Search

This article is a collaborative commentary on the first volume of a two-part anthology of works by Hayden White, The Ethics of Narrative, edited by Robert Doran. Informed by the collection and inspired by the co-authors, in this paper we discuss White's writing. Herman Paul compares White's constructivism with that of Berger and Luckmann, and discusses the extent to which the tools of historical narrative criticism developed by White are expeditious in analyzing stories about the climate crisis. Kalle Pihlainen captures White's writing in a three-stage process of emancipatory politics of history, to further reconfigure it using the concept of fidelity. Jakub Muchowski writes about the relationship between the titular ethics and politics, asking to what extent White regarded them as separate spheres of practice, and whether in choosing the former White was apolitical. Ewa Domańska considers how White's critical approach to history might help to explore possibilities of bridging Indigenous and Western approaches to the past as well as reflects on White's attitude toward metaphysics. Finally, Miguel Valderrama considers the ways in which White uses the concept of event. The exchange closes with Robert Doran's response to all the commentaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay reinvigorates the Huxley/Osmond theory that psychedelic drugs can occasion a cross-cultural mystical experience characterized by a sense of "unity with ultimate reality." It offers a long-overdue rejoinder to the position of Constructivist authors such as Steven T. Katz, Hans Penner, and Stephen Prothero that Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy is a defunct position. Specifically, the essay answers three erroneous charges: (1) that Huxley posited his viewpoint as the "core" or "essence" of religion, (2) that Huxley believed he was describing a set of universally shared religious beliefs, and (3) that Huxley's position depends on a belief in—and the possibility of—a state of "pure consciousness." In all cases, these charges will be shown to be erroneous. Moreover, it will also be argued that these claims are inaccurate for most forms of the Perennial Philosophy, and that the Perennial Philosophy is not a homogenous viewpoint, but rather a family of theories as are Existentialism, Postmodernism, and Idealism. The essay ends with a look at new directions for testing the Huxley/Osmond position, including with psychedelic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mentoring schemes for aspiring BAME clinical psychologists, are being introduced in universities across the UK. The aim of this study was to conduct a mixed-methods prospective evaluation of the 2021/2022 mentoring scheme. Mentees (n = 8) and mentors (n = 20) completed an online questionnaire at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of the 2021/2022 mentoring scheme. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively and using a mixed ANOVA. Content analysis was conducted on qualitative contributions. Mentees reported having the confidence and knowledge necessary to apply for the clinical psychology doctorate and assessments of mentoring skills were high. Participants provided their goals and expectations for the scheme, as well as constructive feedback. The findings suggest an overall modest, positive impact of the mentoring scheme. Wider implications include ensuring mentoring pairs establish regular contact and providing additional support for mentors to mitigate self-doubt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bamboo diplomacy, the latest conceptualization in Vietnamese foreign policy, has recently captured widespread media coverage. This study investigates the discursive legitimation strategies employed by the Vietnamese Communist Party to justify the adoption of the aforementioned policy. In addition, the study focuses on the integration of nationalism in the legitimation process of bamboo diplomacy discourse in the context of digital media. Drawing upon constructivism, banal nationalism, and Van Leeuwen's model of legitimation in discourse and communication, the study utilizes CDA and DHA to analyze 66 articles on six official Vietnamese online news outlets. The findings revealed that nationalism-based legitimacy is a key underpinning of three discursive strategies of the four implemented in the VCP's bamboo diplomacy discourse. Accordingly, three main patterns of nationhood reproduction were identified: (i) the myth of national history, (ii) the authority of national traditions, and (iii) the moralization of bamboo iconography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three decades ago, the term Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) entered educational discourse. However, it is important to note that the concept of 'ESD' did not emerge from scholarly debates on education, rather as a tool to carry forward the agenda of sustainable development. As a result, it has been conceptualized in many different ways. This article is an attempt to further the debate on ESD-conceptualization. The paper discusses connections between constructivism, transformative learning, and Erich Fromm's idea of 'to be' and argues that the focus of ESD needs to change from narrow behavioural outcomes to emancipating learners to ask critical questions, decide (without the influence of anonymous authority of capitalism) and engage in activities that allows them to develop an authentic relationship with their world. The article suggests that consistent opportunities (inside and outside the classroom) to reflect and question the 'having' mode and taking steps towards 'being' mode will address the problem of 'otherness' and contribute towards a more sustainable world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize and theorize the circulation-chain model as an education policy implementation framework systematically. The circular-chain education policy implementation process and effect evaluation analysis model are a theoretical innovation model and practical exploration path to explore the implementation and effect evaluation of education policies according to the new problems and trends in the implementation of education policies. In particular, the connotation, the theoretical basis, the elements, the value, and the objective and significance of the circulation-chain education policy implementation model have been explored and analyzed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the analysis of the students' achievements in learning calculus in a dynamic software environment during the Covid19 crisis. Two groups of students, the experimental and the control one, were monitored. Blended learning was applied to the students in the experimental group, with the help of Microsoft Teams and dynamic software GeoGebra, in autumn 2020. All students in the control group learned in the classroom without using GeoGebra in 2019. The comparison between these two groups of first-year students, regarding their calculus test results, is described in this paper. It is interesting that the results of the experimental group were significantly better than the results of students in the control group, despite the fact that the students from the experimental group learned during the Covid19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for meaningful constructivist instruction has become essential in teacher education. This study investigated preservice teachers' intention to integrate ICT for constructivist learning from the perspectives of their Internet epistemic beliefs (IEB) and Internet-based learning self-efficacy (IBLSE) using the structural equation modeling technique. Participants were 403 elementary preservice teachers in Taiwan. Analysis results showed that stronger IBLSE predicted higher intention for constructivist ICT integration into instructional practices. Believing that the Internet-based information is fragmented (structure belief) and requires justification from multiple sources (justification belief) was associated with higher IBLSE. The structure and justification beliefs also indirectly correlated with the intention of constructivist ICT integration via preservice teachers' IBLSE. Findings can inform instructional practices and interventions pertinent to enhancing preservice teachers' IEB and IBLSE to promote their future constructivist ICT integration in their instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning algorithms bring out an under-appreciated puzzle of discrimination, namely figuring out when a decision made on the basis of a factor correlated with race is a decision made on the basis of race. I argue that prevailing approaches, which are based on identifying and then distinguishing among causal effects of race, in their metaphysical timidity, fail to get off the ground. I suggest, instead, that adopting a constructivist theory of race answers this puzzle in a principled manner. On what I call a "thick constructivist" account of race, to be raced is to be socially positioned in the way indicated by a certain set of statistical regularities on the basis of particular phenotypical traits. A thick constructivist sees that acting on the basis of correlations that constitute race qua social position just is acting on the basis of race, because races just are social positions that subject their member individuals to a particular matrix of social relations that define the raced position. This conclusion has considerable ramifications for our understanding of discrimination, algorithms and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tens of thousands of students worldwide have been forced to start learning online, and online learning has never been more compelling. Understanding the effectiveness and satisfaction of online learning has become crucial. Previously, researchers have explored many determinants of online learning, but so far, only a few have focused exclusively on the field of higher education in dance. Therefore, this study delved into the satisfaction derived from online dance learning by employing the stimulus-organism-response framework, social learning theory, and constructivism theory. The aim was to examine how the effectiveness of online learning and the characteristics of online systems influence satisfaction in dance online learning. Data collection took place from January 1, 2023, to January 31, 2023, with university students majoring in dance participating as respondents in China. The analysis utilized structural equation modeling for data interpretation. The results reveal that the organism (students online learning effectiveness and the online system characteristics) directly impacted students' satisfaction with online education. While changes in four stimulus factors (learning experiences; instructor's inspiration; learning hindrance; quality of technology) indirectly impact online learning satisfaction. Our research enriches the exploration of students' satisfaction factors in dance higher online education, thus filling the research gap in related fields, intending to guide relevant practitioners in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nick Onuf's constructivism is one of the most important contributions to the field of international relations in what regards the interchange between social and political theories, and philosophy. In this text, I engage with Onuf's body of work taken as a whole. The guiding thread of the problematization I propose is woven through the attention to how Onuf's craft and creative undertaking sets certain beginnings in the construction of his framework, and how setting them has important implications for (the conception of) 'politics'. I would argue that Onuf's conception of politics is sustained on two central beginnings: the conception of humans as 'rational agents' and the framing of what has come to be called 'modernity'. This way, I emphasize what seems to me the most enduring contribution his body of work can provide not only to the field of international relations, but also to contemporary social and political theories more generally. The first section outlines the relation Onuf establishes between rules and rule, while the following two sections deal, in turn, with his conceptions of 'agency' and the 'modern world'. My goal in these first three sections is to reconfigure Onuf's constructivism. The fourth and final section moves ahead, giving a step further - perhaps too far, perhaps too radical -, paving a critical engagement with his work through peripheral (re)begininngs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research seeks to elucidate the role of two historical figures of Chilean Pentecostalism, W. C. Hoover and Manuel Umaña, in the construction of patriarchadicy as the foundational and pervasive ideology of Pentecostalism. Our theoretical approach is based on the structuralist constructivism of Berger and Bourdieu. Berger allows us to consider religion from the standpoint of theodicy and Bourdieu from that of masculine dominance. Both of them have allowed us to generate a new conceptual proposal, which we have called patriarchadicy: an ideology vindicating the superiority of men and the inferiority of women as religious leaders. According to it, man's physical strength is interwoven with the moral strength of woman; man's moral weakness, with the physical weakness of woman. Thus, the socio-ecclesiastico-familial organicism is reinvented to generate an assumed ontological complementarity of man-head-leader and idoneous woman-hand-helpmeet. Our methodology has included a review of the two institutional publications, Chile Pentecostal: (1910–1927) and its second period (1933–1979), and Fuego de Pentecostés (1928–2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context • Some scholars have put forward constructivist world models in which the purported external world is constructed from experience (i.e., there is a constructive relation between them). However, scholars disagree about whether experience is generated by the brain and results from the perception of the purported external world (i.e., whether there are generative relations and perceptual relations). > Problem • Do we need to maintain perceptual relations or generative relations in a constructivist world model? > Method • I propose a world model where our world is composed of a large number of screen creatures, and this is compared with the world model in the irrealist virtual world theory. There is a constructive relation in both world models, but only the second world model contains generative and perceptual relations. I provide reasons to doubt that the world model in the irrealist virtual world theory can provide sufficient reasons for involving generative or perceptual relations. > Results • We should accept the world model composed of screen creatures as the model of our world; we do not need to retain perceptual or generative relations in a constructivist world model. > Implications • This article points out that perceptual relations stem from a misunderstanding of certain correlations between experiences. This will generate some new ideas when considering the mind-matter problem. > Constructivist content • This article discusses how to deal with generative and perceptual relations using constructivist world models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focus of the literature on the European West, overlooking the marginalised European Central-East – Assumption of all illiberal states equally resisting international courts – Hungary's unique subtle push-back against the European Court of Human Rights compared to overt resistance against the European Court of Justice – Empirical analysis of original data – Three strategies to control the narrative of compliance – Status signalling to avoid international and domestic political repercussions – Friendly settlements and unilateral declarations as means of avoidance – Disguised non-compliance to convey bona fides – Negative narrative to subvert public opinion – Explaining state behaviour through rationalism and constructivism – Complementing constructivism with the identitarian counterwave in recently-emerged illiberal states – EU membership as a constraint – Illiberalism as fuel for Hungary's resistance against the Strasbourg Court [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the connection between performance art and political activism. Topics discussed include the comparison between performative activism and constructive action, the modern manifestation of performance art by Futurists and Dadaists according to art historians, the distinction between performatives and constatives according to philosopher J. L. Austin, the historical emergence of performance art according to the writings of philosopher David Davies and art historian RoseLee Goldberg, and the evaluation of several performance art exhibitions such as Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece," Marina Abramovic's "The Artist Is Present," and Tenching Hsieh's "One Year Performance."

Iran's enmity with Israel is ideological in the first place and strategic in the second. Iran intends through anti‐Israel actions and messaging to internally mobilize its populace and, externally, to claim the leadership of the Muslim world and strike a balance against a regional nuclear power. This article uses a critique based on constructivism and realism to reveal how Iran's confrontation with Israel has evolved historically from "identity‐ideological" to "politico‐strategic." I argue that Iran's adoption of this approach without taking its internal and external capacities into consideration has ironically bolstered the Israeli far right, increased global sympathies for Israel, escalated Iranophobia, aligned conservative Arab states with Israel, and marginalized the issue of Palestine. To preserve its national interests and regional security, Iran needs to overcome this politico‐historical stage and replace conflict with competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonviolence has two distinct subcategories, namely, principled, and pragmatic nonviolence. Principled nonviolence focuses on moral consciousness and pragmatic nonviolence focuses on political power. Scholars argue that principled nonviolence is moral jiu jitsu and pragmatic nonviolence is political jiu jitsu. This research builds a theoretical perspective on nonviolence using a case approach. It develops a framework for nonviolence from a self determination theory (SDT) perspective and introduces 'motivation jiu jitsu'. It presents nonviolence as a product of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, which is enabled by the fulfillment of basic psychological needs. The developed theoretical framework on the relationship of nonviolence and SDT is positioned within the broader peace and conflict studies theory, encounter theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connecting the dots between Vilém Flusser and Heinz von Foerster, this essay explores the links and somewhat belated co-emergence of media theory and cybernetics as a vanishing mediator in modern literary history and the posthuman turn: first, media theory's cybernetic investments and re-deployments of certain concepts and, second, a much humbler claim for cybernetics, namely, its status as a media theory in all but name. Preeminently, the idea that there's no outside to the Whole, second-order observation, the key piece from von Foerster, is central to Flusserian thinking. There's always an observer observing, and that's in any type of epistemology that's a hard problem of complexity, like a problem that can't be easily resolved. The subject isn't a human per se but a knot and also a not of relations, as Flusser puts it, a juncture for various channels of information that also presents impedances. Von Foerster's transit is from physicist - interested in engineering and a systemic constructivism - to meta-physicist reaching into the impossibilities of the social sphere and cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaving to one side McTaggart's notorious proof of the unreality of time, this paper examines his positive account of the way in which reality, thus judged to be timeless, misleadingly appears to us as temporal, something which has been almost entirely ignored in the literature. The paper first examines his complex motivations in taking up the issue. It next considers an early unsuccessful approach, before expounding the details of its complex replacement as set out in McTaggart's magnum opus, The Nature of Existence. The paper concludes with a consideration of how such endeavours in constructive metaphysics ought best to be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If most of the traditional policy approaches propose a causal and deterministic framework to explain policy change, they fail to clarify how, in the same context and over a brief period, a government can successively take different and contradictory decisions. In order to understand this phenomenon and to better consider the importance of uncertainty in the policy process, this article develops a pragmatist constructivist framework (PCF) to study the indeterminacy of the struggles that unfold within many public and discrete spaces of debate in the politico-bureaucratic world. It also analyzes the unpredictable flows between these different spaces. Developing a pragmatist approach, the article highlights the uncertain conditions of success of several solution proposals by insisting on the importance of the definitional changes adopted by their spokespersons to facilitate the enlistment of new supporters and resist the various tests in the form of critical arguments and power relations. Drawing on a large qualitative study, the PCF relies on the meticulous empirical reconstitution of interactions and scenes of action to understand the complex and unexpected sequence of events that led to a given solution and to propose a specific analysis attentive to the complex relationship between power, knowledge, meaning and ownership struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In The Sources of Normativity, Korsgaard argues for what can be called "The Universality of Humanity Claim" (UHC), according to which valuing humanity in one's own person entails valuing it in that of others. However, Korsgaard's reliance on the claim that reasons are essentially public in her attempt to demonstrate the truth of UHC has been repeatedly criticized. I offer a sentimentalist defense, based on Adam Smith's moral philosophy, of a qualified, albeit adequate, version of UHC. In particular, valuing my humanity, understood as (my awareness of) my perspective and the reasons determined from within it, entails valuing your humanity, understood as (your awareness of) your perspective and the reasons determined from within it. Given Korsgaard's emphasis on the publicity of reasons in her argument for UHC, I also discuss the role of reasons in my account. I argue that the relative weights of at least some of an agent's reasons are determined from within a shared evaluative point of view, namely, the standpoint of what Smith calls "the impartial spectator." These reasons have normative authority over and constrain the agent's private reasons, that is, those that are determined from within her own particular evaluative point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine how nature is defined and perceived and address the conflict between constructivism and essentialism. By exploring modern perspectives on the concept of nature that stem from the field of social sciences, we will review the analysis of Murray Bookchin's dialectical naturalism regarding the very essence of nature. We argue that dialectical naturalism offers a dynamic developmental concept of nature that goes beyond the context of constructivism and supports that the truth of nature can be conceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some norms go through long contested periods, resulting in norm change, rejection, or persisting conflict. Others are adopted quite quickly, with little resistance across diverse societies. An underlying and unanswered theoretical question is why? A foundational characteristic of a norm as a concept, and a key aspect of constructivist scholarship on norms, is the role of values and moral principles in giving norms meaning and in motivating global policy change. For a field placing significant emphasis on the importance of ideas, the limited theorizing around the value-based content of these ideas is a notable shortcoming. Emphasizing the importance of moral values as among the most deeply held beliefs, I outline a theory of how moral values and moral distance can help explain why certain normative processes and outcomes occur. Building from constructivist work on norms and social psychology scholarship on morality, I propose that moral distance, the degree of alignment, overlap, or separation in moral values between actors can help to explain the type of contestation, the intensity and duration of contestation, and what processes or outcomes are more likely to transpire. The shorter the moral distance, the more likely persuasion or adaptations will occur, leading to the eventual adoption of a norm. The greater the moral distance, the more likely prolonged and heated contestation will occur, leading to rejection or enduring contestation. I argue that centering the analysis of moral values and moral distance in research on normative agreement and disagreement can therefore contribute to understanding why or under what circumstances conflict is more or less likely to happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This forum seeks to honor the contributions of a scholar who has greatly influenced international relations (IR) scholarship on transnational relations and constructivist research: Thomas Risse. Best known for his pathbreaking studies on the importance of transnational actors, the power of international norms and ideas in international relations, and the influence of domestic structures on international interactions, his work has significantly contributed to several interrelated research agendas within IR. The forum takes a fresh look at some of his contributions, focusing on assumptions about the nature of non-state actors, the content of human rights, and the evolution of knowledge that underpin his work. Interrogating especially some of the liberal assumptions that have informed these lines of research, we ask: are we still dealing with the same kinds of non-state actors that Thomas Risse and early constructivist research have analyzed? How has the nature of these actors changed, and how has this affected the processes and mechanisms by which they shape transnational politics? To what extent do these changes require different research methodologies? And, finally, which directions for future research on non-state actors, human rights, and constructivism emerge from these discussions? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Richard Rorty's rejection of prevailing interior‐mirror understandings of the presumed relationship between "minds" and "nature," along with his promotion of nonrepresentational accounts of knowledge, truth, and science, participates in a rich tradition of jointly pragmatist and constructivist views that spans the twentieth century. This contribution to the symposium "Whatever Happened to Richard Rorty?" considers Rorty's complex and ambivalent relation to that tradition, particularly to the work of his American pragmatist predecessors, William James and John Dewey, and to subsequent pragmatist‐constructivist antirepresentationalism in contemporary science and technology studies (STS) and "4E" (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive) cognitive theory. A final section on Nicholas Gaskill's contribution to the symposium questions his sense of Rorty's rhetorical recklessness and suggests that his worries over relativism, in Rorty's texts and more generally, are misplaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a substantial literature in the tradition of constructivism and sociological new institutionalism that suggests the existence of shared EU norms. Yet, the issue of how EU norms are adopted and/or contested in EU member states remains underexamined. In the paper, we therefore study the public discourse on citizenship in Latvia and examine how the discourse relates to EU norms on citizenship, minority rights and in the broader sense human rights. The analysis takes its empirical starting point in the period after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and focuses on how the issue of statelessness was discussed in the Latvian online media. Looking at how the contested term ('statelessness') achieves different meanings in the Latvian discourse, and how the domestic actors try to reformulate the EU norms in question, we aim at a better understanding of the diffusion of norms within the context of a regional organization. The conclusion indicates that apart from the EU human rights norm, there are several different articulations of statelessness (i.e. othering, security and instrumental) that are present in the discourse. This has enabled Latvian governments to stress their commitment to human rights promotion, while simultaneously facing criticism regarding the country's stateless inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short essay offers a commentary on Chapter 11 of David Wiggins', Ethics (2006). The essay asks how we should interpret Wiggins' defense of ethical 'objectivity' given his subjectivist metaethics. An interpretation is drawn from Sharon Street's work on metaethical constructivism, of which Wiggins' view is taken to be one variety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an overlooked similarity between three classic accounts of the conditions of object experience from three distinct disciplines. (1) Sociology: the "inversion" that accompanies discovery in the natural sciences, as local causes of effects are reattributed to an observed object. (2) Psychology: the "externalization" that accompanies mastery of a visual–tactile sensory substitution interface, as tactile sensations of the proximal interface are transformed into vision-like experience of a distal object. (3) Biology: the "projection" that brings forth an animal's Umwelt, as impressions on its body's sensory surfaces are reconfigured into perception of an external object. This similarity between the effects of scientific practice and interface-use on the one hand, and of sensorimotor interaction on the other, becomes intelligible once we accept that skillful engagement with instruments and interfaces constitutes a socio-material augmentation of our basic perceptual capacity. This enactive interpretation stands in contrast to anti-realism about science associated with constructivist interpretations of these three phenomena, which are motivated by viewing them as the internal mental construction of the experienced object. Instead, it favors a participatory realism: the sensorimotor basis of perceptual experience loops not only through our body, but also through the external world. This allows us to conceive of object experience in relational terms, i.e., as one or more subjects directly engaging with the world. Consequently, we can appreciate scientific observation in its full complexity: it is a socio-materially augmented process of becoming acquainted with the observed object that—like tool-use and perceiving more generally—is irreducibly self, other-, and world-involving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In a world where the phenomenon of job loss is rapidly spreading, the desire to continuously invest in a protean career orientation is essential for it leads to saving human, social, and psychological capital. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Schein's theory-based counseling and constructivist counseling on the orientation of protean career orientations of contract employees of an industrial company. Methods: The current research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The participants of the present study included all contract employees of an industrial company, 36 of whom were selected by random sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (12 people in each group). The experimental groups underwent Schein's theory-based counseling and constructivism-based training for 8 sessions per week. The data were collected using the various career attitude questionnaire and were analyzed by analysis of covariance and the Bonferroni pairwise comparison test. Results: The findings showed that Schein's theory-based counseling and the training based on the constructivist approach are effective in shaping various career orientations of contract employees. Also, there is no significant difference between the two types of intervention. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, both types of training, depending on the situation, can be used by organizations and industries to increase the orientation of various career orientations of employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ihde has developed what he calls a postphenomenology and a material hermeneutics of human-technology relations (in particular, he distinguishes between embodiment, hermeneutic, alterity and background relations), as well as a concomitant cultural hermeneutics that maps technologies' cultural embeddedness. As such he argues against an overly theoreticist approach to our predicament that he observes in both Ihde and Stiegler, irrespective of their empirical (Ihde) or transcendental (Stiegler) stance, and suggests a profoundly experiential approach, i.e., a philosophizing I from i experience rather than I about i it. Together with a select group of other philosophy of technology scholars, they set out to reflect upon points of convergence and divergence between their respective frameworks - postphenomenology in the case of Ihde and what may be called "techno-phenomenology" and "general organology" in the case of Stiegler - as well as on the near-future form that philosophy of technology should take, in a world struggling with multiple global crises - the planetary ecological crisis being the gravest and most challenging one. As Ihde declares at the end of his 2010 book I Heidegger's Technologies i : 'Philosophies of technology need to renew themselves constantly, just as the technologies themselves change' (Ihde [10], 139). [Extracted from the article]

García's and Oblak's reviews of my book Enactive Psychiatry open up some fundamental debates with regard to my use of the term "enactive" for the kind of approach that I develop. Is my account still properly "enactive" (García) and how does my approach compare to the extended mind theory on the one hand and to constructivism on the other hand (Oblak)? In this response, I argue that (a) adding an existential dimension to enactivism is necessary to do justice to our way of being in the world and our specific sense-making and its problems; and (b) that this dimension can be incorporated within enactivism without giving up on either enactivism's commitment to naturalism or the enactive lifemind continuity thesis. My "existentialized" enactivism is very much enactive in that it adopts the thoroughly relational perspective that forms the core of enactivism. This relational perspective is also what distinguishes enactive theory from both extended mind theory and constructivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Divining a theory adequate to account for the collapse of the Soviet Union requires the production of evidence depreciated by theorists of international relations (IR) realism. Still, Morgan insists that the human rights provisions inscribed in the Helsinki Accords repaid the actual cost of Moscow's victories - a stance that is neither self-evidently true (as Morgan often implies) nor only partly meritorious (as neoconservatives like Joshua Muravchik believed after a spike in enthusiasm).[1] Morgan sets forth the reasons for the Final Act's unwieldy form, in addition to its having reconciled the interests of the 35 signatory states. Thomas traces the origins of Helsinki's human rights agenda to the preliminary CSCE discussions led by Étienne Davignon, a Belgian advocate for human rights. Yet Thomas's claim that "international human rights norms ... had not existed in Khrushchev's time" is incorrect even if they had been ignored or overruled in the harsh spotlight cast by other, more pressing, IR realist imperatives, which may have dimmed temporarily the luster of the human rights agenda in the East (234). [Extracted from the article]

It has often been claimed, e.g. by William James or Aldous Huxley, that mystical experiences across times and cultures exhibit a striking similarity. Even though the words and images we use to describe them are different, underneath the surface we find a common experiential core. Others have rejected this claim and argued that all experiences are intrinsically shaped by the mystics' pre-existing religious concepts. Against these constructivist objections, I defend the idea of a common core by arguing that even if all experience is interpreted through concepts, there could still be a common core. Those who reject the common core thesis usually argue that no distinction between experience and interpretation can be made since all experience is per se already interpreted. The notion of an uninterpreted experience is self-defeating. Drawing on current research on nonconceptual mental content, I argue (a) that experiences can have nonconceptual content; (b) that interpretation must be understood as conceptualization and (c) that conceptualization presupposes a raw mental content that is not conceptualized. This raw content is not experienced as nonconceptual. Rather, the nonconceptual, uninterpreted common core is an abstraction which shows itself only through reflection. Thus, the existence of a common core is compatible with the fact that all experiences are interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambia's foreign policy on Senegal under the presidency of Yahya AJJ Jammeh (1996–2016) is the focus of this article. The study relied on speeches, statements and communiqués as its source of data for analysis. Using constructivism as a general theory and discourse analysis as a framework of analysis, the work argues that the Gambia's foreign policy towards its neighbour was built upon two main social constructs, namely 'two states, one people' and 'next-door enemy'. Despite changes in the leadership in Senegal, it is argued that the Gambian leadership consistently constructed Senegal in the same way during this period. The article concludes that these two constructs explain the often contradictory relationship between the two countries. While the 'two states, one people' construct was used to argue for and build cordial relationships, 'the next-door enemy' construct was invoked to condemn Senegal and justify strained relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pedagogical note presents a novel learning activity (the icebox challenge) that was designed to facilitate deep learning of building physics energy transfer principles through a planning, prediction and analysis process following the Kolb learning cycle. The success of this strategy was evidenced by students relating and collating their knowledge and theoretical ideas and applying them to successfully solve a series of complex and inter-related practical building physics problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing methodological issues, I try to clarify relations between radical constructivism and the theories used as a basis of study by describing how social influences experienced by individuals are constructed. Also, I welcome the way other methodological questions may enrich future research by raising the issue of personal contact and inclusion of the first-person perspective in the construction of autism. Next, I discuss (a) the need to rethink the contemporary psychiatric/diagnostic category of autism; (b) some strong and weak points of the enactivist perspective; (c) the issue of inclusion of the “self–illness” relation in research on autism, as well as the validity of the term “illness” in this concept; and (d) the possibility of thinking about autism from the phenomenological perspective inspired by Heidegger’s category of understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the example of X-phemisms, I focus on the major epistemological difference radical constructivism makes to the theory of language and communication. Along these lines, I reflect on the relationship between values, affect and words as well as on the meta-communicative aspect of experience construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

> Context • Assuming upon the suggestion of dictionary makers and language theorists that some words are more pleasant than others and that it affects the way we should communicate, we put the cart before the horse and make a big categorial mistake. > Problem • Negative and positive emotional reactions to words are not something that can be deduced from words themselves and predicted before the communicative interaction. Instead, it is when, where and who utters these words that makes them sound good or bad for us, as observers. > Method • Based on the methods of experiential linguistic analysis of observational data I investigate philosophical roots and empirical manifestations of good and bad language in communicative interactions. > Results • I formulate and prove the hypothesis that euphemisms and dysphemisms are experiential factors of our dynamic situational construction of others. Our construal of some words as good or bad depends upon the experience we have of another person with whom we interact in situ. > Implications • Findings of my research illuminate the inherently experiential nature of language, which might lead sociologists and linguists to reconsider the way they approach the power of good and bad words. Moreover, it is argued to be neither possible nor necessary for scholars to make lists of euphemisms or dysphemisms, at least for non-written communication. > Constructivist content • I rely upon the concepts of radical constructivism such as experience construction, experiential field, construction of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two philosophical tools are used in this article, namely (1) that of philosophical-pluralism and (2) transcendent pluralism as a kind of glue to enhance our examining of creative pluralism. There is a diversity implant in positive modus of understanding this pluralistic pristine of creative pluralism within transcendence modus. To help facilitate this pluralistic pristine, the author makes use of three constructivist paradigms that are distinguished and used, namely (1) exogenous constructivism (rooted in a mechanistic metaphor) emphasising the reconstruction of structures preformed in the environment; (2) endogenous constructivism (rooted in an organismic metaphor) emphasising the coordination of previous organismic structures and (3) dialectical constructivism (rooted in a contextualistic metaphor) emphasising the construction of new structures out of organism and environmental interaction. Contribution: The aim of this article is to present a coherent metatheory by specifying the boundary conditions in which each root metaphor (constructive pluralism) best applies. These above-mentioned versions of pluralism as tools are a reminiscence and a jubilee of the efforts made by sapiens through diversity onto or into pluralism to enable the religious hamlet to think and share. This pluralistic approach of orientation, I hope, will empower sapiens in their respective hamlets to define, articulate and designate to enhance their own epistemological and ontological vantage points wherefrom their individual, coherent and contextual ways of thinking, acting and projecting their lives in a positive modus by emphasising the reconstructions of their performance in their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neo-realism and neo-liberalism, which had been regarded as mainstream theories up until profound changes took place in the 1990s in international structure, considered the international area a domain in which states mainly pursue their strategic interests. In this period, NATO adopted policies that emphasized cooperation, and NATO countries developed collaborative and collective responses to tackle international problems. This approach demonstrated that pure interest-based mainstream theories could not provide enough theoretical framework for the new policies. In the same period constructivism, which is considered among critical theories and emphasizes the interaction of states, offered a different framework than classical theories. In this context, the study tries to understand transformation policies from a constructivist approach perspective. In the study, it has been found out that cooperative security, enlargement, and collective security policies could be understood by the constructivist approach's following claim; material force is given meaning according to the shared knowledge, norm and values and these could be spread by social interaction; though the success of this understanding depends on the suitable strategic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on discussion by Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard on radical transformation in aesthetic, ethical and religious stages of life. It highlights the relationship of Kierkegaard with depression and the aspect of his philosophy. It also discusses the positive role of depression in the success of reflective aestheticism.

Shane Glackin's 2019 Philosophical Quarterly article aims to (a) offer a framework for understanding the philosophical debate about the nature of disease and (b) utilise this framework to reply to several standard objections to normativist (particularly social constructivist) theories of disease. Specifically, Glackin claims his model avoids three central challenges to normativism, which we term the 'Flippancy Problem' (which charges that normativism implies diseases can be cured by adjusting our attitudes towards them), 'Repugnancy Problem' (which charges that normativism implies we must endorse repugnant historical views regarding 'conditions' like Drapetomania as 'genuine diseases in their day'), and the 'Explanatory Problem' (which charges that normativism cannot explain why diseases warrant certain kinds of medical intervention without lapsing into vicious circularity). Although we find Glackin's framework helpful in clarifying the terrain of the debate, we argue these three challenges continue to afflict his preferred construal of the normativist/social constructivist position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars and practitioners are increasingly attentive to contestation against symbols and institutions underpinning international order(s). Yet International Relations scholarship can benefit from greater understanding of ways in which contestation interacts with salient dimensions of social status in specific international organizations (IOs). Drawing on evidence from the history of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with a focus on democratic governance and human rights, this article analyzes status-related contestation as a significant, yet under-examined type of contestation in multilateral diplomacy. Status-related contestation conveys dissatisfaction about symbols, institutions, and actors which reinforce socially significant divisions that place a state (or group of states) at a social disadvantage in a particular multilateral venue. International organizations provide unique social contexts which affect the content of contestation. Building on scholarship in social psychology, constructivism, and status hierarchies in world politics, the article analyzes the evolution of a dimension (or basis) of social status in the OSCE and illustrates that, beyond domestic and material interests, state representatives communicate social identity-related concerns through language, for example, that expresses discontent with dividing lines, unfairness, or (dis)respect, in attempting to minimize negative social identities in multilateral organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes Maurizio Ferraris's "minimal realism" with the aim of showing that his criticisms of correlationism and constructivism are not convincing. Ferraris preserves both a substantivist vision of the objects of knowledge and a substantial difference between sensible things and concepts. These two issues prevent his Manifesto of New Realism from being considered the founding moment of the "new realism." The paper concludes with a reflection on those aspects that should be considered and avoided when proposing a philosophical realism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to show that Hegel's critique of Kantian Moral Philosophy, based on Rawls' interpretation, must be revised in some aspects, such as: the application of the categorical imperative; the problem of formalism and Kant's moral constructivism itself. A reconstruction of the main aspects of Rawlsian interpretation of Kant's practical Philosophy is necessary, considering Hegel's critique. This is explained in view of the advances it represents within a dialectical perspective and the possible repairs that can be made to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do formal international institutions change and adjust to new circumstances? The conventional wisdom in international relations, outlined by rational design, is that the answer lies in designed flexibility, which allows states to adjust agreements. Drawing on rich but disparate literatures across subfields of political science—especially constructivism and historical institutionalism—we propose an alternative, which we call "emergent flexibility." Emergent flexibility is a property of international institutions that is not intentionally crafted by rule-makers when a rule is formally established, but is subsequently discovered, activated, and accessed by creative rule-users in ways unintended by designers. Rich case studies trace how rule-users have accessed emergent flexibility through the legal interpretive strategy of subsequent practice to change rigid rules of the UN Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights. A key implication of emergent flexibility is that, contrary to rational design expectations, international institutions designed to be rigid can adjust to unforeseen circumstances even in the absence of formal redesign, allowing cooperation to continue. The broadening of flexibility from designed to emergent reveals the politics of flexibility between formal design moments, provides a more nuanced notion of intentionality, and equips us to better address fundamental positive and normative questions of institutional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental practice in contemporary molecular biology oscillates between the creativity of the researcher in tinkering with the experimental system, and the necessity of standardization of methods of inquiry. Experimental procedures, when standardized in lab protocols, might definitely be seen as actual recipes. Considering these protocols as recipes can help us understand some epistemological characteristics of current practice in molecular biology. On the one hand, protocols represent a common ground, i.e. the possibility of reproducibility, which constitutes one of the essential properties for contemporary science to define an actual discovery. At the same time, however, protocols are flexible enough to be adapted by the individual researcher (within a space of maneuver given by the experimental system and by the practices that each individual discipline gives to itself) to his/her specific needs. These variations, just like the recipes, remind us that the legitimacy of an experimental practice, involves both objective and subjective constraints and it is articulated on a fuzzy background rather than a rigid and clear context. Moreover, looking at experiments according to this perspective can provide a key to understanding how different forms of science (which adopt different methodologies but which investigate the same phenomena), such as computational biology, are precisely different in the use of a different “cookbook”. Indeed, given the procedural/operational realism of biologists towards phenomena, the clash of different procedures has opened a discussion also about the nature and the meaning of the obtained results. Thus, according to the recipe-perspective that, we propose a constructivist account arguing that the methodological struggle over the nature of biological phenomena (and their ways of discovery) among scientists, might be seen as a not always explicit, philosophical debate, however coming from the practice of science itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context * Radical constructivism prioritises the processes by which people make sense of their experience and people construct different worlds based on their individual experiences. Problem * It follows naturally from this that people may disagree about how they understand sustainability issues. Method * I consider a number of issues related to sustainability and examines processes by which they may have been constructed. Results * Examination of the processes of construction shows that shortcuts in thinking known as heuristics play a role in thinking about sustainability. Focusing on these shortcuts and the role they play in thinking offers a way to deconstruct thoughts produced in discussions. Implications * Understanding why people hold different views on sustainability makes it possible to open discussions on the viability of these views. The hope is that discussions about these issues in a context of mutual respect will facilitate an emerging consensus. Constructivist content * Radical constructivism has prioritised rational scientific processes in the emergence of an individual's constructions of their reality. However, two aspects of this process constrain changes in cognitive constructions. First, individuals regularly construct thoughts that are based on heuristics rather than assessed on the basis of evidence. Second, ways an individual perceives peers' constructions of their "realities" play a role in her identity and canalise how constructions change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]