Rethinking the Learning Society: Giorgio Agamben on Studying,Stupidity, and Impotence

In this article, the author rethinks critiques of the learning society using Giorgio Agamben’s theory of potentiality. Summarizing several major contributions to our understanding of the limitations of the discourse of learning, the author proposes that critics thus far have failed to fully pinpoint the exact danger of learning. Importantly, learning is not only a rejection of the democratic or political dimension of education but it is first and foremost predicated on a false ontology of potentiality. What is put at risk in learning is a sacrifice of our (im)potential, our capacity to be or not to be this or that within the order of things. Through a reconstruction of Agamben’s theory of studying, the author argues for a different conceptualization of freedom in education, of teaching, and of the time of education.     

Psychotherapy Supervision Since 1909: Some Friendly Observations About its First Century

Now a century old, psychotherapy supervision occupies a place of increasing prominence across all mental health disciplines and appears to generally be regarded as a (if not the) sine qua non for the teaching and learning of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy supervision has emerged as our “signature pedagogy.” In this paper, I take a look back at supervision’s last century and consider some (but by no means all) of the salient issues and themes that have defined its science and practice. The reviewed supervision issues and themes include the following: (1) the beginnings and evolution of supervision and supervision theory; (2) our evolving perspective about the supervision matrix; (3) methodological pluralism and diversity; (4) “good” and “bad” supervisor behaviors and the working alliance; (5) measurement; (6) effectiveness; (7) diversity; and (8) education. I use this “look back” to (1) give voice to where we have been and where we are now in psychotherapy supervision and (2) shine a light on some of what seems to lie ahead for supervision’s second century.     

Predicativity and Structuralism in Dedekind’s Construction of the Reals

It is a commonly held view that Dedekind’s construction of the real numbers is impredicative. This naturally raises the question of whether this impredicativity is justified by some kind of Platonism about sets. But when we look more closely at Dedekind’s philosophical views, his ontology does not look Platonist at all. So how is his construction justified? There are two aspects of the solution: one is to look more closely at his methodological views, and in particular, the places in which predicativity restrictions ought to be applied; another is to take seriously his remarks about the reals as things created by the cuts, instead of considering them to be the cuts themselves. This can lead us to make finer-grained distinctions about the extent to which impredicative definitions are problematic, since we find that Dedekind’s use of impredicative definitions in analysis can be justified by his (non-Platonist) philosophical views.

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On Laozi��s Dao��An attempt to make philosophy speak Chinese

“How is the meaning of the Dao to be understood?” To answer this question, we should not make indiscreet remarks outside of the framework of Laozi’s thought; rather, we should enter the system, helping Laozi to establish a philosophical system on the Dao. Such an establishment is equivalent to that of a logical system of Laozi’s philosophy. We consider the presentation of Laozi’s thought as unverified propositions, and the purpose of this essay is to expound on these propositions and make them philosophy in a strict sense: The Dao that can be talked about is not Dao anymore, and while “the Dao” seems to have its name, it actually does not. Names are also particular things. The Dao is neither a name nor a thing; instead, the Dao implies nonexistence. Nonexistence means the possibility of the being of all things, and all these things are the manifestation of the Dao, thus nonexistence is also existence. Things are discriminated from the Dao, and because all these things are discriminated from each other, there is de 德 (virtues). Where the discrimination is removed, there is the Dao, and adherence to the discrimination means deviation from the Dao. The diversity of things stirs up desires, and the control and utilization of things are a departure from the Dao. Only desires without self are compatible with nature. Desire discriminates with artificial measurements, and thus leads to knowledge. To acquire knowledge is to learn, and learning develops the capability to differentiate between the self and the other, so only a decline in learning can be conducive to human life. One can achieve something, transform external things and withstand nature only after he learns and acquires knowledge. On the other hand, wuwei 无为 (doing nothing) leads to wuwo 无我 (self-denial), avoiding the invention or differentiation of things. So, life is just the movement of the Dao, in which all things are allowed to take their own courses and nothing is left unaccomplished.     

How to Define a Number? A General Epistemological Account of Simon Stevin’s Art of Defining

This paper explores Simon Stevin’s l’Arithmétique of 1585, where we find a novel understanding of the concept of number. I will discuss the dynamics between his practice and philosophy of mathematics, and put it in the context of his general epistemological attitude. Subsequently, I will take a close look at his justificational concerns, and at how these are reflected in his inductive, a postiori and structuralist approach to investigating the numerical field. I will argue that Stevin’s renewed conceptualisation of the notion of number is a sort of “existential closure” of the numerical domain, founded upon the practice of his predecessors and contemporaries. Accordingly, I want to make clear that l’Aritmetique have to be read not as an ontological analysis or exploration of the numerical field, but as an explication of a mathematical ethos. In this sense, this article also intends to make a specific contribution to the broader issue of the “ethics of geometry.”     

Aesthetic Concepts,Perceptual Learning,and Linguistic Enculturation: Considerations from Wittgenstein,Language, and Music

Aesthetic non-cognitivists deny that aesthetic statements express genuinely aesthetic beliefs and instead hold that they work primarily to express something non-cognitive, such as attitudes of approval or disapproval, or desire. Non-cognitivists deny that aesthetic statements express aesthetic beliefs because they deny that there are aesthetic features in the world for aesthetic beliefs to represent. Their assumption, shared by scientists and theorists of mind alike, was that language-users possess cognitive mechanisms with which to objectively grasp abstract rules fixed independently of human responses, and that cognizers are thereby capable of grasping rules for the correct application of aesthetic concepts without relying on evaluation or enculturation. However, in this article I use Wittgenstein’s rule-following considerations to argue that psychological theories grounded upon this so-called objective model of rule-following fail to adequately account for concept acquisition and mastery. I argue that this is because linguistic enculturation, and the perceptual learning that’s often involved, influences and enables the mastery of aesthetic concepts. I argue that part of what’s involved in speaking aesthetically is to belong to a cultural practice of making sense of things aesthetically, and that it’s within a socio-linguistic community, and that community’s practices, that such aesthetic sense can be made intelligible.     

Critical Places Beyond the Psychology of Well-Being and Competitiveness

The purpose of the present contribution is to look beyond the limits evident in dualistic discourses in educational practices. Torn between the promises of well-being or the hard facts of competitiveness, educational institutions at all levels of instruction might miss the point of a more holistic approach to learning and creativity. Looking beyond dichotomous discourses in educational practices is harder than ever, in a world where globalisation demands high standards of competitiveness and neoliberalism denies all but economic growth targets. Approaches that envision different solutions are necessarily imaginative, critical and alternative to rigid discourses. In order to find foundational evidence for alternative ways of thinking and talking about learning, I will look at how Dewian and Vygotskyan conceptualisations walk the same paths and go towards holistic suggestions. Concluding remarks will address the disruptive potential of critical thinking in schools for the future.     

Authorship and Publication Practices in the Social Sciences: Historical Reflections on Current Practices

An historical review of authorship definitions and publication practices that are embedded in directions to authors and in the codes of ethics in the fields of psychology, sociology, and education illuminates reasonable agreement and consistency across the fields with regard to (a) originality of the work submitted, (b) data sharing, (c) human participants’ protection, and (d) conflict of interest disclosure. However, the role of the professional association in addressing violations of research or publication practices varies among these fields. Psychology and sociology provide active oversight with sanction authority. In education, the association assumes a more limited role: to develop and communicate standards to evoke voluntary compliance. With respect to authorship credit, each association’s standards focus on criteria for inclusion as an author, other than on the author’s ability to defend and willingness to take responsibility for the entire work. Discussions across a broad range of research disciplines beyond the social sciences would likely be beneficial. Whether improved standards will reduce either misattribution or perceptions of inappropriate attribution of credit within social science disciplines will likely depend on how well authorship issues are addressed in responsible conduct of research education (RCR), in research practice, and in each association’s ongoing efforts to influence normative practice by specifying and clarifying best practices.     

Questioning ‘Participation’: A Critical Appraisal of its Conceptualization in a Flemish Participatory Technology Assessment

This article draws attention to struggles inherent in discourse about the meaning of participation in a Flemish participatory technology assessment (pTA) on nanotechnologies. It explores how, at the project’s outset, key actors (e.g., nanotechnologists and pTA researchers) frame elements of the process like ‘the public’ and draw on interpretive repertoires to fit their perspective. The examples call into question normative commitments to cooperation, consensus building, and common action that conventionally guide pTA approaches. It is argued that pTA itself must reflect an awareness of competing interests and perspectives inherent in the discourse associated with the meaning of ‘participation’ if it is to incite action beyond vested interests and ensure genuine mutual learning.     

Statues and Lumps: A Strange Coincidence?

Puzzles about persistence and change through time, i.e., about identity across time, have foundered on confusion about what it is for ‘two things’ to be have ‘the same thing’ at a time. This is most directly seen in the dispute over whether material objects can occupy exactly the same place at the same time. This paper defends the possibility of such coincidence against several arguments to the contrary. Distinguishing a temporally relative from an absolute sense of ‘the same’, we see that the intuition, ‘this is only one thing’, and the dictum, ‘two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time’, are individuating things at a time rather than absolutely and are therefore compatible with coincidence. Several other objections philosophers have raised ride on this same ambiguity. Burke, originating what has become the most popular objection to coincidence, argues that if coincidence is possible there would be no explanation of how objects that are qualitatively the same at a time could belong to different sorts. But we can explain an object’s sort by appealing to its properties at other times. Burke’s argument to the contrary equivocates on different notions of ‘cross-time identity’ and ‘the statue’. From a largely negative series of arguments emerges a positive picture of what it means to say multiple things coincide and of why an object’s historical properties explain its sort rather than vice versa – in short, of how coincidence is possible.     

Learning As Support For Organizational Innovation: Possibilities And Limitations

Abstract

The present article tells an intervention story where two collectives, from business and academia, came together to address a business problem through collaborative action research. Among other things, the project created new ways of learning and therefore, knowing about the “business problem.” The author argues that in order to talk about an organizational intervention in a learning context, it was helpful to focus observation at the level of practice, in this case the different learning practices brought to the project by the organization and the research group. The “scientific narrative” focuses on how the two practices interacted. The present story's plot revolves around the following questions: What happens when one collective—used to a particular style of learning—decides to engage with another collective with a different approach to learning and what are the consequences for organizational innovation?     

Different senses of finitude: An inquiry into Hilbert’s finitism

This article develops a critical investigation of the epistemological core of Hilbert’s foundational project, the so-called the finitary attitude. The investigation proceeds by distinguishing different senses of ‘number’ and ‘finitude’ that have been used in the philosophical arguments. The usual notion of modern pure mathematics, i.e. the sense of number which is implicit in the notion of an arbitrary finite sequence and iteration is one sense of number and finitude. Another sense, of older origin, is connected with practices of counting concrete things, and a third sense is linked up with the immediate intuitive experience of multitudes of concrete things. Hilbert’s finitism is examined with respect to these differences, and it will be shown that there is a tendency to conflate the different senses of number and finitude, a tendency which has been a source of problems in the discussion of the foundations of mathematics and in the philosophy of logic and language.     

It’s not Easy Becoming Green: Student-Therapist Perceptions of Family Therapy in an Eco-sustainable age

Recent attention given to environmental concerns has been vaulted to the forefront of American society and the world. This has resulted in an increase in ecologically minded practices known as the ‘go green’ movement. Despite the overlap between environmental sustainability and systemic thought, marriage/couple and family therapists (M/CFTs) have remained relatively silent regarding ecologically friendly practices within training and clinical practice. In this qualitative study (the first one of its kind), we asked 25 M/CFT trainees to describe their perceptions of ecological and family sustainability in general, as well as in the context of applying eco-informed language and practice into their therapy. In general, M/CFT trainees reported that although they believe that ecological practices are important for families, they struggle with what the inclusion of such practices might look like practically. Implications for clinical practice and training are presented as well as suggestions for future research.     

Videoconferencing at Psychology Internships: Interns’ Perceptions of Interactive Television Experiences and Prospects

This article reviews the use and perceptions of videoconferencing in psychology internship training from the perspective of interns. Videoconferencing offers a means of expanding training beyond conventional on-site models. Psychology interns completed an online survey about their experiences with videoconferencing and perspectives of its impact on training. Most participants encountered it in their didactics. Some used it for supervision or other purposes. Interns’ perspectives were complex, with videoconferencing seen as supporting learning similar to conventional training in some ways, yet as less desirable overall. Direct comparisons between videoconferencing and on-site training revealed interns perceived videoconferencing as somewhat less effective, and as deleteriously affecting learning dynamics. Challenges and potential benefits of incorporating videoconferencing into psychology internship training were identified. Potential benefits include augmenting available internship training and increasing rural sites’ access to training.     

What is an academic emotion? Insights from Filipino bilingual students’ emotion words associated with learning

We explored Filipino learners’ concept of academic emotions by studying the words they use to describe their emotional experiences associated with learning. Two main theoretical frames were used as reference in the analysis: Clore, Ortony, & Foss’ (1978) taxonomy of emotion words, and Pekrun’s (2006) dimensions of academic emotions. We asked Filipino learners to describe the positive and negative emotions that they associate with their learning experiences using an open ended questionnaire. The 676 students used 1337 words which were classified into root word categories; 38 categories which were mentioned by at least 1% of the participants were included in the analysis. The interpretive analysis suggested that Filipino learners’ concept of academic emotions includes appraisals of cognitive and even physical conditions, beyond the typical affective conditions assumed in theories of emotions and academic emotions. Moreover, Filipino learners’ concepts of academic emotions include a wider range of emotion concepts, and may require additional characteristic dimensions, compared to what is being studied in current academic emotions research.     

From da Vinci to CAD and beyond

Here what I would like to accomplish is to set something of the stage from which the growing recognition of what I shall now term technoscience’s visualism—a term which can accommodate both sciences and engineering, and both imaging and design practices—takes its recognition. I shall very briefly look at the ‘godfathers and peers’ who help set this stage, and then proceed to an examination of a few moments in the development of visualism from da Vinci to computer assisted design (CAD) and beyond.     

Ten Criteria to Qualify As a Scientist-Practitioner in Clinical Psychology: An Immodest Proposal for Objective Standards

The term ‘scientist-practitioner’ has never been defined in clear or objective terminology. Detailed criteria may help to guide new generations of clinical psychologists to live by the ideals of the Boulder model. Ten criteria are proposed for evaluating the scientist-practitioner in clinical psychology across three domains: scholarship, clinical practice, and the integration of science and practice in psychology. The scientist-practitioner remains active in scholarly works, making regular contributions to the field. These contributions are visible at a national level of impact, and they extend beyond teaching. The scientist-practitioner remains active in the clinical practice of psychology, conducting face-to-face work with clients on regular basis, even if it involves a rather modest time commitment. The clinical services reflect standard clinical practices and extend beyond the supervision of others. The scientist-practitioner strives to integrate the science and practice of psychology. This integration centers around evidence-based practice, and can be seen when scholarship examines issues relevant to mental illness and its treatment.     

Occupational Therapy Intervention in the Treatment of Alcoholics

The first section of this article will provide the rationale for all occupational therapists to learn extensively about the isease of alcoholism regardless of area of practice or type of agency where employed. It will offer su estions on how this learning can take place. The second section will take an historic look at occupational therapy literature documenting the use of occupational therapy in alcoholism rehabilitation from 1941 to the present. It will describe modalities currently being used by occupational therapists in alcoholism rehabilitation and discuss expansion of occupational therapy in this practice area.     

Spheres of Justice within Schools: Reflections and Evidence on the Distribution of Educational Goods

This article argues that there are distinct spheres of justice within education and examines a range of justice norms and distribution rules that characterize the daily life of schools and classrooms. Moving from the macro to micro level, we identify the following five areas: the right to education, the allocation of (or selection into) learning places, teaching–learning practices, teachers’ treatment of students, and student evaluations of grade distribution. We discuss the literature on the beliefs by students and teachers about the just distribution of educational goods in these five domains, and on the practices used in the actual allocation of these goods. In line with normative ‘spheres of justice’ arguments in social theory, we conclude that the ideals of social justice within schools vary strongly according to the particular resource to be distributed. Moreover, these ideals often do not correspond with the practices that actually guide resource distribution in education, which may go some way toward explaining explicit or latent conflicts in this sphere. Justice is a human construction, and it is doubtful that it can be made in only one way – Michael Walzer (1983, p. 5)