Jacob's Ladder and Scientific Ontologies

The main goal of this article is to use the epistemological framework of a specific version of Cognitive Constructivism to address Piaget’s central problem of knowledge construction, namely, the re-equilibration of cognitive structures. The distinctive objective character of this constructivist framework is supported by formal inference methods of Bayesian statistics, and is based on Heinz von Foerster’s fundamental metaphor of objects as tokens for eigen-solutions. This epistemological perspective is illustrated using some episodes in the history of chemistry concerning the definition or identification of chemical elements. Some of von Foerster’s epistemological imperatives provide general guidelines of development and argumentation

The "Theosophic Glance": Fluid Ontologies, Subtle Bodies and Intuitive Vision

Considering the concept of Subtle Bodies necessitates thinking about vision and relation, and their interrelation. It requires examining the 'between' spaces figured in I-other, subject-object, matter-consciousness and spirit-matter relations. This essay seeks to step into this task by providing a general outline of the concept of subtle bodies, and to consider two ontological schemes that support the view of matter-consciousness inherent in its models. It will also consider the modalities of perception that are understood as necessary for the apprehension of subtle subjects and their dynamic relations. In particular, it will examine the ontological model proposed by Henri Bergson, that can be read as providing a foundation (albeit fluid) for subtle subjectivity. Drawn from the Western philosophical tradition, Bergson's ontology will be considered in relation to the modern Theosophical Society's rendering of subtle bodies (influenced by the tenets of the Western Esoteric Tradition). In considering these areas the paper aims to highlight conceptual interrelationships across the disciplines of Western philosophy and Esoteric spirituality and plot some of the divergent conceptual foundations through which the idea of subtle bodies has entered Western culture

A MATTER OF STYLE.HOW MAP THINKING AND BIO-ONTOLOGIES SHAPE CONTEMPORARY MOLECULAR RESEARCH

ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to provide an epistemic analysis of the transformations occurring in contemporary biological research by considering the relation between molecular biology and computational biology. In particular, I will focus on bio-ontologies, as the tool which incarnates at best the new face of biomedical research. Such a choice is not arbitrary. By appealing to the notion of style of reasoning and way of knowing, I will show that bio-ontologies exemplify the rise and success of map thinking as the signature of a new way of doing molecular biology, while the theoretical tenets, established more than 30 years ago, still maintain their epistemic prominence. This is neither to say that experimentalism will disappear from science, nor that the experiments power will be diminished but rather that experiments will have a new role in the architecture of scientific efforts, precisely because of the increasing importance of classificatory approaches. Therefore, such a transition within biomedical research is indeed radical and profound but it does not involve paradigm shifts but rather a change in the practice. In this sense, it is a matter of style

EVOLUTION AND THE END OF A WORLD

This dissertation examines college student understanding and attitudes toward biological evolution. In ethnographic work, I followed a cohort of 31 students through their required introductory biology class. In interviews, students discuss their life history with the concept - in school, at home, at church, and in their communities. For some Creationist students, confronting evolution in class has meant confronting existential issues regarding both the basis of science and the basis of faith. For other Creationist students, claims of evolution\u27s theoretical strength are eschewed for its direct challenge to their worldview. For most students, science holds minimal interest against other values in their lives. Faculty and policy makers decry this as poor American science literacy which demands change. This work illustrates the gap between ideal science literacy , and the everyday practices which result in half of Americans rejecting evolution as sound science

The Democracy of Objects

xii, 349 p. Libro ElectrónicoEl efecto del método empírico en la metafísica es grave y persistente para el tratamiento de las mentes finitas como uno de las muchas formas de la existencia finita, que no tienen privilegio por encima ellos, excepto tal como se deriva de su mayor perfección y el desarrollo. En caso de probar que la investigación cognitiva relación es única, por improbable tal resultado podría parecer, tendría que ser aceptado fielmente y armonizado con el resto del sistema. Pero a primera vista existe hay justificación para el supuesto, aún menos para el dogma que, como toda experiencia implica una mente, aquello que se experimenta debe su ser y sus cualidades para la mente. Las mentes son sino los miembros más talentosos conocido por nosotros en una democracia de las cosas. Con respecto a ser o realidad todo existencias se encuentran en pie de igualdad. Varían en eminencia; como en una democracia, donde el talento tiene una carrera abierta, más lugar dotado a la influencia y autoridad

The availability, applicability and utility of information systems engineering standards in South African higher education

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDHigher education institutions in South Africa have invested heavily in information technology and information systems, with variable outcomes. Organisations in other sectors, such as engineering, the defence industry, public administration and business, have developed and adopted standards and guides to good practice for the development and operation of software-based systems. In the history of standards-making there was an early vision of the need to extend standardisation beyond software engineering into the world that acquires and uses systems, and yet the overall scope of available standards is still limited. Seeing slow progress in the international committees that develop nationally-endorsed standards (such as ISO-IEC/JTC1/SC7) practitioner communities moved to develop good practice guides such as COBIT and ITIL, that have found considerable interest in progressive organisations. Hence a range of potential guidance is available. In order to assess the extent to which standards and good practice guides might assist higher education, the four tertiary institutions in the Western Cape were approached and a representative range of academic, administrative and managerial individuals agreed to contribute to the study as respondents. Interviews were organised in two parts: the first an open conversation about their involvement with systems, and the second a structured examination of systems-related events that they considered significant. By inspection of those events, bipolar scales were developed by which respondents were able to characterise events (for example as ‘challenging’ or ‘easy’, or as ‘functional’ or ‘dysfunctional’). Respondents rated events on those scales. Repertory Grid analysis was applied so as to investigate which scales correlated with event success. 30 scales (out of 170) proved to be adequately correlated with success, and by principal component analysis they were combined to form nine ‘success scale’ groups, indicating nine areas where the deployment of standards or good practice guides might be expected to lead to more effective use of improved information systems. The study adopted an abductive approach to the work, keeping open the question of what might be the contribution to knowledge. In the event, a new Reference Model emerged from the data analysis that contributes to the effective choice and management of standards and good practice guides .A review of available standards and good practice guides using the new Reference Model concludes that the good practice guides are more applicable than the internationally developed standards, and in some areas management models and frameworks have a contribution to make. The utility of standards, good practice guides and management models will depend on the circumstances and context of use, which are extremely variable. A portfolio approach to the management of information systems provides a means to deal with that variability. It is further found that the IMBOK1 can be used to assess the linkages between information technology, information systems, business processes, business benefits and business strategy. The new Reference Model has a role to play in resolving the need for standards in the four junctions between those five IMBOK domains. Selected standards are assessed in that way, and an illustrative commentary is provided showing how projects and other systems-related initiatives can be assessed using the new Reference Model and the IMBOK.Carnegie Corporation of New Yor

THE FOUR TRANSACTIONAL DISTANCES OF THE APOCALYPSE: A CRITICAL REALIST CASE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING COVID-19

The purpose of this comparative, longitudinal case study was to explore the distance operations system implemented in U.S. colleges and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Embedded in a larger two-year study of distance education in the U.S. before and after the health crisis, this study combined a grounded theory methodology with a critical realist approach to identify the components of the distance operations system and illuminate the generative mechanisms that promote or inhibit effective distance education. Primary data for this study consisted of interviews of faculty, staff, and administration of four higher education institutions at two collection points: first during the spring and summer academic terms of 2020; and second, during or immediately after the fall 2020 academic term. Secondary data included participant-provided and public-facing documents, communications, and artifacts related to the transition to and continuity of distance operations. This study refines the construct of transactional distance (Moore, 1993) and offers a typology of distance in two domains: the physical domain, which includes temporal and transportational distance; and the psychological domain, which includes socio-personal and cognitive distance. This research has the potential to both disturb and inform higher education thought and action regarding the ways distance and distance education have been discussed, researched, and practiced. This study reveals that participants variously acted or reacted to, altered or shaped, and measured or adjudged the effects of distance. Thus, this dissertation argues that distance is a construct that higher education can and should distinguish, control, and wield for its purposes. Findings contribute to what is known about distance education at the macro level of theory and systems (Zawacki-Richter, 2009) and point to a need to evaluate the different types of distance and further explore how and under what circumstances distance may be most effective for any institutional activities

An investigation into formal and informal learning in outdoor adventure: a case study of a local authority adventure team

This thesis develops understanding in using outdoor adventure as a tool for learning for young people. It examines how adventure pedagogy may be applied in conjunction with classroom education to offer physical and visual means to enhance classroom theory. The core of the study was the examination of a local authority Adventure Team, identified by the Authority management as having strayed from its roots, although not perceived as ‘failing’. The researcher became insider-researcher to combine professional experience with research knowledge, envisaging this study as the pre-cursor to an action research team development project. The aims of the research were whether the Team was delivering the ‘learning’ mandated by its youth work location and whether it could strengthen its delivery. The study defines adventure, before exploring the underpinning concepts making up the elements of ‘The Adventure Team’ and its identity within the local authority. Literature advocates adventure as a powerful tool to develop social and emotional literacy, which dovetails into Government agendas on health and education. Although the study was undertaken prior to the current coalition Government, the principal agenda remains consistent with the previous regime. The Government at the time of the research promoted adventure as a means to help young people learn about the world in which they live, and the current Government has not rescinded this ambition. This work embodies learning as an interactive process whereby adventure can engage the individual on an agenda of personal and social awareness, as well as cognitive learning. Using case study as the research approach, data collection was achieved using interviews, participant observation and secondary data. The research found that the Team could achieve more by developing closer working relationships and by the Authority leadership being strengthened to offer greater direction and support. The framework of delivery was centralising the Team such that it had become isolated, with little governance and without partnerships to make the programmes as powerful as they could be. The conclusion is that the Team could fortify its delivery through alliances to provide visual and physical means to reinforce and support traditional learning, which enhances understanding. Informal learning helps young people to understand how they learn and how they can apply learning, which augments motivation and creates ownership of the learning. The research is a forerunner to at least two future research studies. Firstly an examination of the legacy of the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ Manifesto (2006) and secondly, an exploration of the influence of the coalition Government’s assumption of power on multi-agency partnerships, early intervention and targeted youth support, as was envisaged under the previous regime as the ‘Every Child Matters’ (2003) agenda. In addition to this, a book exploring how adventure can be used to address formal and informal learning as an ‘off the shelf’ resource to present activities and potential outcomes has enormous potential in the sustained delivery of outdoor learning as a valuable learning tool

Theatre, an empty space : a thought performance after Gilles Deleuze.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN037625 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo