The article is a part of my PhD thesis entitled “To see is to know. The cultural dimension of human perception” written at the Humanities Department of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. It presents remarks on the differences between social constructivism, conceptualism and postconstructivism in understanding and describing visual perception. The main idea is to show the cultural dimension of visual perception, so social constructivism is a way of thinking I accept. I create my own, very Polish, model of social constructivism that is complex with the theory of thought styles and thought collectives by Ludwik Fleck and the theory of culture of the Poznań school. of, mainly thesis of Anna Pałubicka and Andrzej P. Kowalski. I accept most conceptualists’ remarks on perception formulated for example by J. McDowell in his “World and Mind”. The problem is that conceptualism believes our knowledge is ex deffinicione conceptional. It is false from the perspective of the anthropology of history (A.P. Kowalski) and the philosophy of culture (E. Cassirer) which focused on archaic cultures. On the other hand, I do not accept the postconstructivism (B. Olsen, T. Ingold) model of perception. My article also remarks on the dispute between many models of constructivism. I believe we should not remove “social” from constructivism.
The article contains a proposal for a theoretical model of the phenomenon of ‘upbringing’ embedded in the paradigm of social constructivism. The concepts of this model refer to the common world of adult’s and child’s lives. The model consists of both the content of culture, in which this world is immersed, and the reality of the microsystem (family, dyad) created by participation and dialogue. In the educational dialogue, an inexperienced partner is introduced into the system of meanings used by an adult. Educational relationship is not symmetrical. Instead, it is complementary because of a stable, emotionally saturated relationship between a child and a person acting as an educator (most often a parent). Complementarity is expressed in different roles due to the distribution of responsibility, which determines different responsibilities and rights of each person. Control is implemented through a mechanism of self-realizing expectations that adults have towards their children. The description of the phenomenon of upbringing in the current of social constructivism examines relationships between two persons from the above-individualistic perspective. This is the most significant advantage of the proposed approach.
Many scholars today share a view of relational sociology as a processual-transactional approach whose basic tenet is the fluid, relativistic, contingent, transactional character of social relations. They invite sociologists to see our so-called objects (societies, institutions, social patterns, conflicts, social movements, social classes, etc.) in a processual way. In this contribution the author objects that relationalism offers a reductive vision of social reality, because it supports a flat social ontology rather than a stratified social ontology. Relationalism reduces relationships to pure flows, considering structures as purely contingent, while relational sociology attributes a structure to relationships and gives autonomy to structures, even if they are produced by processes. We have to distinguish between different orders of reality: the processual-interactional (relationalist) and the relational orders. To see all of this, it is necessary to assume a relational gaze that is only possible if a supra-functional, morphogenetic framework is adopted.
The paper introduces an integrative functional approach to legal translation teaching at translation programmes taught as part of Philology major. The approach is based on functionalism, professional realism of training, and social constructivism. The main objective is to train translators who are aware of their mediating role in intercultural and intersystemic communication, know how to produce a translation ‘fit for the purpose’, deal with terminological incongruity and overcome problems typical of the translation process. The approach requires a student-centred approach and autonomy of learners. The paper presents practical tasks which help foster the functional approach to translation and empower students by raising their self-efficacy.
Economic performance is described and explained by both economics and business ethics. Suggested by business ethics the cultural aspect includes different than assumed in economic science forejudgements which concern the nature of economy as well as the attendance of taking part it subjects – member of a particular society. The most important foundation is recognition that economy, which makes part of social reality, is under cultural conditions out of the economic ones. Since ethics and the mainstream economics presume two different ideas of social reality there is no chance to interdisciplinary discussion on economic performance. The aim of this study is to present a new methodological approach: social constructivism which could be applied to describe and explain economic processes and performances as related to custom and ethics. The author believes that the constructivist approach can be developed by institutional economics which is an alternative to mainstream economics.
Knowledge on autism has undergone a rapid development over the past few decades, as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis rates increasing dramatically. These changes emphasize the need for increased services and wider specialised support for people with ASD and their families. Autism is not only a medical, psychological or special pedagogical topic it is also a social issue. There have been several sociological studies on the topic conducted abroad, however the Czech case is specific in several aspects due to the political-cultural context of the country. Apart from a few exceptions, the topic has not been reflected in Czech social science. The present paper will introduce five approaches to autism based on research which has been conducted abroad and will also discuss to which extent they are applicable in the Czech Republic. The ideas presented are a multidisciplinary combination of sociology of knowledge, historical sociology, sociology of health and illness, cultural anthropology and disability studies. The subtopics discussed include: the social construction of autism, the development of knowledge on autism, social movements related to autism, autism across cultures and lastly, causes of the increasing prevalence of autism.
Agnieszka Woynarowska, Znaczenia niepełnosprawności intelektualnej w dyskursie internautów [The meanings of intellectual disability within the internet discourse]. Interdyscyplinarne Konteksty Pedagogiki Specjalnej, nr 22, Poznań 2018. Pp. 259-287. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2018.22.15 In the following article, the author presents an analysis of meanings projected onto intellectual disabilities by the internet users by referring to the cultural model of disability, the theory of social constructivism, as well as, to the post-structuralist discourse theories. In accordance with the cultural model of disability theory, the author perceives intellectual disability as generated by social practices, and as a “product” of discourse. A discourse perceived as a “system of statements” and as a practice that shapes the subjects which it speaks of. From this perspective, intellectual disability is perceived as a phenomenon created by its continuing interpretations. By applying the critical discourse analysis, the article presents an answer tok users? The presented means of comprehending and perceiving intellectual disability, its revealed meanings included in the internet discourse dthe question: how is intellectual disability defined and interpreted within the internet discourse, what meanings are projected onto intellectual disability by the networetermine the current assortment of practices regarding how society responds to otherness.
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Agnieszka Woynarowska, Znaczenia niepełnosprawności intelektualnej w dyskursie internautów [The meanings of intellectual disability within the internet discourse]. Interdyscyplinarne Konteksty Pedagogiki Specjalnej, nr 22, Poznań 2018. Pp. 259-287. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2018.22.15 In the following article, the author presents an analysis of meanings projected onto intellectual disabilities by the internet users by referring to the cultural model of disability, the theory of social constructivism, as well as, to the post-structuralist discourse theories. In accordance with the cultural model of disability theory, the author perceives intellectual disability as generated by social practices, and as a “product” of discourse. A discourse perceived as a “system of statements” and as a practice that shapes the subjects which it speaks of. From this perspective, intellectual disability is perceived as a phenomenon created by its continuing interpretations. By applying the critical discourse analysis, the article presents an answer tok users? The presented means of comprehending and perceiving intellectual disability, its revealed meanings included in the internet discourse dthe question: how is intellectual disability defined and interpreted within the internet discourse, what meanings are projected onto intellectual disability by the networetermine the current assortment of practices regarding how society responds to otherness.
A general theme of the text to discuss ideological mechanisms of non-representation of politicallylegitimized knowledge of underprivileged groups in the society, including women and religious orethnic minorities in school textbooks, particularly in the area of history. Analysis of dominant viewson the place of socially marginalized social groups in history textbook narratives and curricular objectivesseems to be more important than ever before. Relating to Michel Foucault’s concept of discoursesof truth, the aim of the text is to consider the dominant regime of truth in relation to national heroism,religion and a citizenship ideal. National heroism narratives in history textbooks are always placed isa broader context of building representations of a national identity and attempting to develop a unifiednotion of good citizenship. Both the nationhood and citizenship perspectives are sometimes symbolicallyrelated to the attempt of shaping emotional identification with a dominant religion.
This paper is about the use of social hierarchies as tools to control society in East European countries during the Communist era, and why those regimes were so stable. According to the theoretical perspective developed in this article the constructivist system instituted a socialist legal order as a means to pretend that the “rule of law” was still applicable. The resulting constructivist regimes were party-states, where all state hierarchies had parallel structures within the Communist Party hierarchy, and where the separation of powers was replaced with a “hierarchic balancing,” a special form of leadership that the Communist Party exerted over all institutions of state administration and the armed forces. The principle of democratic centralism helped to decrease the transaction costs of governance, and thus, achieve loyalty to the system by party members and non-members alike, and loyalty to the leadership within Communist Party.
In this article, I reconstruct Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz’s view that he called radical conventionalism (as opposed to moderate conventionalism developed by Henri Poincaré and Pierre Duhem). Then, I recall little‑known criticism of this approach developed by Stefan Amsterdamski. Finally, I demonstrate, contrary to the conception of the originator’s declarations, that a radical conventionalism is not a ‘paper fiction’. On the other hand, the standpoint of radical conventionalism is useful due to the precision of expressions provided to it by Ajdukiewicz; it shows the difficulties that have to be tackled by each philosophical approach assuming a social constructivism or related notion.
Recently, constructivism has become one of the most important movements in metaethics. According to metaethical constructivism, moral judgements do not refer to moral facts but are constructed as solutions to practical problems. At the same time this claim is not seen as incompatible with cognitive realism. A variant of metaethical constructivism, developed in opposition to the dominant Kantian branch (Ch. Korsgaard), alludes to Aristotle’s practical philosophy. In this article I raise two issues. Firstly, I present a new version of the Aristotelian constructivism in metaethics, more elaborate than the previous proposals (M. LeBar). Its fundamental element is the concept of the coherence of emotional response seen as a complex cognitive-affective state. Secondly, I argue that the acceptance of the Aristotelian version of metaethical constructivism entails the need to accept constructivism in the area of the theory of knowledge, which is contrary to the metaethical premises of constructivism.
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Jednym z najważniejszych prądów we współczesnej metaetyce stał się w ostatnim okresie konstruktywizm. Konstruktywizm metaetyczny przyjmuje, że sądy moralne nie odnoszą się do faktów moralnych, ale są konstruowane jako rozwiązania problemów praktycznych. Jednocześnie przyjmuje, że teza ta nie stoi w sprzeczności z realizmem poznawczym. Jedną z odmian konstruktywizmu metaetycznego, rozwijaną w opozycji do dominującego nurtu kantowskiego (Ch. Korsgaard) jest wersja nawiązująca do filozofii praktycznej Arystotelesa. W artykule podejmuję dwie kwestię. Po pierwsze przedstawiam nową, bardziej rozbudowaną w stosunku do dotychczasowych propozycji (M. LeBar) wersję Arystotelesowskiego konstruktywizmu w metaetyce. Jest podstawowym elementem jest koncepcja koherencji reakcji emocjonalnych rozumianych jako złożone stany afektywno-kognitywne. Po drugie, staram się wykazać, że przyjęcie arystotelesowskiej wersji konstruktywizmu metaetycznego oznacza konieczność przyjęcia konstruktywizmu w zakresie teorii wiedzy, co pozostaje w sprzeczności z założeniami tego nurtu w metaetyce.
Artykuł przedstawia miejsce, jakie w horyzoncie nauki o stosunkach międzynarodowych może zajmować termin global governance. Global governance zdefiniowane zostało jako próba nazwania współpracy funkcjonujących w świecie instytucji i organizacji międzynarodowych, a także działających w globalnej skali podmiotów prywatnych. Dodatkowo przedstawione zostało drugie rozumienie global governance – jako próba konceptualizacji współczesnych stosunków międzynarodowych. Pytania badawcze stawiane w artykule to pytania o to, w jaki sposób najbardziej wpływowe teorie stosunków międzynarodowych reagowały na termin global governance oraz dlaczego tak bardzo modne w latach 90. XX w. określenie nie zdołało utrzymać swojej popularności. Wnioski artykułu wskazują, że wieszczona przez popularyzatorów terminu global governance instytucjonalna transformacja nigdy nie nadeszła i pozimnowojenny porządek międzynarodowy nie poddaje się żadnym formom global governance.
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The objective of this article is to demonstrate the place of the global governance concept in four international relations theories: realism, liberalism, neoliberal institutionalism and social constructivism. Global governance is defined as the sum of ways that institutions and international organizations, both public and private, use to try to cooperate at the global level in order to manage their common affairs. In addition, the paper defines global governance as being a specific perspective on world politics that offers a tool for understanding global change in an era of shifting boundaries and relocated authorities. The main research questions of the article are: how the most influential IR theories have reacted to the global governance concept and why the term ‘global governance’, so popularly and so frequently used in the 1990’s, has not resulted in a stable concept. Conclusions and suggestions presented in the summary point out that global governance held the promise of a radical transformation (predicted by almost every IR theory) of world order at the end of the Cold War. However, this great institutional transformation has never taken place. Therefore, current global politics still remain resistant to any form of world (or global) governance.
The article shows tutoring is one way for children to actively learn through contact with peers by acting as non-professional teachers. This type of learning requires interaction between more competent and less competent partners. Theoretical framework of this consideration is determined by Vygotsky’s social constructivism. This paper presents selected research about children learning from each other, exposing benefits to tutoring program’s participants in the range of cognitive, social and emotional development, as well as possible reasons for ineffectiveness in this form of children's learning.
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W niniejszym tekście przedstawiam tutoring rówieśniczy jako jedną z możliwości aktywnego uczenia się dzieci w kontaktach z innymi dziećmi w roli nauczycieli nieprofesjonalnych. Ten rodzaj uczenia się wymaga interakcji między bardziej i mniej kompetentnym partnerem. Ramy teoretyczne dla moich rozważań wytycza konstruktywizm społeczny w ujęciu Wygotskiego. W artykule prezentuję wybrane badania na temat uczenia się dzieci od siebie wzajemnie, eksponując korzyści płynące dla uczestników tutoringu w zakresie rozwoju poznawczego i społeczno-emocjonalnego oraz możliwe przyczyny nieskuteczności tej formy uczenia się dzieci.
Pomimo pewnych różnic istnieją podobieństwa w koncepcjach społecznych Hannah Arendt i Margaret Archer. Ta ostatnia dostrzega problem postmodernizmu i społeczeństwa masowego. Ludzie pozbawieni tradycji stają się jednowymiarowi. Problemem jest brak wartości i relatywizm moralny. Archer poddaje krytyce także konstruktywizm społeczny. Jesteśmy częścią społeczeństwa, ale jesteśmy też autonomicznymi jednostkami. Proponuje ona realizm społeczny. Miałby on być alternatywą dla postmodernizmu. Mamy zarówno prawa, jak i obowiązki wobec społeczeństwa. Poglądy Arendt są podobne. Nawiązuje ona w nich do ideału polis. Dla niej istotne są zarówno wolność jednostki, jak i pluralizm społeczny. Tworzymy przestrzeń publiczną i działamy wspólnie. Nie można działać i wytwarzać dóbr kultury poza społeczeństwem. Postmodernizm i konsumeryzm są zagrożeniem dla kultury wyższej. Liberalizm oznacza fałszywą wolność. Zarówno dla Arendt, jak i dla Archer kultura i społeczeństwo są nierozerwalne. Kultura jest częścią społeczeństwa. Istnieją wieczne symbole zakorzenione w naszej kulturze i religii. Stanowią one o naszym człowieczeństwie.
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Despite some differences, there are similarities in the social concepts of Hannah Arendt and Margaret Archer. The latter sees the problem of postmodernism and mass society. People without tradition become one-dimensional. The problem is the lack of values and moral relativism. Archer also criticizes social constructivism. We are part of society, but we are also autonomous beings. She proposes social realism. It would be an alternative to a postmodernism. We have both rights and obligations to society. Arendt's views are similar. In them she alludes to the ideal of polis. For her, both individual freedom and social pluralism are important. We create public space and work together. You cannot act and create cultural goods outside society. Postmodernism and consumerism are a threat to a high culture. Liberalism means a false freedom. For both Arendt and Archer, culture and society are inseparable. Culture is a part of society. There are eternal symbols rooted in our culture and religion. They are about our humanity.
The objective of the paper is to present the epistemological approach of social constructivism used in water research in environmental history. In the first part, the history of natural science and philosophical roots that influenced constructivist water research are described. Based on the analyses of the social constructivist studies, the alternative methods of water researchers are presented and conceptualized in the second part of the paper.
Konstruktywistyczna perspektywa analizowania relacji międzynarodowych wniosła wiele nowych elementów do refleksji nad naturą rzeczywistości międzynarodowej, pozwalając na jej lepsze rozumienie oraz wyjaśnianie. Jednym z takich elementów w procesie analizy tej rzeczywistości jest koncept tożsamości uczestnika relacji międzynarodowych. Jego fenomen analityczny polega na tym, iż pozwala on podejmować próby zrozumienia interesów oraz specyfiki norm i wartości, którymi kierują się uczestnicy relacji międzynarodowych. Najbardziej istotne twierdzenie, jakie wprowadza do naukowej refleksji o rzeczywistości międzynarodowej konstruktywizm w wariancie Aleksandra Wendta, odnosi się do faktu, iż interesy państw w relacjach międzynarodowych nie są z góry dane, ale kształtują się w toku interakcji z innymi. Podkreśla się tutaj zatem rolę nie tylko aktorów wewnątrzpaństwowych, którzy mają wpływ na kształtowe przez państwa interesy w relacjach międzynarodowych, ale także wskazuje się na istotną rolę pozostałych uczestników obrotu międzynarodowego w artykułowaniu interesów narodowych. Z tego punktu widzenia podejmowana przez konstruktywizm kategoria tożsamości w relacjach międzynarodowych uwzględnia społeczną, interaktywną naturę rzeczywistości międzynarodowej, pozwalając analizować jej niematerialną warstwę.
EN
Constructivist approach of analyzing international relations brought many new elements to the thought on the nature of international reality, which made it possible to explain it and understand it better. One of these elements in the process of analyzing this reality is the concept of identity of participants of international relations. Its analytical phenomenon consists of the fact that it allows us to undertake attempts to understand interests and character of norms and values of participants of international relations. The most important statement brought to scientific thought on international reality by Alexander Wendt’s notion of constructivism relates to the fact that states’ interests in international relations are not given a priori, but they are shaped during interactions with others. Not only is the role of inter-state actors who influence states’ interests in international relations underlined, but it also indicates the important role of other participants of international affairs in articulating national interests. From this perspective, the category of identity in international relations taken up by Constructivism takes account of the social, interactive nature of international reality making it possible to analyze its intangible part.
Gwałtowne zmiany społeczno-ekonomiczne odciskają głębokie piętno na biografiach ludzi, a więc również na skierowanym do nich poradnictwie, zwłaszcza poradnictwie kariery. Zmienia się także samo rozumienie kariery. Wszystko to sprawia, że poradoznawstwo poszukuje nowych koncepcji opisu tej płynnej i niejednoznacznej rzeczywistości oraz sposobów jej interpretacji. Jednocześnie zmieniają się same nauki społeczne – następuje przejście paradygmatyczne od pozytywizmu do interpretatywizmu. Orientacje ulokowane w tym nowym paradygmacie rozumiejącym, zakorzenione w tradycji fenomenologiczno-hermeneutycznej, stają się atrakcyjnym polem poszukiwań badawczych oraz zdają się odpowiadać na współczesne potrzeby zarówno teorii, jak i praktyki poradnictwa. Jednym z takich stanowisk jest obecne podejście konstruktywistyczne łączące w sobie tradycje kognitywistyki i konstrukcjonizmu społecznego. Stanowisko to zdaje się być radykalne, gdyż kwestionuje istnienie obiektywnie poznawalnej rzeczywistości i proponuje nową ontologię społeczną, gdzie jest możliwych wiele rzeczywistości społecznych konstruowanych przez jednostki i grupy w trakcie wzajemnych interakcji poprzez uzgadnianie i nadawanie znaczeń tej rzeczywistości. Stąd kariera, ale także tożsamość jest konstruowana, a nie odkrywana. Konstruowanie dzieje się poprzez narracje. Stanowisko to ma głębokie i szerokie implikacje dla poradnictwa kariery. Interesującą propozycję aplikacji konstruktywizmu do poradnictwa zaprezentował grecki badacz Spyros Kriwas.
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Rapid socio-economic changes leave a deep imprint on people's biographies and, therefore, also on counselling, especially career counselling. The meaning of a career itself is also changing. All this means that counselling studies are in need of a new concept for describing this fluid and uncertain reality and new ways of describing it. At the same time, social sciences are also changing – there is a shift in paradigm from positivistic to interpretative. Approaches within this new understanding paradigm, tracing their roots to the phenomenological-hermeneutic tradition, are becoming an attractive area for research and seem to correspond to contemporary needs of both theory and practice of counselling One of such approaches is the constructivist position that combines the cognitive and social constructivism traditions. Such a position appears to be radical, as it puts into question the existence of an objectively cognitive reality and proposes a new social ontology. It would be based on many possible social realities constructed by individuals and groups through interactions, such as accommodating and giving meaning to the said reality. Therefore a career, but also an identity is constructed, not discovered. This construction is done through narration. Such an approach has deep implications for career counselling. The Greek researcher Spyros Kriwas presented an interesting proposal for applying constructivism to counselling.
Japonia, podobnie jak USA, postrzega swoje relacje z Tajwanem w szerszym chińskim kontekście. Państwo to jeszcze do niedawna w swej polityce względem Chin oraz Tajwanu posługiwało się znaną z relacji USA–Tajwan koncepcją strategicznej ambiwalencji. Tymczasem, silne poparcie udzielone wyspie wobec coraz intensywniejszych nacisków ze strony ChRL, zdaje się sugerować, iż Japonia w swoich relacjach z Tajwanem zaczyna odchodzić od dotychczasowej polityki strategicznej ambiwalencji w stronę strategicznej jednoznaczności. Celem artykułu jest analiza przyczyn, jakie stały za zmianą japońskiej polityki wobec Tajwanu w ostatnich latach. Zdaniem autora, odejście władz Japonii od dotychczasowej polityki strategicznej ambiwalencji w stosunku do Tajwanu spowodowane jest strukturalną zmianą, jaka zaszła w polityce zagranicznej Japonii znajdującej swój wyraz zarówno w aspekcie normatywnym, jak i militarnym. Przyczyn owej zmiany autor upatruje we wzroście zagrożenia ze strony Chin oraz bezpośrednio związanej z tym presji USA wywieranej na swego japońskiego sojusznika.
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Like the United States, Japan views its relations with Taiwan through a greater China framework. It uses a similar strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan to navigate its relations with China and Taiwan. However, Japan’s recent strong support for Taiwan to counter China’s pressure on the island seems to suggest that Japan’s Taiwan policy is moving away from its old strategic ambiguity toward a new strategic clarity. Why has Japan started to protect Taiwan proactively and directly in recent years? How to explain the transformation of Japan’s policy regarding Taiwan from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity? Drawing upon various primary materials, this article approached those questions from a social constructivism lens. It argues that Japan’s new identity is a critical factor in Japan’s strategic transformation of its Taiwan policy. Japan’s new identity has first taken shape due to the growing challenge from China, and second been accelerated and hardened by the caprices of the United States. It is this new identity and its associated normative expectations that have caused Japan’s foreign behaviour to change fundamentally. This article will detail the process in which how Japan steadily changed its state identity over the years after showing that the existing explanations are unable to properly account for the shift of Japan’s policy toward Taiwan. Some policy implications will be offered in the conclusion section.
Problematyka gender, rozważana w różnych pracach, ma swoich zwolenników i przeciwników. Celem tego studium jest ukazanie kilku kluczowych stereotypów, powtarzanych przez większość krytyków, a także próba radykalnej separacji płci i gatunku. Od strony filozoficznej krytyka ta wychodzi z różnych koncepcji społecznego konstruktywizmu, jak też z poststrukturalistycznch teorii. Okazją do częstej krytyki staje się twórczość Judyty Butler. Pragniemy ukazać, do jakiego stopnia czytanie prac J. Butler może być nieporozumieniem. A przyczyną takiej lektury jest przede wszystkim nieznajomość hermeneutycznych założeń, co prowadzi do niezrozumienia jej twórczości.
EN
The issue of gender and gender studies is a topic that has its own admirers but also vehement critics. The aim of the paper is to outline a number of key stereotypes often repeated by the critics of “gender ideology“ which is above all an attempt to radically separate sex and gender. This “ideology“ is based on various conceptions of social constructivism, but also on poststructuralist theories. One of the most frequent targets of the above mentioned criticism is American philosopher Judith Butler. Many critics are irritated by her philosophical conception and political activity. The ambition of the text is to show that the conventional reading of Judith Butler is very often just a misunderstanding. The reason of this misconception is primarily the ignorance of her hermeneutical points of departure, which leads to the misinterpretation of her work.