DOCSLIB.ORG

A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research for Advancing Humanistic Values Through Organization Development Practice Daniel J

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research for Advancing Humanistic Values Through Organization Development Practice Daniel J University of St. Thomas, Minnesota UST Research Online Education Doctoral Dissertations in Organization School of Education Development 2012 A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research for Advancing Humanistic Values through Organization Development Practice Daniel J. Shuster University of St. Thomas, Minnesota Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Shuster, Daniel J., "A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research for Advancing Humanistic Values through Organization Development Practice" (2012). Education Doctoral Dissertations in Organization Development. 13. https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/13 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Education Doctoral Dissertations in Organization Development by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research For Advancing Humanistic Values through Organization Development Practice by Daniel J. Shuster A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Education degree. University of St. Thomas Saint Paul, Minnesota June 2012 A Bricolage of Critical Hermeneutics, Abductive Reasoning, and Action Research For Advancing Humanistic Values through Organization Development Practice by Daniel J. Shuster University of St. Thomas We certify that we have read this doctoral dissertation written by Daniel J. Shuster and approved it as adequate in scope and quality. We have found it complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. Stephen Brookfield, Ph.D., Committee Chair Alla Heorhiadi, Ph.D., Ed.D., Committee Member Eleni Roulis, Ph.D., Committee Member June 18, 2012 © Daniel J. Shuster 2012 i Acknowledgements I sincerely thank my friend Jan Blake, Ed.D. for her many hours of feedback and critique on drafts to this work. Several years of deep dialogue with my good friend Bill Hannon, M.B.A., M.S.O.D. is also present in this work. I thank friends Tony Blake, M.S. and Sharon Walbran, M.S. for their very generous technical assistance. I am especially indebted to my dissertation committee for seeing this long process through. Thank you to committee members Stephen Brookfield, Ph.D. (Chair), and Alla Heorhiadi, Ph.D., Ed.D., and Eleni Roulis, Ph.D. Dr. Brookfield worked through several drafts with me and held me to a very high standard of writing for which I am grateful. I also wish to acknowledge the support I have received, throughout the entire UST doctoral process, from John Conbere, Ed.D., my academic advisor, and Liz Knight, our OD Department Manager. The very capable UST librarians have also been enormously helpful to me. I shall always remember the late Sharon Gibson, Ph.D. and be grateful for her vigorous encouragement and validation of my work. © Daniel J. Shuster 2012 ii Dedication I dedicate this work to my wife, Cynthia L. Hummel, and to our son, Thomas A. Shuster who have inspired and sustained me for precious decades of life; and to the memories of my mother, Ruth Hinman Shuster, and my grandmother, Clara Mead Hinman, who always believed in me and loved me unconditionally throughout the difficult and all too brief time we shared life together. © Daniel J. Shuster 2012 iii Abstract This is an emergent and auto-ethnographic study to find ways for the practice of organization development (OD) to recover and sustain humanism in the workplace. It begins with a literature review hermeneutically exploring the history and relevance of three modes of inquiry—hermeneutics, abductive reasoning, and action research—paratactically, which is to say, separately without overlap or reference to each other—to future OD practice. These three modes were selected from an extended literature search for non-reductive modes of inquiry that could address the range of human interests and workplace dis-ease as I understand them. I combined my strong background reading on hermeneutics with the abductive reasoning of C. S. Peirce as two of the modes for review and also reflexively as part of my own methodology. The third mode, action research, is borrowed from the work of Kurt Lewin and his tradition in OD, known for its humanistic and democratic aims. Also included in the literature review is a report on the some of the more salient challenges and opportunities currently confronting the practice of organization development (OD) to provide a context for practical expression of my emerging discoveries. Following the literature review, I hermeneutically surfaced submerged, tacit (hidden-from-consciousness) generative connections from the confluence (flowing together) of the three modes, as they abductively emerged from within my expanding hermeneutic experience (known as a horizon) with the literature review. I then interpret the tacit relevance of that confluence through my life experience, for illuminating those OD challenges and opportunities. Finally this study integrates a sequence of critical hermeneutic and abductive processes in a participatory action research (PAR) pathway leading to plateaus of discovery and renewal through facilitation by humanistically oriented OD praxis. I conclude with five abduced interventions hypothetically drawn from personal case studies. My audience are OD practitioners inclined to develop wholistic humanism in the workplace through facilitative immersion with small groups and micro-cultures. Here they may find enlarged conceptual frames to reconceptualize OD, engage clients in transformative dialogue, and create actionable knowledge in their practice. © Daniel J. Shuster 2012 iv Key words: a priori experiential horizon, abductive reasoning, action inquiry, action learning, action research, action science, actionable knowledge, agency, alienation, ampliative inference, assumptive world, attunement of workgroups, belief, bricolage, categorical, category notes, centrally controlled cooperation, certainty, change management, choice, circularity and suppressed nucleation, co-generative learning, cognitive dissonance, collaboration, colonization, communitarian, communities of practice, concatenation, constructionism, constructivism, Consulcube, corporate tyranny, covert processes, critical hermeneutics, Dasein, defeasible hypotheses, democracy, depth hermeneutics, diagnostic OD, dialogic OD, dialogical-dialectical mediation, dialogue, difference and distance, digestible consequences, dignity, directive change management, diversity, dogma, domination, doubt, emancipation, emergent approach (power and politics), emergent research, empiricism, end to itself sphere and means to an end sphere, epistemologies, erklären (to explain), evaluation, evidence- based research, exegetical tradition, existentialism, explicative-nomothetic, explicit and implicit culture, facilitation, fascism, focal attention, foreknowledge, foundational critical thinking skills, foundational language skills, Fourth Generation evaluation, freedom, free- market, fusion of horizons, Gadamer, general semantics, grounded theory, hegemony, Heidegger, hermeneutic circle/spiral, hermeneutic phenomenology, hermeneutics, hermeneutics of suspicion, hermetic drift, holons, horizon, hubris, human finitude, humanism, idiographic-nomothetic duality, inadequate social institutions, individualism, inductive probability, inference to best explanation, innate human drives, integrative, interpretive-idiographic, interpretivism, intersubjectivity, intertextuality, knowledge management, Lewin, liberty, linguisticality, lived experience (Erlebnis), logical empiricism, long-term sustainability, material-instrumental dimension, mergers and acquisitions, methodological pathway, modus ponens, modus tollens, Naturwissenschaften, neopragmatism, new social order, noetic, normative behavior, objectivism, ontological, ontological facticity, ontological finitude, oppression, organization development (OD), overt and covert culture, participatory action research, Peirce, philosophical hermeneutics, polymodal inquiry, positivism, post-modern, post-positivism, pragmaticism, pragmatism, prejudice, presuppositions, private narrative and public narrative, private spheres and public spheres, propositional and tacit knowledge, psychoanalysis, punctuated equilibrium, qualitative and quantitative research, radical hermeneutics, rapid iterations, ratiocination, reductionism, reflection, researchers-as-bricoleurs, retroduction, rhetoric, rhizomatics, segregation, semiotic, Geisteswissenschaften, socio-economic approach to management (SEAM), socio-technical systems, syllogistic logic, time-binding, totalitarianism, value-based perspectives, verstehen, Weltanschauung, Wittgenstein, Zusammenhang © Daniel J. Shuster 2012 v Table of Contents Chapter 1–Preliminary Material............................................................................................1 Overview of the Study………………...………………………………………………3 Background Statement...................................................................................................8 Problem Statement.........................................................................................................9 Purpose Statement........................................................................................................16
Load more

Recommended publications
  • On Formativity: Art As Praxis
    META: Research in Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and Practical Philosophy – X (2) / 2018 META: RESEARCH IN HERMENEUTICS, PHENOMENOLOGY, AND PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY VOL. X, NO. 2 / DECEMBER 2018: 410-421, ISSN 2067-3655, www.metajournal.org On Formativity: Art as Praxis Gaetano Chiurazzi Università di Torino Abstract Luigi Pareyson‘s concept of formativity is one of his most relevant and original concepts. In this paper I will give a short exposition of this concept in Pareyson‘s Estetica and try to show how it can account, better as other object, subject-, target- oriented theories, even of some features of contemporary art. The very relevant innovation that we can find in this concept is the shift from a concept of art as poiesis—as it is in Aristotle, namely, as a production of an object—to the concept of art as praxis, that is, as an activity which involves the entire doing of the artist. As a doing that invents the form of doing, formativity appears as a kind of schematism that operates, not only without concept, as it is in Kant‘s Critique of Judgement, but even without object. The thesis here suggested is that formativity can be understood as a transcendentalism of invention. Keywords: Pareyson, aesthetics; formativity, work of art, invention, poiesis, praxis I The goal of this article is to discuss the concept of ‗formativity‘ formulated by the Italian philosopher Luigi Pareyson, the teacher of more well-known philosophers as Gianni Vattimo and Umberto Eco at the University of Turin.1 This concept is presented by Pareyson in his book Estetica, published in its first edition in 1954, with the subtitle Teoria della formatività (Theory of formativity).
    [Show full text]
  • Phenomenology As Philosophy and Method Applications to Ways of Doing Special Education
    Phenomenology As Philosophy and Method Applications to Ways of Doing Special Education JEAN C. McPHAIL ABSTRACT 1 HENOMENOLOGY IS A PHILOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT The theoretical positions of the preceding two texts THAT APPROACHES THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR create significantly different orientations to the life worlds CULTURE DIFFERENTLY FROM THE LOGICAL POSITIVIST MODEL of people. The quote by Merleau-Ponty describes the USED IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES AND IN SPECIAL EDUCA- essential focus of the phenomenological movement in TION. PHENOMENOLOGISTS VIEW THE APPLICATION OF THE philosophy—human consciousness. The Individualized Edu- LOGICAL POSITIVIST MODEL TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEINGS cation Program written for a 13-year-old young man with AS INAPPROPRIATE BECAUSE THE MODEL DOES NOT ADDRESS learning disabilities characterizes the prevalent view of THE UNIQUENESS OF HUMAN LIFE. IN THIS ARTICLE, THE individuals working in the field of special education—an THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODOLOGICAL orientation directed toward changing the behavior of indi- ORIENTATIONS OF PHENOMENOLOGY ARE DISCUSSED, viduals with disabilities. Whereas phenomenology privi- FOLLOWED BY THEIR APPLICATIONS TO WAYS OF DOING leges the nature of the meanings that people construct in RESEARCH IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. their lives and that guide their actions, special education focuses on the study and practice of behavioral change outside the context of the life meanings of individuals with disabilities. The shift that Bruner (1990) described in the early stages of the cognitive revolution from an emphasis on the "construction of meaning to the processing of mean- P. HENOMENOLOGY IS AN INVENTORY OF CON- ing" (p. 4) aptly characterizes the essential differences JLsciousness HEN( as of that wherein a universe resides.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short Guide to Community Based Participatory Action Research 1
    PAarticip Short Guideatory Assto Communityet Mapping Based Participatory Action Research A COMMUNITY COMMUNITY RESEARCH RESEARCH LAB LAB TOOLBOX TGUIDETOOLKITOOLBOX COMMUNITY a program of DECEMBER 2011 RESEARCH About Us Acknowledgments ADVANCEMENT PROJECT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Advancement Project (www.advancementprojectca.org) Healthy City, through the Community Research Lab, devel- is a public policy change organization rooted in the civil oped this guide with funding from First 5 Los Angeles. This rights movement. We engi neer large-scale systems and other toolkits can be accessed through the Healthy change to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open City website at www.healthycity.org/toolbox. paths to upward mobil ity. Our goal is that members of all communities have the safety, opportunity and health they need to thrive. Advancement Project’s Programs include: Educational Equity, Equity in Public Funds, Healthy City, and Urban Peace Institute. HEALTHY CITY CONTENT Healthy City (www.healthycity.org) is an information Authors: Janice C. Burns, M.A.; Deanna Y. Cooke, Ph.D.; + action resource that unites community voices, rigor- Christine Schweidler, M.P.H. ous research and innovative technologies to solve the root causes of social inequity. We transform how people Editors: Taisha Bonilla, M.T.S. and Tahirah Farris, A.I.C.P, access and use information about their communities. As M.PL a program of Healthy City, the Community Research Lab partners with community-based organizations to develop, DESIGN implement, and disseminate data/ mapping projects, tools, and workshops that promote community knowledge and Rosten Woo and Colleen Corcoran / bycommittee.net Community Based Participatory Action Research. For more information, visit www.advancementprojectca.org or contact us at (213) 989-1300.
    [Show full text]
  • Vietnamese Existential Philosophy: a Critical Reappraisal
    VIETNAMESE EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY: A CRITICAL REAPPRAISAL A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Hi ền Thu Lươ ng May, 2009 i © Copyright 2009 by Hi ền Thu Lươ ng ii ABSTRACT Title: Vietnamese Existential Philosophy: A Critical Reappraisal Lươ ng Thu Hi ền Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2009 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Lewis R. Gordon In this study I present a new understanding of Vietnamese existentialism during the period 1954-1975, the period between the Geneva Accords and the fall of Saigon in 1975. The prevailing view within Vietnam sees Vietnamese existentialism during this period as a morally bankrupt philosophy that is a mere imitation of European versions of existentialism. I argue to the contrary that while Vietnamese existential philosophy and European existentialism share some themes, Vietnamese existentialism during this period is rooted in the particularities of Vietnamese traditional culture and social structures and in the lived experience of Vietnamese people over Vietnam’s 1000-year history of occupation and oppression by foreign forces. I also argue that Vietnamese existentialism is a profoundly moral philosophy, committed to justice in the social and political spheres. Heavily influenced by Vietnamese Buddhism, Vietnamese existential philosophy, I argue, places emphasis on the concept of a non-substantial, relational, and social self and a harmonious and constitutive relation between the self and other. The Vietnamese philosophers argue that oppressions of the mind must be liberated and that social structures that result in violence must be changed. Consistent with these ends Vietnamese existentialism proposes a multi-perspective iii ontology, a dialectical view of human thought, and a method of meditation that releases the mind to be able to understand both the nature of reality as it is and the means to live a moral, politically engaged life.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short Guide to Community Based Participatory Action Research 1
    PAarticip Short Guideatory Assto Communityet Mapping Based Participatory Action Research A COMMUNITY COMMUNITY RESEARCH RESEARCH LAB LAB TOOLBOX TGUIDETOOLKITOOLBOX COMMUNITY a program of DECEMBER 2011 RESEARCH About Us Acknowledgments ADVANCEMENT PROJECT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Advancement Project (www.advancementprojectca.org) Healthy City, through the Community Research Lab, devel- is a public policy change organization rooted in the civil oped this guide with funding from First 5 Los Angeles. This rights movement. We engi neer large-scale systems and other toolkits can be accessed through the Healthy change to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open City website at www.healthycity.org/toolbox. paths to upward mobil ity. Our goal is that members of all communities have the safety, opportunity and health they need to thrive. Advancement Project’s Programs include: Educational Equity, Equity in Public Funds, Healthy City, and Urban Peace Institute. HEALTHY CITY CONTENT Healthy City (www.healthycity.org) is an information Authors: Janice C. Burns, M.A.; Deanna Y. Cooke, Ph.D.; + action resource that unites community voices, rigor- Christine Schweidler, M.P.H. ous research and innovative technologies to solve the root causes of social inequity. We transform how people Editors: Taisha Bonilla, M.T.S. and Tahirah Farris, A.I.C.P, access and use information about their communities. As M.PL a program of Healthy City, the Community Research Lab partners with community-based organizations to develop, DESIGN implement, and disseminate data/ mapping projects, tools, and workshops that promote community knowledge and Rosten Woo and Colleen Corcoran / bycommittee.net Community Based Participatory Action Research. For more information, visit www.advancementprojectca.org or contact us at (213) 989-1300.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources
    Post-continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources NELSON MALDONADO-TORRES It is no accident that the global geographical framework in use today is essentially a cartographic celebration of European power. After centuries of imperialism, the presumptions of a worldview of a once-dominant metropole has become part of the intellectual furniture of the world…. Metageography matters, and the attempt to engage it critically has only begun. Martin W. Lewis and Kären W. Wigen, The Myth of Continents.1 or several decades now the contours of legitimate philosophy have been drawn by advocates of F so-called analytic and continental philosophies. Analytic philosophy is often referred to as a style of thinking centered on the question of whether something is true, rather than, as continental philosophy, on the multiple factors that constitute meaning.2 Analytic philosophy is also said to be closer to the sciences, while continental philosophy has more affinity with the humanities.3 One of the reasons for this lies in that while analytic philosophy tends to dismiss history from its reflections, continental philosophy typically emphasizes the relevance of time, tradition, lived experience, and/or social context. Fortunately, this situation is slowly but gradually changing today. A variety of intellectuals are defying the rigid boundaries of these fields. Some of the most notable are Afro- American, Afro-Caribbean, and Latina/o scholars using the arsenal of these bodies of thought to analyze and interpret problems related to colonialism, racism, and sexism in the contemporary world.4 These challenges demand a critical analysis of the possibilities and limits of change within the main coordinates of these different styles or forms of philosophizing.
    [Show full text]
  • An Action Research in Science: Providing Metacognitive Support to Year 9 Students
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENV IRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 2016 , VOL. 11, NO. 12, 5376 - 5395 OPEN ACCESS An Action Research in Science: Providing Metacognitive Support to Year 9 Students Francis Wagabaa, David F. Treagustb, A L. Chandrasegaranb, Mihye Wonb aDarwin High School, Darwin, AUSTRALIA; bCurtin University, Perth, WESTERN AUSTRALIA ABSTRACT An action research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing metacognitive support to enhance Year 9 students’ metacognitive capabilities in order to better understand science concepts related to light, environmental health, ecosystems, genetics, ecology, atoms and the Periodic Table. The study was conducted over three years involving 35, 20 and 24 students in each year. The interventions included providing students with clearly stated focused outcomes about the relevant science concepts, engaging in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and posttest results of the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ). The results showed gains in the MSpQ. KEYWORDS ARTICLE HISTORY Action research; metacognition; metacognitve Received 08 April 2016 support; science concepts Revised 10 May 2016 Accepted 12 May 2016 Introduction Action research unifies the process of developing theory and practice (Barret, 2011). Action research was initially promoted by Kurt Lewin in the mid-1940s with the intention of applying research to practical issues occurring in the everyday social world. The idea was to enter a social situation, attempt change, and monitor results (Coolican, 2009). Action research is often conducted to bring about change in practice, while generating new knowledge at the same time.
    [Show full text]
  • Linuxvilág 4.Évf. 10. Sz. (2003 Október)
    Kovácsmûhely A Bricolage A Salon és más népszerû webhelyek mögött meghúzódó tartalomkezelõ rendszer egyszerûen használható saját webhelyünk írói és szerkesztõi számára is. z elmúlt néhány hónapban bemutattunk egy pár hajtódik végre minden alkalommal. Ez a megoldás azt ered- Zope alapú tartalomkezelõ rendszert. Természetesen ményezi, hogy a Bricolage mûködése gyors lesz. nem a Zope az egyetlen versenyzõ a nyílt forrású Mint már említettem, a mod_perl csak az Apache webkiszol- Atartalomkezelõ rendszerek mezõnyében. Az egyik egyre jelen- gálóval mûködik. Bár folyamatosan dolgoznak a mod_perl átvi- tõsebbé váló csomag a Bricolage, amelyet David Wheeler írt és telén az Apache 2.x számára, a cikk írásának idején (2003 júniu- tart karban, és amely a mod_perl csomagon és a PostgreSQL sa) még csak az Apache 1.x változatával mûködik együtt. Mivel adatbázis-kezelõn alapul. az Apache 1.x több különálló folyamatot futtat, ahelyett hogy © Kiskapu Kft. Minden jog fenntartva A Bricolage program használatához nem szükséges számítás- egy folyamaton belül több szálat indítana, nincs lehetõség arra, technikai ismeret. Igaz, hogy a program módosítása, illetve hogy igazi adatbázisgyûjtõt hozzunk létre a különféle gyermek karbantartása nagy szakértelmet kíván, de az Apache webki- HTTP-kiszolgálók számára. A létrehozott adatbázis-kapcsolat szolgálóval vagy a Perl nyelvvel dolgozó emberek általában viszont életben tartható az Apache és a PostgreSQL között az programozók vagy rendszergazdák, míg a Bricolage felhasz- Apache::DBI modul használatával. A Bricolage pontosan ezt nálói a webhely írói, szerkesztõi és készítõi. teszi, így az adatbázis-kapcsolatot nem kell minden alkalommal A Bricolage a való világban is bizonyított. Az Apache és a Perl újra létrehozni, amikor egy felhasználó lekér valamit. évekig küzdött azért, hogy bekerüljön a fõáramba.
    [Show full text]
  • Action Research in Teacher Education: Classroom Inquiry, Reflection, and Data-Driven Decision Making
    Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 4(2), 2011 Action Research in Teacher Education: Classroom Inquiry, Reflection, and Data-Driven Decision Making Carrie Eunyoung Hong William Paterson University Salika A. Lawrence William Paterson University One of the growing interests in teacher education lies in how and what teachers learn across time and space in the complex ecologies and technologies of today’s society. Teacher research has been implemented in teacher education programs as a powerful, exploratory tool for teacher candidates to inquire about educational problems and to improve their knowledge of teaching practice. This article presents insights gained from review of 18 action research projects completed by classroom teachers enrolled in a graduate reading methods course. To better understand what teachers learned through the action research process and how their self-study impacted teaching and learning in their classrooms, qualitative research methods were used to analyze the teachers’ projects. The data revealed action research impacted literacy instruction, teachers struggled with how to make their literacy instruction explicit, projects focused on specific literacy topics, teachers used a range of resources for their selected intervention and shared information with each other and with colleagues in their respective contexts. Teaching and learning are malleable practices that occur in the complex ecologies of individual, social, cultural, and political settings and in the interactions of local and global contexts. Therefore, teacher quality and the evaluation of effective teaching are dependent upon student outcomes; gains demonstrated by a wide range of students who bring diverse experiences as well as other social factors found in classrooms. A recent paradigm shift in the focus of educational research and the role of teachers and teacher educators (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Darling-Hammond, 2006) might address the challenge of how to appropriately measure teacher performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Continental Philosophies of the Social Sciences David Teira
    Continental philosophies of the social sciences David Teira 1. Introduction In my view, there is no such thing as a continental philosophy of the social sciences. There is, at least, no consensual definition of what is precisely continental in any philosophical approach. 1 Besides, there are many approaches in the philosophy of the social sciences that are often qualified as continental , but there is no obvious connection between them. The most systematic attempt so far to find one is Yvonne Sherratt’s (2006) monograph, where continental approaches would be appraised as different branches of the Humanist tradition. According to Sherratt, philosophers in this tradition draw on the ideas and arguments of the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, since they understand philosophy as an accumulative endeavor, where the past is a continuous source of wisdom. Unlike empiricist philosophers in the analytic tradition, humanists see the world as an intrinsically purpose-laden, ethically, aesthetically, and spiritually valuable entity . However, once you adopt such a broad definition in order to encompass such different thinkers as Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger or Foucault, it seems difficult not to see humanistic traits in analytic philosophers as well. Moreover, when it comes to the philosophical study of actual social sciences, it is not clear whether adopting a humanistic stance makes, as such, any difference in the analysis: as we will see below, the arguments of the continental philosophers discussed here do not presuppose a particular commitment with, e.g., ideas from classical Antiquity. Certain Greeks named those who did not speak their language Barbarians , but it was never clear who counted as a proper speaker of Greek.
    [Show full text]
  • PHI 516/GER 566/REL 516 Special Topics In
    PHI 516/GER 566/REL 516 Special Topics in History of Phil: Knowledge & Belief in Kant, Fichte, Hegel Instructor: Andrew Chignell ([email protected]) Spring 2020, Marx 201, Th 1:30-4:20 Office: 232 1879 Hall; Office Hours: Tues 4-5:30 and by appt A seminar on Kantian epistemology and pistology (the theory of faith or acceptance). Topics include: the nature and ethics of assent (holding-for-true); the nature of knowledge; fallibilism and infallibilism about epistemic justification; cognition and spontaneity; noumenal ignorance; opinion and common sense; epistemic autonomy; and the structure of practical arguments, both pragmatic and moral. In the final weeks of the seminar we will consider how some of these themes are treated by two of Kant’s most influential successors – J.G. Fichte and G.W.F. Hegel. Along the way, we will look at some broadly Kantian efforts in contemporary epistemology by authors like Mark Schroeder and Kurt Sylvan. Assignments: 1. Short reflections: Everyone taking the course for credit is asked to submit five 1-2 page reflections. Often these will simply elaborate a question about the reading, but they can also involve criticism or constructive work. These are due on Wednesday night before class at 11.59pm, and should focus on the readings for the following day’s class. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, they are worth (combined) 30% of the grade. As long as you’re doing the required reading, it shouldn’t be hard to achieve full credit for this. 2. Presentation: Ph.D. students have the opportunity (but not the obligation) to give a short presentation to the seminar.
    [Show full text]
  • Allan Feldman and Jim Minstrell
    Action Research as a Research Methodology for the Study of the Teaching and Learning of Science Allan Feldman and Jim Minstrell What is Action Research? Increasingly, action research has become a part of funded educational research and curricular development projects. There have been two main arguments for this. The first is that it reduces the time lag between the generation of new knowledge and its application in the classroom. If teachers are the researchers, the time lag may be reduced to zero. The second is that teachers represent a highly educated population who, with proper training, could act as classroom researchers. This offers are at least two potential benefits. One is that it could reduce the cost of doing research or development. Teachers would be researchers doing inquiry as a part of their normal practice, with little additional compensation or release time. The other is that teachers spend large amounts of time in schools working with children and are experts at what they do. The inclusion of teachers as researchers in funded projects is a way of utilizing that expertise. At the same time, there are significant concerns about the use of action research as a research methodology. First, how is the success of action research measured? If it is done by looking for a product such as an addition to the knowledge base on teaching or learning, then issues related to the validity and reliability of the research arise. Can teachers generate sufficient warrant to support propositional statements that arise from their research? Can they avoid or overcome the bias that is inherent in doing research on their own practice? Other products, such as changes in teachers or students, are possible, but difficult to measure.
    [Show full text]