A Theory of Understanding

A Theory of Understanding
Author: David Chart
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2017-11-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351734490

This title was first published in 2000. Philosophers have been greatly concerned with the nature of explanation, but no account has been fully satisfactory within science or plausible in the wider world. The author asserts that this is due to a misplaced focus and that instead of focusing on explanation, philosophers should consider understanding. This work outlines his theory and defends it against some objections. Attempts to understand understanding can become self-referential, but the book is intended to enable readers to build a good mental model of the author's theory.

A Theory of Imagining, Knowing, and Understanding

A Theory of Imagining, Knowing, and Understanding
Author: Luca Tateo
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 97
Release: 2020-03-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3030380254

This is a book about imaginative work and its relationship with the construction of knowledge. It is fully acknowledged by epistemologists that imagination is not something opposed to rationality; it is not mere fantasy opposed to intellect. In philosophy and cognitive sciences, imagination is generally “delimiting not much more than the mental ability to interact cognitively with things that are not now present via the senses.” (Stuart, 2017, p. 11) For centuries, scholars and poets have wondered where this capability could come from, whether it is inspired by divinity or it is a peculiar feature of human mind (Tateo, 2017b). The omnipresence of imaginative work in both every day and highly specialized human activities requires a profoundly radical understanding of this phenomenon. We need to work imaginatively in order to achieve knowledge, thus imagination must be something more than a mere flight of fantasy. Considering different stories in the field of scientific endeavor, I will try to propose the idea that the imaginative process is fundamental higher mental function that concurs in our experiencing, knowing and understanding the world we are part of. This book is thus about a theoretical idea of imagining as constant part of the complex whole we call the human psyche. It is a story of human beings striving not only for knowledge and exploration but also striving for imagining possibilities.​

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Methodology

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Methodology
Author: Kerry E Howell
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2012-11-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1446271625

This book provides students with a concise introduction to the philosophy of methodology. The book stands apart from existing methodology texts by clarifying in a student-friendly and engaging way distinctions between philosophical positions, paradigms of inquiry, methodology and methods. Building an understanding of the relationships and distinctions between philosophical positions and paradigms is an essential part of the research process and integral to deploying the methodology and methods best suited for a research project, thesis or dissertation. Aided throughout by definition boxes, examples and exercises for students, the book covers topics such as: - Positivism and Post-positivism - Phenomenology - Critical Theory - Constructivism and Participatory Paradigms - Post-Modernism and Post-Structuralism - Ethnography - Grounded Theory - Hermeneutics - Foucault and Discourse This text is aimed at final-year undergraduates and post-graduate research students. For more experienced researchers developing mixed methodological approaches, it can provide a greater understanding of underlying issues relating to unfamiliar techniques.

Ecological Understanding

Ecological Understanding
Author: Steward T.A. Pickett
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080504973

Ecology is an historical science in which theories can be as difficult to test as they are to devise. This volume, intended for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, reviews ecological theories, and how they are generated, evaluated, and categorized. Synthesizing a vast and sometimes labyrinthine literature, this book is a useful entry into the scientific philosophy of ecology and natural history. The need for integration of the contributions to theory made by different disciplines is a central theme of this book. The authors demonstrate that only through such integration will advances in ecological theory be possible. Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and other serious students of natural history will want this book.

Middle Range Theory for Nursing

Middle Range Theory for Nursing
Author: Mary Jane Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2018-03-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0826159923

Three-time recipient of the AJN Book of the Year Award! Praise for the third edition: “This is an outstanding edition of this book. It has great relevance for learning about, developing, and using middle range theories. It is very user friendly, yet scholarly." Score: 90, 4 Stars -Doody's Medical Reviews The fourth edition of this invaluable publication on middle range theory in nursing reflects the most current theoretical advances in the field. With two additional chapters, new content incorporates exemplars that bridge middle range theory to advanced nursing practice and research. Additional content for DNP and PhD programs includes two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness. This user-friendly text stresses how theory informs practice and research in the everyday world of nursing. Divided into four sections, content sets the stage for understanding middle range theory by elaborating on disciplinary perspectives, an organizing framework, and evaluation of the theory. Middle Range Theory for Nursing, Fourth Edition presents a broad spectrum of 13 middle range theories. Each theory is broken down into its purpose, development, and conceptual underpinnings, and includes a model demonstrating the relationships among the concepts, and the use of the theory in research and practice. In addition, concept building for research through the lens of middle range theory is presented as a rigorous 10-phase process that moves from a practice story to a conceptual foundation. Exemplars are presented clarifying both the concept building process and the use of conceptual structures in research design. This new edition remains an essential text for advanced practice, theory, and research courses. New to the Fourth Edition: Reflects new theoretical advances Two completely new chapters New content for DNP and PhD programs Two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness Two articles from Advances in Nursing Science documenting a historical meta-perspective on middle range theory development Key Features: Provides a strong contextual foundation for understanding middle range theory Introduces the Ladder of Abstraction to clarify the range of nursing’s theoretical foundation Presents 13 middle range theories with philosophical, conceptual, and empirical dimensions of each theory Includes Appendix summarizing middle range theories from 1988 to 2016

Kant's Theory of A Priori Knowledge

Kant's Theory of A Priori Knowledge
Author: Robert Greenberg
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2001-03-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0271040475

The prevailing interpretation of Kant’s First Critique in Anglo-American philosophy views his theory of a priori knowledge as basically a theory about the possibility of empirical knowledge (or experience), or the a priori conditions for that possibility (the representations of space and time and the categories). Instead, Robert Greenberg argues that Kant is more fundamentally concerned with the possibility of a priori knowledge—the very possibility of the possibility of empirical knowledge in the first place. Greenberg advances four central theses:(1) the Critique is primarily concerned about the possibility, or relation to objects, of a priori, not empirical knowledge, and Kant’s theory of that possibility is defensible; (2) Kant’s transcendental ontology must be distinct from the conditions of the possibility of a priori knowledge; (3) the functions of judgment, in Kant’s discussion of the Table of Judgments, should be seen according to his transcendental logic as having content, not as being just logical forms of judgment making; (4) Kant’s distinction between and connection of ordering relations (Verhaltnisse) and reference relations (Beziehungen) have to be kept in mind to avoid misunderstanding the Critique. At every step of the way Greenberg contrasts his view with the major interpretations of Kant by commentators like Henry Allison, Jonathan Bennett, Paul Guyer, and Peter Strawson. Not only does this new approach to Kant present a strong challenge to these dominant interpretations, but by being more true to Kant’s own intent it holds promise for making better sense out of what have been seen as the First Critique’s discordant themes.

General Theory of Knowledge

General Theory of Knowledge
Author: M. Schlick
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3709130999

to that goal, and it is hoped that it will incorporate further works dealing in an exact way with interesting philosophical issues. Zürich, April 1973 Mario Bunge From the Preface to the First Edition It may seem odd that aseries of works devoted to the natural sciences should indude - indeed begin with - a volume on phi losophy. Today, of course, it is generally agreed that philosophy and natural science are perfectly compatible. But to grant the theory of knowledge such a prominent position implies not only that these two fields are compatible, but that there is a natural connection between them. Thus the indusion of this book in the series can be justified only if such an intimate relation of mutual dependence and interpenetration really does exist. Without anticipating what is to come, the author would like first to explain his point of view on the relationship between epistemology and the sciences, and in so doing make dear at the outset the method to be followed in this book. It is my view - which I have already expressed elsewhere and which I never tire of repeating - that philosophy is not aseparate science to be placed alongside of or above the individual disciplines. Rather, the philosophical element is present in all of the scienccs; it is their true soul, and only by virtue of it are they sciences at all.

Understanding Social Theory

Understanding Social Theory
Author: Derek Layder
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2006
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780761944508

Provides an introduction to the core issues in social theory. This book will be useful reading for students in sociology, social psychology, social theory, political theory and organization studies.

Epistemology

Epistemology
Author: Robert Audi
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1998
Genre: Connaissance, Théorie de la
ISBN: 9780415130424

This textbook introduces the concepts and theories central for understanding the nature of knowledge. It is aimed at students who have already done an introductory course. Epistemology, or the theory of knowledge, is concerned about how we know what we do, what justifies us in believing what we do, and what standards of evidence we should use in seeking truths about the world of human experience. The author's approach draws the reader into the subfields and theories of the subject, guided by key concrete examples. Major topics covered include perception and reflection as grounds of knowledge, the nature, structure, and varieties of knowledge, and the character and scope of knowledge in the crucial realms of ethics, science and religion.