existential-humanistic perspective can inform athlete support and in doing so, emphasize the importance of explicating the philosophical underpinnings of athlete lifestyle support. Drawing on applied experience with elite youth cricketers over a 12-month period, ethnographic data were collected through the observation, maintenance of case notes, and a practitioner reflective diary. Based on thematic analysis, we created three nonfictional vignettes that we use to illustrate how existential-humanistic theorizing can inform lifestyle support. We discuss the (...) implications of this professional philosophy in terms of considerations for performance and talent development programs, and how holistic support for athletes is positioned. We also discuss implications for athlete lifestyle and performance psychology practitioners, with regard to training, underpinning theoretical grounding of support and the strategic positioning of their practitioner roles. (shrink)

The article elaborates what aspects of knowledge eldercare workers describe concerning everyday long-term care practices. The article utilises a thematic analysis of Finnish long-term care workers’ semi-structured interviews (n = 25), and in doing so, it contributes to the discussion concerning the epistemological basis of care. The analysis specifies four aspects of knowledge in long-term care work: objective/objectifying, particular, corporeal and tacit. In line with existing literature on knowledge and care, the findings indicate that rational-technical epistemological approaches are insufficient when (...) complex and fluid care relations are concerned. Moreover, cognitive impairments and other particularities of eldercare provide previously under-researched epistemological perspectives for consideration. (shrink)

This study interprets the later texts of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) with the approach of conceptual history. The selected works include a number of texts that are not generally regarded as politically interesting or relevant. This study also highlights Kant’s role as a significant classic figure in political thinking who still benefits modern research. The selected texts are approached as political discourses in a contemporary dialogue, and no principal explanation is sought for these from Kant’s famous “major” critiques. The texts are (...) read as part of Publicum, the public debate atmosphere during Prussia’s Late Enlightenment, in which the opinions of other debaters were criticised or further developed. The interpretation focuses on political problems in Kant’s production, many of which still confound researchers. Frequently asked critical questions include: Why does the Enlightenment philosopher name ownership and gender requirements for citizenship? Would not education or studies be suitable criteria? How is it possible that republicanism, an ideal raised as a guarantee of eternal peace, can exist in a monarchy, while a democracy is the most undesirable way to rule? Why should a tyranny or a bad ruler not be opposed, while the French Revolution is an admirable example? In this study, Kant’s way of thinking is interpreted by opening up the context of the era. Known as a reformer in many themes, Kant has a strong background in German theoretical history. For example, the value of the natural history theory cannot be ignored. This study presents a view of how Kant explains the social contract and the development that takes place through it from the natural state to a regulated social state. Furthermore, the definition of all the different aspects of citizenships owes to the heritage of natural law. This study demonstrates that Kant understood the Enlightenment as a political project, which was associated not only with the demand for a freedom of publication, but also with the debate over questions in the political sphere. In my interpretation, Kant’s Enlightenment theme also includes the demand to tear down universities’ horizontal division into faculties and to elevate the position of the philosophical faculty, free of external ties, to the level of other faculties, or even higher, to evaluate their scientific and philosophical grounds. (shrink)

The study discusses the political in Jean-Paul Sartre's work, focusing principally on the conceptual constructions through which the agent acting in a political action situation can be interpreted from the texts. Sartre's conception of the political agent is discussed against the background of the operational concepts and the limit-situation as an ideal type action situation construed as conceptual devices in the work for showing both Sartre's fashion of using and of construing concepts. In addition certain metaphors such as theater, play (...) and mask are used for highlighting the political reading of the texts. The theme of the agent, in one form or another, runs through Sartre's entire work. It is a theme which largely gathers together the different conceptual devices and different perspectives he takes in his work. In this study, through concepts and figures interpreted from the texts, especially from Critique de la raison dialectique, itis shown that Sartre's construction of the agent forms a challenging attempt of a revised view into the classical concept of subject. It is also shown that his agent is both a political and a moral actor which cannot be reduced to a subject or to a person, but can be described as an actor, as a player of the political condition, and as a user of political action strategies through the concepts of limit, change and non-identity. Sartre's central point of view of action is that of the agent acting in an interior space of action in a construed world. This forwards a view within which the perspective of production forms a framework for the argumentation where the main themes through which the portrait of the agent can be drawn are temporality, interiority, exteriority and subjectivity. The agent of the Critique as a non-identifiable actor acting in a temporally and dimensionally produced action situation is produced in the process of internalization and externalization of the historical and inherently political condition of being condemned to freedom. In the study it is shown that it is this agent through whom the political comes to the world and who is condemned also to politics. It is also shown that this agent forms a perspective of interpretation as well to Sartre's plays as to the central concepts of his morals. (shrink)

The purpose of this educational development study was to use qualitative methods to model the principles of guidance for the design of a Phenomenon-Based Learning (PhenoBL) entity and to produce a model for teacher education that guides the design of the PhenoBL entity. The theoretical approach to research is hermeneutic-pragmatic and encapsulates an experience-based learning perception. In this study, learning was understood as a communal process of active study of the real phenomena of everyday life and the experiences formed through (...) them. The research assignments were 1. What kind of teaching PhenoBL entities do students produce using this guiding model? 2. What elements prove to be characteristic in the design of a PhenoBL entity? 3. How do the design of the PhenoBL entity and the principles of the design model guiding the teaching practice appear in the light of this study? In accordance with the design research method, the research context was built on the teaching practice internships of an adult education for classroom teachers over three years. The research material consisted of a planning form guiding the advanced practice, the internship syntheses of the students, and plans for the PhenoBL entity produced by small groups. Data analysis was carried out between interventions using content analysis and finally using narrative plot analysis. The analysis proceeded on the basis of the researcher’s interpretation of weaving individual experiences into a great narrative conveying a shared experience. As an empirical result of this study, a model of a PhenoBL entity (ILO) design process based on Dewey's pragmatic theory, the Finnish development of school pedagogy, authentic learning and the definition of PhenoBL origin has been constructed. Research has also assembled a theoretical model for Phenomenon-Based learning. This doctoral dissertation provides research-based information on the principles and theoretical foundations of designing learning-related entities that are characterised as phenomenon-driven, highlighting the coeducational aspect. Based on the findings, the ILO-design process and its theoretical justification are presented as a suitable design tool for teacher training and teacher continuing education. (shrink)

This study is a philosophical work on Martin Heidegger's thinking. Its primary purpose is to study Heideggerian concepts. Secondly, it brings into focus two other thinkers who play with Heidegger 's thought, and thirdly, it applies Heideggerian thinking to truth and art. The study is compilation of eight articles, which are divided under three titles: I Heidegger and the Truth. II Heidegger and Truth in the Horizon of Nietzsche and Foucault, III Art in the Heideggerian Light. The main themes in (...) this study are truth and art. The first part of the study is comprised of research work on Heid egger's theory and the concept of truth, which he present in his main work Sein und Zeit. Another important theme is the Heideggerian concept of world, which is the foundation of Heidegger's Alethetical truth. Heidegger uses the concept in the phrase "being in the world." This "being in the world" is a situation in which Dasein always exists, and Heidegger claims that there is no truth without Dasein. Art, especially the work of art and poetry, are connected with the truth in Heidegger's philosophy. Art has played a central role throughout the entire tradition of western philosophy, and the same is true in Heidegger's philosophy. But Heidegger does not follow the traditional aesthetic theory of art. He formulates the question of the essence of art as an ontological question. Art is the place where the truth occurs. This kind of understanding of truth and art needs to overcome metaphysics. Heidegger regards Friedrich Nietzsche as the last representative of metaphysics, which is why Nietzsche's philosophy as nihilism must be overcome. I deal with these questions in the second part of my study. In the third part of the study I examine what is left of the truth and art in the postmodern era. In his later writings, Heidegger leaves out Dasein and changes his style of writing. The concept of the world is still essential, but it now lives its own life along with earth, gods and mortals. The main aim of this study is to bring Heidegger's theory of the truth into focus and into the Finnish philosophical discourse. Secondly, it shows what happens to the work of art in the postmodern era. (shrink)

This study examined the relationship between meaning in life and functioning in old age: Firstly, the relationship between meaning in life and cognitive functioning was investigated. Secondly, the role of physical activity for enhancing meaning in life and physical health and functioning was studied. Thirdly, the role of meaning in life was examined by applying two models of functioning: a multidimensional model of functioning and a model based on Antonovsky's theory. In addition, the interrelationships between several meaning-in-life measures were investigated. (...) The study was part of the Evergreen project, a longitudinal, multidisciplinary research programme which studies people aged 65 - 92 in Jyväskylä, central Finland. The sample sizes of the present study varied from 55 to 320. The participants were interviewed and some of them attended a medical examination and laboratory tests designed to assessing physical, psychological and social functioning. Meaning in life was measured by interview questions, a questionnaire and a life-line drawing. The results showed that the degree of meaning in life was independent of the level of cognitive functioning. However, the content of meaning in life was related to cognitive functioning: persons with high cognitive functioning mentioned human relationships more often as a reason for meaning in life and a source of strength in life than the comparison group. Those persons with high cognitive functioning had also more often found a new field of activity giving meaning in life after retirement and this new activity was more likely to be a social activity. Physical activity was an important factor enhancing meaning in life: persons exercising frequently had a stronger sense of meaning in life and in turn rated their physical health and functioning better. The multidimensional model of functioning showed that the different measures of meaning in life were related to both physical and psychosocial functioning. The relationships were stronger with respect to subjective than objective functioning. A stronger meaning in life was related most closely to such aspects of functioning as fewer depressive symptoms, greater satisfaction with life, less frequent sense of loneliness and better self-rated health. In Antonovsky's model, important background factors facilitating the sense of coherence were cognitive functioning and physical exercise in the whole sample and being married or cohabiting in men. A strong sense of coherence enhanced in turn physical and especially psychological and social health and functioning. The interrelationships between several measures of meaning in life showed that the sense of meaning in life was related to change in zest for life and to sense of coherence. Representing one's life by a linear line and upward trend in the life-line drawing was related to a stronger sense of coherence. A higher life-line was related to a stronger sense of meaning in life. (shrink)

This work examines Gilles Deleuze’s concept of intensity and the role of this concept in his philosophy of technology. The work has two main objectives. First, it analyses the role of Deleuze’s theory of intensity in his metaphysical system and in his philosophy of technology. Second, on the basis of this theory, it presents an original analysis of the creative potential of technology. The importance of the concept of intensity in Deleuze’s philosophy has been acknowledged, but so far, his views (...) on intensity have not been analysed in terms of a consistent theory. Furthermore, the implications of Deleuze’s theory of intensity for his and Félix Guattari’s analysis of technology have been entirely overlooked. This thesis shows for the first time the pivotal role of intensity in Deleuze’s philosophy and demonstrates the importance of the concept of intensity for the analysis of technicity. Part I explicates Deleuze’s theory of intensity. For Deleuze, intensity is the nature of the gradual variation of material, heterogeneous wholes. Within such wholes, intensity characterises variation in processes of individuation and systemic transformation. Moreover, these intensive processes and transformations take place within a sphere of material immediacy. Part II fleshes out the implications of this theory for a philosophy of technics. It proposes a definition of technics as immediate interaction with material variation. Technics always has an established role as a component of a particular social system, but it also bears a constant undercurrent of creative and transformative potential. Finally, the current dominance of information technology and the potential for technical creativity in contemporary society are examined on the basis of the analysis of intensive technics. The work offers an original and comprehensive analysis of Deleuze’s theory of intensity and demonstrates his contribution to the philosophy of technology. It also clarifies the processual nature of materiality and the nature of systemic transformation. Finally, it offers conceptual tools for fathoming the constraints as well as the creative potential of technics in contemporary culture. (shrink)

This dissertation examines Miguel de Unamuno´s notions on philosophy, education, and the human-being. I will explore Unamuno´s conception of the aim and significance of philosophy and how to reach them. I will then use Unamuno´s philosophical tools that is, mono-dialogue, metaphor, story, contradiction and repetition, to investigate the landscape of contemporary Finnish education. Unamuno considers philosophy as a human being’s complete understanding of the world. For him the human being is both the purpose and the starting point that is best (...) understood as a living verb: a person who is born, suffers, dies, feels, thinks, yearns, struggles, dreams, and loves. Ultimately, concrete and conscious persons of ”blood and bone” will defy any definitions, classifications and abstractions. Philosophy approaches the truth with poetry, by generating a new language with which to create reality. This study builds on facto-fictional stories about Finnish education as well as the metaphors of journey and landscape. It is a dialogue between me, Unamuno’s texts, research, and the public debate on Finnish education. Philosophy, life, the human, and education are all in an insoluble, dynamic contradition. This constant tension that enables life and human existence lies at the heart of both philosophy and education. In Unamunos view, the education of a living human being cannot be based on pedagogical theories or systems. Instead, it requires the educator’s authentic and compassionate love. This educational love seeks to minimize the other´s suffering and inable the educatee become the best possible self. The changes in the Finnish landscape of education, the global economy, sustainable development and justice are among the themes discudssed in terms of Unamuno´s philosophy in this study. Miguel de Unamuno’s philosophy of education can be summarised as follows: We cannot disregard the human being in neither the educatees nor educators. We must teach a language for dreaming, the will to hope and we must do so lovingly. We must travel beside the future human beings and embrace the contradiction of human existence. (shrink)

Meta-study is a method for analysing the content and the process of knowledge production in a body of qualitative research. Conducting a meta-study involves four steps: (1) meta-data-analysis which involves the study of empirical findings; (2) meta-method which examines the epistemological soundness and rigour of methods; (3) meta-theory which examines the structures, assumptions, and principles underpinning the primary research studies; and (4) meta-synthesis which brings the three steps together and considers the plausibility of existing accounts, what has been neglected, and (...) what new avenues have been opened for advancing knowledge. Qualitative researchers in sport and exercise psychology (SEP) have recently started using meta-study to examine bodies of qualitative research in various areas including positive youth development, junior-to-senior transition, athletic identity and mental toughness development. Our review shows that meta-study has been a useful method for demonstrating how methodological developments have influenced how qualitative researchers apply methods and conceptualise the phenomena of interest. However, there have been diverse applications of meta-study and, in the absence of recent updates on the method, meta-study is in danger of remaining underdeveloped or becoming outdated. Based on the review, we outline guidelines for SEP scholars to employ meta-study rigorously. (shrink)

This article consists of critical editions of a selection of medieval commentaries on the chapter seven of Aristotle’s De sensu et sensato, which pertains to a particular philosophical problem, namely, the possibility of perceiving many perceptual qualities simultaneously. The commentaries included are written by Adam of Buckfield, Anonymous of Merton, Radulphus Brito, Anonymous of Paris, John Felmingham(?), Walter Burley, John of Jandun, and John Buridan. The most significant discovery made in the course of preparing the editions concerns Walter Burley’s commentary. (...) Previous studies indicate that he wrote only an exposition commentary on De sensu, but a more careful examination of the existing manuscripts shows that at least one of them contains a different work, here dubbed Quaestiones super librum De sensu et sensato. (shrink)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the reciprocal relations between the caregiving imparted by immigration centre managers and the role of the researcher in responding to the care that is given by managerial caregivers. To enable this, we draw on a feminist theory of care ethics that considers individuals as relationally interdependent. Design/methodology/approach The analysis draws on a semi-structured interview study involving 20 Finnish immigration reception centre managers. Findings Insight is generated by reflecting on moments (...) of care that arise between research participants and the researcher in a study of immigration centre management. We emphasise the importance of mature care, receptivity and engrossment in building caring relationships with research participants by acknowledging the care they give to others. Our findings draw attention to the moral and epistemological responsibility to practice care in organizational research. Originality/value The paper highlights the relationality between practicing care in immigration centre management and doing qualitative organizational research, both of which rely on mature care, receptivity and engrossment in order to meet the other morally. We draw attention to the moral responsibility to care which characterises researcher–researched relationships and emphasise the importance of challenging methodological discourses that problematise or dismiss care in qualitative organizational research. (shrink)

This paper engages critically with Dimitri Gutas’ recent characterization of post-classical Islamic philosophy and theology as a form of paraphilosophy or intellectual activity that merely simulates philosophy. I argue that this view arises from a misguided understanding of the concept of philosophy that should provide the standard for its historiography. In order to avoid a number of problematic consequences, such as gaps in historical continuity or a disconnection from what we understand by philosophy today, we must take our cue from (...) a sufficiently uncontroversial contemporary concept of philosophy instead of any particular historical concept, such as the Peripatetic amalgam of metaphysics, theory of science, and the empirical sciences. Such a strategy provides a sound basis for the inclusion of post-classical thinkers, as well as many classical thinkers who are not falāsifa, in the history of Islamic philosophy without vicious circularity or loss of a normative concept of philosophy. (shrink)

We respond to Lee’s (forthcoming) commentary on our article “Demystifying the Influential IS Legends of Positivism” (Siponen & Tsohou [S&T], 2018). Lee offers four arguments against our analyses and conclusions in S&T (2018). First, because logical positivism (LP) has been discredited, he contends it cannot be used as a normative standard in IS. We clarify that our conclusions in S&T (2018) point to (1) the lack of justification for certain IS beliefs, and (2) a misunderstanding rather than legitimacy of LP (...) as a philosophy of science. Second, Lee argues that IS researchers characterizing positivism never said they were following the tenets of LP. We provide evidence to show some influential papers on positivism in IS research indicated they were indeed following LP. Third, Lee offers an alternative explanation for the emergence and nature of IS positivism. His explanation has merit, and it can be accommodated in S&T’s (2018) account of positivism in IS. Unfortunately, his explanation does not account for certain problems in the IS discipline’s use of positivism. In S&T (2018), we provide a plausible explanation for these problems. Finally, we discuss the implications of S&T’s (2018) findings for the need to better understand the philosophical assumptions underlying “IS positivism.” We also counter Lee’s arguments that our conclusions in S&T (2018) should not make a difference to the future of IS research. (shrink)

Notwithstanding diverse opinions and debates about mixing methods, mixed methods research (MMR) is increasingly being used in sport and exercise psychology. In this paper, we describe MMR trends within leading sport and exercise psychology journals and explore critical realism as a possible underpinning framework for conducting MMR. Our meta-study of recent empirical mixed methods studies published in 2017–2019 indicates that eight (36%) of the 22 MMR studies explicitly stated a paradigmatic position (five drew on pragmatism, two switched paradigms between qualitative (...) and quantitative elements of the study, and one was situated in relativist-interpretivism). The remaining 14 (64%) studies did not report their underpinning research philosophical assumptions. Evaluating the merits and limitations of these positions against critical realist assumptions suggests that several paradigmatic disagreements are potentially reconcilable. These include (a) maintaining that ontological and epistemological concerns are important for methodological integrity of a mixed methods study; (b) switching between paradigms in the same study is problematic; and (c) refuting the qualitative-quantitative incommensurability thesis, therefore allowing mixed methods research without compromising philosophical coherence. From a critical realist position, we suggest that both quantitative and qualitative designs are justifiable in a mixed methods study because (1) they help corroborate, refine, or refute plausible explanations of phenomena (epistemological), but (2) with different methodologies utilised to perform different tasks in the same research design related to different psycho-social system features (ontological). We call for a collaborative engagement by researchers across paradigmatic positions to work towards the advancement of methodological pluralism in our research community. (shrink)

This study investigate dobstacles to encounters with staff as experienced by parents in the context of institutional pre-primary education in Finland. The study contributes to education research by exploring parents’ perceptions and experiences of encounters with staff from the perspectives of Buber’s (1923/1987; 1947/2002) dialogic philosophy and Giorgi`s (1994) phenomenological psychology. The parent volunteers (n = 15) who participated in planning the local pre-primary education curriculum based on The National Core curriculum for Pre-primary Education 2014 (Finnish National Board of Education (...) 2016) met three times during the 2015–2016 school year in a city in northern Finland. In the last meeting there were five parents, whose group discussion the results of this study are principally based. The parents expressed a desire for more openness and transparency regarding daily life events and practices in pre-primary schools. They also felt that power relations created barriers to cooperation in the sense that staff did not take account of parents’ perspectives on their children. The findings clarify how encounters between parents and staff crystallize in daily face-to-face discussions and suggest that dialogue between parents and staff requires time, a calm situation, a family-friendly approach, and the willingness of parents and staff to work together. (shrink)

Attributing moral responsibility to an agent requires that the agent is a capable member of a moral community. Capable members of a moral community are often thought of as moral reasoners (or moral persons) and, thus, to attribute moral responsibility to collective agents would require showing that they are capable of moral reasoning. It is argued here that those theories that understand collective reasoning and collective moral agency in terms of collective decision-making and commitment – as is arguably the case (...) with Christian List and Philip Pettit’s theory of group agency – face the so-called “problem of the first belief” that threatens to make moral reasoning impossible for group agents. This paper introduces three possible solutions to the problem and discusses the effects that these solutions have in regard to the possibility of attributing moral responsibility to groups. (shrink)

An issue consistently raised in the music therapy literature is the lack of a unified understanding of its concepts as well as the reasons for its efficacy. This issue is suggested to be closely linked to problems of scientific establishment of the field. Plenty of discussions regarding the achievability, applicability and even the desirability of such a unified understanding exist in the current literature of music therapy. A question consistently remaining unexplored, however, is that under which circumstances could it even (...) be possible for the discipline to reach a unified scientific understanding of the relationship between health, music and therapy? In the present thesis, universal law is examined as the notion which constitutes the basis of the unified body of knowledge within the scientific disciplines which have historically transcended their proto-scientific stages, and the applicability of the notion to the discipline of music therapy in order to answer its similar requirements of scientific establishment is discussed. (shrink)

This article discusses the ‘computer game’ as a pragmatic concept. A dual nature of the computer game as both a pragmatic idea and a pragmatic meaning is introduced. Practical meanings of the computer game correspond with the concrete effects that engaging with computer games produces in an individual. Practical ideas of the computer game correspond with the subjectively constituted conceptual families concerning the computer game’s assumed practical meaning. Individual computer games can be considered flat or round depending on the range (...) of their practical meanings. Thus, the article contributes to the study of cultural objects by offering a framework for examining the evolution and existence of such objects as cross-cultural practical entities – less in terms of communication, media, and materiality, and more in terms of concrete actions and events that individuals across societies commence and conceptualize. (shrink)

This study investigated participants’ conceptions of the ideal mentor and mentee in the Finnish model of peer-group mentoring (PGM). Existing mentoring research emphasises dyadic practices, yet there is a lack of investigation of participants’ roles in group mentoring. The main concepts of this inquiry were dispositions (habitus) and virtues drawing on the theory of practice architectures and Aristotelian virtue philosophy. Methodologically, the study can be identified as philosophical-empirical inquiry that utilises a narrative and hermeneutical approach to analyse qualitative data from (...) 30 respondents. As its central finding, the study identified a set of core characteristics that describe the virtues and vices of a mentor and mentee based on the participants’ views. Overall, these characteristics reflected ideas of relatings (peerness, equality), proactive and reactive participation, and presence in the group. Characteristics focused on the social aspect of dispositions in peer-group mentoring. (shrink)

The chapter studies the ethical dimensions of Beauvoir’s existentialism and Irigaray’s ontology of difference. It argues that Irigaray builds on one central but largely neglected result of Beauvoir’s moral philosophical argumentation: the claim that fundamentally sexual subordination constitutes an ethical problem that cannot be adequately solved merely through social reforms, political interventions, or theoretical reflections. By comparing Beauvoir’s concept of erotic generosity to Irigaray’s discussion of wonder and love, the chapter demonstrates that both philosophers conceive of male privilege as an (...) ethical issue that must be worked out between individual women and men in their concrete encounters. The task is to reform and cultivate not just human behaviors, actions, beliefs and cognitions, but also one’s own emotions and desires. (shrink)

Finnish is one of the few existent Finno-Ugric languages, a language without articles, and with only one, genderless word for the pronouns “she” and “he”. Due to this, the problems faced by the Finnish translators of The Second Sex differed in some ways from those discussed after the publication of the new English translation. This chapter describes the genesis of the second, unabridged Finnish translation, the choices made by the translators as well as the philosophical interpretations motivating those choices. In (...) addition, Beauvoir’s way of understanding the concept of becoming is analyzed. The chapter ends with a discussion of the philosophy of translation and of the reception of the second Finnish translation. (shrink)

The recent years have seen a rehabilitation of the concept of social pathology in the critical social theory. However, several pertinent questions about how to understand social pathologies remain. One of the big issues is, who is actually ill when a society is ill? Is it certain individuals, a large proportion of the population, groups, institutions, or the society as a whole? And what does it mean for these entities to be in a pathological state? This short presentation introduces four (...) conceptions of social pathology that can be divided into roughly two camps. The “thin sense” of social pathology is more metaphorical and focuses on the socially caused and pervasive suffering of individuals while the “thick sense” of social pathology takes seriously the medical connotations of the word pathology and aims to apply them on the social or collective level. The aim in here is to highlight how the social-ontological commitments of the theories of social pathologies vary greatly. While it becomes clear that critical social theory can be achieved almost any combination of social ontological positions, the short analysis finishes with tentative desiderata for critical social ontology. (shrink)

This chapter discusses Peter John Olivi’s conception of the role of dispositions in sensory cognition from metaphysical and psychological perspectives. It shows that Olivi makes a distinction between two general types of disposition. Some of them account for the ease, or difficulty, with which different persons use their cognitive powers, while others explain why people react differently to things that they perceive or think. This distinction is then applied to Olivi’s analysis of three different psychological operations, where the notion of (...) disposition figures prominently; estimative perception, perceptual clarity, and the perception of pain and pleasure. The chapter argues that Olivi uses cognitive dispositions in an interesting way to explain individual differences between persons, and that they reveal the dynamic nature of his conception of human psychology. (shrink)

This article is a philosophical reflection on intersubjectivity in the context of drama education; it draws on the concept’s most recent neuroscientific basis as well as the perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, Buber and Husserl. Its purpose is to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of interaction in learning processes in drama education. In the stream of interaction in drama, the central conditions are shared experiencing and shared understandings. Intersubjectivity encompasses both of these. This study views intersubjectivity as an innate capacity and (...) a real phenomenon – one that is a key phenomenon in the interactions of drama education. (shrink)

nvironmental themes have invaded Nordic TV crime series over the past few years. In this paper, the epistemological starting points of a Swedish series, Jordskott, are examined. The paper argues that the series criticizes the traditional humanist paradigm on which realistic crime narratives are based. It does so through the introduction of fantastic non-human beings with the help of which the boundaries of ‘nature’ and ‘human being’ are set mobile. In the series, subjectivities are rendered volatile and the humanist epistemological (...) paradigm is questioned as a sustainable ground for defining what counts as a subject. Theoretically, the paper draws on posthumanist theory and ecocriticism. The paper argues that Jordskott promotes a new ecologically grounded understanding of the formation of subjectivities through hybridity not only on the level of the representation of individual characters, but also the crime genre. (shrink)

The general topic of my philosophical dissertation is phenomenological ontology of breathing. I do not investigate the phenomenon of breathing as a natural scientific problem, but as a philosophical question. Within our tradition, breathing has been normally understood as a mechanistic-materialistic physiological life-sustaining process of gas exchange and cellular respiration which does not really seem to have any essential connection to human being’s spiritual, mental or philosophical capacities. On the contrary to this natural scientific view, I argue that breathing can (...) be understood as a philosophical question that has phenomenological, experiential, ontological, spiritual, bodily, mental, poetic, elemental, ethical, voluntary and mystical dimensions. My investigation conceptualizes breathing in the first place as a question of phenomenological ontology. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenologico-ontological method of interrogation of the lived body’s experiential openness to the world and Being provides the most fundamental point of departure in this dissertation. Merleau-Ponty emphasized in his investigations the lived body’s perceptual openness to the world and Being. He argued famously for the primacy of perception. His thesis of the primacy of perception means that perception as the perceptual openness to the world and Being is the foundation which is always presupposed by all the other levels of our existence and being-in-the-world. In this dissertation, I challenge this idea of the primacy of perception with Merleau-Ponty’s own remarks about breathing. I argue that in his own remarks about breathing, he implicitly points toward a level which is even more fundamental than the primacy of perception. In this dissertation, this level of our being-in-the-world I call the primacy of breathing. Breathing as the lived body’s respiratory openness to the world and Being is now understood as the foundation which is always presupposed by all the other dimensions of our being-in-the-world. These dimensions are, for example, our theoretical, practical, social and perceptual ways of relating with the world. If the idea of the primacy of breathing is taken seriously, it means that all the questions of philosophy could be rethought, reexamined and re-experienced within the fundamental atmosphere of respiratory openness to the world and Being. In this dissertation, I initially try to rethink philosophy as a new philosophy of breathing. This new philosophy of breathing would be phenomenological ontology of breathing. The bases of this new phenomenological ontology of breathing are Merleau-Ponty’s remarks about breathing. My task is to explicate and interpret them with the help of Merleau- Ponty’s own phenomenological ontology. In my task of beginning philosophy anew as philosophy of breathing or as respiratory philosophy, I will also use the ideas of Martin Heidegger, Gaston Bachelard, Paul Claudel, Luce Irigaray, Edmund Husserl and David Kleinberg-Levin. My dissertation is divided into two main sections. In Section One, I construct within the framework of phenomenological ontology a new notion of breathing as the primacy of breathing. In Section Two, I develop a phenomenological method that I call the method of ontologico-respiratory reduction. This method will lead us back to the primacy of breathing. (shrink)

Positivism has been used to establish a standard that Information Systems (IS) research must meet to be scientific. According to such positivistic beliefs in IS, scientific research should: 1) be generalizable, 2) focus on stable independent variables, 3) have certain ontological assumptions, and 4) use statistical or quantitative methods rather than qualitative methods. We argue that logical positivist philosophers required none of these. On the contrary, logical positivist philosophers regarded philosophizing in general and ontological considerations in particular as nonsense. Moreover, (...) the positivists’ preferred empirical research method was not a survey, but rather a qualitative observation recorded by field notes. In addition, positivist philosophers required neither statistical nor nonstatistical generalizability. At least some positivist philosophers also acknowledged the study of singular cases as being scientific. Many research orientations (e.g., single-setting research, examination of change, qualitative research) that are deemed “unscientific” by positivism in IS seem to be “scientific” (in principle) according to logical positivism. In turn, generally speaking, what has been justified as scientific by positivism in IS (e.g., requirements of statistical or nonstatistical generalizability, surveys, independent variables, ontological views) were either not required by logical positivists or were regarded as nonsensical by logical positivists. Furthermore, given that positivism is sometimes associated (or confused) with logical empiricism in IS, we also briefly discuss logical empiricism. Finally, realizing that certain influential, taken-forgranted assumptions that underlie IS research are unwarranted could have ground-breaking implications for future IS research. (shrink)

In this article, I enter into a discussion of how aesthetics can be conceptualized in the context of design and related to the field of human–computer interaction (HCI). I contest the current trend in design aesthetics that primarily focuses on beauty, pleasure, and the creation of emotional appeal by means of the sensual and visual elements of the design. Conversely, I advocate for a series of concepts related to aesthetics, such as reflectivity, representation, and epistemology, as these point aesthetics beyond (...) the immediate sensual and visual. Through these concepts, a deeper understanding of the character of the relationship between humans and design can be obtained: Design objects and HCI solutions can be more accurately described in their roles as interfaces for how humans approach the world. This broader perspective on aesthetics has implication for practice when designers set the task of creating new experiences for the users. (shrink)

The idea and concept of inclusive education have been debated, and different interpretations of what inclusion means and to whom it concerns have been presented. In this paper, we bring together notions of inclusive quality education, pedagogy, learning and teachers, and illustrate how the principle(s) of inclusion(s) has been enacted and translated into classroom practices in Finnish context. Drawing from Finnish teachers’ narratives, we highlight successful, small-scale and creative pedagogical arrangements and teachers’ sensitivity to recognize and commit to responding to (...) the needs of diverse learners. Our argumentation is rooted in the capabilities approach. We carry out an evaluative exercise and examine how the classroom practices and teachers’ understandings of their students look like through the capabilities conceptualizations. (shrink)

In this study we identified and analyzed 75 articles in the family business literature between 2000 and 2014, focusing on the case study design they adopted. We found the positivistic case study approach to be the FB disciplinary convention. The two alternative approaches of critical realism and interpretivism were used to a significantly lesser extent. We anticipate that in the future the positivistic approach will continue to be used widely. The other two approaches could be employed to a greater extent, (...) thus contributing to scientific pluralism in FB case study research. (shrink)

A poem is a condensation of signs and a method characteristic of every human being for investigating a shared reality. Accordingly, a human being also lives and exists poetically in this common world. This being so, the primacy of the mother tongue refers to the lived language, which mediates the possibility for us of carving out our own unique imprint on existence. Similarly, the native land signifies a milieu where a human being takes on a reality amidst other objects, surrounded (...) by them and as one of them. Poetry creates harmony between past and present. (shrink)

The purpose of this treatise is to analyse five of the Copenhagen Climate Convention's main speeches to see how they supported or weakened the agreement possibilities in the convention. Particular focus will be on the elements that divide or unite negotiators and whether the summit's failing outcome is already built in the pre-planned speeches held at the main podium. Theoretically, the study builds on Kenneth Burke's identification thesis and Elizabeth L. Malone's climate change debate analysis. I combine these in my (...) analysis using a revised version of Malone's argument family classification tool putting it into Burke's theoretical framework. The central concept is Burke's identification, whose manifestations are searched from speeches. The analysis will cover five of the main speeches from Copenhagen summit negotiators (the United States, China, Zimbabwe, the African Union and the Climate Group). Analysed speeches contain more elements that divide negotiators than elements with possibly uniting effect. The division between North and South is particularly distinct in most speeches. Another dividing issue is the major emitters' tendency to speak themselves out of more emission cut commitments instead of expressing willingness to engage in more ambitious accord. At the same time, less developed countries utter their mistrust which increases division and weakens the possibilities for negotiators to become consubstantial. Every participator agrees in public about seriousness of climate change, but this claim is supported only weakly by other arguments in their speeches. Copenhagen Climate Convention's failure can be foreseen in speeches that fail to build and recognise a common interest among negotiator countries. Rhetorical analysis reveals that climate change as an environmental problem is not faced by a ”global we” but from national perspectives, which weakens the possibilities for real action. The ”global we” facing and reacting to climate change has not emerged. This is a challenge for further study discussing the ways in which the real identification could be achieved and action taken. (shrink)

The mission and function of this thesis is to generally explore the ways in which philosophy studies and investigates films. More specifically its aim is to examine the theories of Stephen Mulhall and Stanley Cavell, on how films could be regarded as philosophic in nature through philosophy, that films could indeed be independently seen as philosophical excercises in action, film as philosophizing. My goal is to clarify the connection between these two cultural, human endeavours by also having a look at (...) a theory of worldmaking by Nelson Goodman, on how aesthetical art worlds are created and abated. I will try in my thesis to explain why the film as philosophy approach is problematic for philosophy and why on the other hand the theory holds great overall importance for the meaning and function that philosophy is left with related to film in the academic world. I am thus going to also define the border where philosophy stands in relation to film and how it is different from film studies and other such academic disciplines devoted to the study of cinema. The perspective of this thesis is obviously cricitcal and evaluative in nature and contrasting points of views are visibly reviewed, but I shall make it clear that I am in favour of treating movies as not just popular illustrations or handy views and arguments of certain philosophic theories. Instead they should be seen as making real contributions to the philosophical discipline. As such I strongly argue that different cinematic worlds can have philosophical proportions to them and can themselves not only utilize philosophical imagery, problems and questions but may also create new and scintillating answers or at least find new, meaningful philosophical questions and thus make definite contributions to such ongoing philosophical discourse – though the scope and validity of such claims can only be verified within each specific discursive context and dialogic debate. An understanding of different philosophical aspects of movies should accrue through critical interpretations of specific films and specific achievements of film. It does however remain that to argue that films make contributions to philosophy itself is something of a hard row to till and a tough argument to fill. The problematic nature of defining what philosophy is in the first place and what it means to do philosophy remains. To further explain and investigate the film as philosophy approach I will look at an 80´s science-fiction Hollywood movie Blade Runner and try to show the reader how philosophy can arguably be done in movies. It has to be noted that I am are here not giving agency to films, although I am saying that the people doing movies can be seen to ”screen” philosophical exercises. Moreover, I believe that Mulhall and Cavell are trying to show us not what philosophy is, but what is should or at least could be. (shrink)

The adult students who participate in the web-based studies of the open university have in many ways heterogeneous starting points for studying and learning, for example, the educational backgrounds, the acquired work experience, the general academic skills and the objectives of the future can vary considerably. The adult students striving from the different starting points pursue their own individual objectives and the set educational dimensions of the academic education. In the academic adult education, individuality and the adult student's autonomy are (...) emphasized and at the same time, diverse knowledge, skills and understanding are sought after. One key objective of the higher education is the development of the scientific thinking and refining of personal epistemology and the readiness for their complementary reflection. The personal relationship of an adult student to the scientific knowledge and, at the same time, the academic identity are based dialogically and process-like in the dynamic and complex interaction field of cognitive, emotional and social factors. The adult student's genuine and profound learning experience touches personal epistemology and is strongly connected to the individual's meta-cognitive and cognitive processes. Furthermore, the feelings which are related to the adult student's study and the social life field are involved in the process. In our article we examine the open university's adult students' personal relationship to science and to scientific knowledge which is structured gradually and in a process-like fashion. The examination adheres to the situation at the beginning of the open university e-learning course in qualitative methodology and on the students' own reflection. We focus the examination on those adult students who did not have earlier experience of carrying out research or of the methodology of qualitative research when the course in qualitative methodology began. The research material consists of the learning diaries the students (N= 41) kept during the course, the diaries which were also a part of the course work. From the material, five different personal, academic science relationships crystallize through a material based content analysis: outsider, superficial, timid, critical realist and user of the expert knowledge. Finally we present e-pedagogical conclusions as a summary of how the adults' learning process can be supported when aiming for the thinking which integrates personal everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge and how the commitment to the development of one's own thinking can be reinforced. (shrink)

This dissertation deals with the tragic vision that motivates certain key aspects of Theodor W. Adorno’s philosophy. While in the formative early work, the Dialectic of Enlightenment, co-written with Max Horkheimer, the tragic views are clear, in later works, such as the Aesthetic Theory and the Negative Dialectics, they are only implicit. The study reconstructs the tragic vision found in the Dialectic of Enlightenment and uses it as a key to understand Adorno’s mature philosophy. A tragic vision is born when (...) specific philosophical convictions regarding agency and morality coalesce with certain ethical and political conditions. A tragic vision forms the grounds for tragic views. For Adorno, the key convictions rise out of the failures of reason and culture to enable the eradication of unnecessary suffering by creating the kind of conditions in which human beings could flourish. These convictions give rise to a view of humanity as blind to its own shortcomings and thus doomed to perpetuate suffering in the name of progress and growth. Adorno’s persistent negativism prevents him from offering practical solutions for changing the world, but he does offer a scathing critique of the modern world that continues to resonate with new generations of readers. The analysis of the tragic vision presented in this dissertation will highlight the fundamental philosophical and ethical commitments underlying Adorno’s views and will thus allow both situating his work into a larger cultural context and juxtaposing it with the work of other philosophers, as well as other writers, thereby opening new vistas for research not just on Adorno but on continental philosophy, social theory, and the domain of arts and letters at large. (shrink)

The main aim of this article-based dissertation is to construct and articulate a dialectical metatheoretical architecture for the study of second language development termed Purposive-Historical Systems Theory (PHiST) invoking, inter alia, the axiomatic imperatives of dynamic systems theory (DST), Vygotskian cultural-historical theory (CHT), and Pepperian root metaphor theory (RMT). Specifically, it primarily purports, first, to demonstrate the tenability of a dialectical synthesis of DST and CHT; second, to philosophize on the fundamental contours of PHiST; third, to apply a novel metatheoretical (...) perspective, as a quintessential example, to reconceptualizing the seminal construct of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It is argued that the prevailing schism in the second language acquisition (SLA) discipline between the social and cognitive families of theories partly stems from the dearth of a systematic and principled scrutinization of the bedrock assumptions, primitive predicates, and guiding principles anchoring SLA theories. This research shows the commensurability of the attentive axioms and predicates underpinning DST and CHT. It is suggested that a dialectical integration of CHT and DST - which by implication mandates consilience of the world hypotheses of organicism and contexualism propounded by RMT - eschews the dualistic fallacy of ontologically reducing L2 development wholesale to the social (i.e., objective) or to the mental (i.e., subjective) reality. It is proposed that constitutive relationalism between DST and CHT lends credence to PHiST for nuancing the sociogenesis and psychogenesis of L2 development as a dynamic, complex, emergent, and purposive human-culture-centered process co-constructed across the lived timescales of an L2 learner. It is contended that the causal heteronomy of the L2 developmental system on the agentive L2 learner’s purposive significations, affective impressions, and experiential ideations, coupled with the realized idiosyncrasies of the socioculturally-fashioned umwelt and its meaning-saturated affordances, engenders, and is actualized qua, dialogic speeching activities. Thereby, a speeching activity concatenates lived and perceived past timescales and prospective and conceived future timescales. The proposed metamodel has far-flung implications for theoretical and empirical problems pertaining to language learning, teaching, and assessment. (shrink)

This article is based on a philosophical analysis of moral language in academic journal articles that concern child death cases. The analysis shows that research of child protection is a value-committed practice, and the language use reflects this in various ways. Direct moral language is relatively rare, and moral values are often implicitly referred to. Values in social work research bear resemblance to moral philosophical stances.

Based on a review of 63 case studies from the family business field, the authors emphasize the potential of critical realist case studies for family business scholars. The review revealed that the positivistic case study introduced by Yin and Eisenhardt is the disciplinary convention of family business field. Since there are several events and mechanisms underspinning social phenomena, such as succession, they need to be both explanained and understood which is the staring point of critical realism. Hence critical realis ontology (...) can be very fruitful for future studies. In a critical realist case study, the research question addresses a research phenomenon of interest, in terms of discernible events, and asks what causes them to happen. This matches FB research that studies events, mechanisms and processes in special. (shrink)

The paper analyzes Quentin Meillassoux’s conception of the fideistic approach to religious faith intrinsic to the “strong correlationism” that he considers pervasive in contemporary thought. Backman presents the basic elements of Meillassoux’s speculative materialism and especially the thesis according to which strong correlationism involves a “fideistic” approach to religiosity. In doing so, Backman critically examines Meillassoux’s notions of post-metaphysical faith, religious absolutes, and contemporary fanaticism, especially against the background of Heidegger’s philosophy. According to Backman, Meillassoux’s logical and conceptual critique of (...) strong correlationism is innovative, and it may remain legitimate if its presuppositions are accepted. And yet, Backman argues that Meillassoux’s allegations of fideism seem to rely on the questionable application of Enlightenment conceptions to the contemporary situation. (shrink)

This dissertation focuses on the social philosophy of humor from the viewpoint of Erich Fromm’s critical humanistic thinking. The work consists of an introduction and four individual articles. The introduction discusses Fromm’s theories in relation to the phenomenon of humor to provide a basis for the articles. The central aim is to understand the dynamic nature of humor and how it is related to the problem of being a paradoxical creature, that is, a human being. It is claimed that humor (...) has to be analyzed and interpreted in a unique historical and cultural situation. The first article discusses Fromm’s concept of social character to offer a theoretical tool to understand how deeply humor is a social phenomenon. It is argued that the social character is a crucial component if we are to reach beyond jokes and laughter, and to grasp their deeper social significance. The second article furthers this thought by developing a critical standpoint on the phenomenon of laughing at oneself. It calls into question the prevailing optimism about the capability to ridicule oneself. Following Fromm, it is claimed that humor needs a serious backbone from which the perceived oddities are evaluated. The third article brings forth the debate of humor and freedom. In opposition to the widely shared idea that humor should be absolutely free, it is argued that humor cannot be separated from the sphere of humanity, and this basic fact sets the ground for the freedom of humor. Freedom has to be obtained within the limits of humanity. This leads to the notion that it is untenable to claim that we should be always able to laugh at everything. The fourth article elaborates the influence of social circumstances for humor, and the competitive nature of contemporary humor is taken under critical scrutiny. It is argued that humor and laughter reflect the current historical situation and, eventually, ourselves. Therefore, from a humanistic perspective, it is concerning how natural and popular humor competitions appear to be. As a whole, the dissertation is a philosophical study, and it aims more at philosophical understanding than to concrete empirical research settings. However, the conducted research is empirically inspired philosophy, and thus intimately connected to the living phenomena of humor and laughter. (shrink)

Objectives The dominant role-based conceptualisations of athletic identity have recently been challenged in favour of theoretical perspectives that view identity as a complex cultural construction. In the present study, we analysed empirical studies on athletic identity positioned in narrative and discursive approaches to gain an insight into the use and subsequent contribution of these approaches to knowledge production in this research topic. Design and method A total of 23 articles, of which 18 narrative studies and five discursive studies, were identified (...) in a systematic literature search. We used the meta-study method to analyse these studies in terms of basic assumptions, methodologies, and findings. Results Early narrative studies focused on biographical disruption in career termination and/or severe injury, whereas more recent studies examined the impact of different identity narratives on athletes' well-being and career decisions. Discursive studies examined the multiple ways in which dominant understandings of gender, age, and the athletic body are (re)produced and normalised within sporting cultures and institutions and can act to constrain athletes to certain identities and practices. Both approaches highlighted that elite sport culture offers limited narrative resources or subject positions for athletes, and can endanger athletes' well-being if they are unable to comply with dominant ideals of being an athlete. Conclusions Narrative and discursive approaches have advanced understandings of the constitutive role of sporting culture in athletic identity formation. Future research should continue exploring athletic identity in various physical cultural contexts and seek to identify alternative narratives and discourses that may enable athletes to construct more adaptive identities. (shrink)