A critical note on the scientific conception of economics: claiming for a methodological pluralism

Opponents of mainstream economics have not yet called attention to the lack of in-depth examination of the general scientific conception of modern economics. However, economic science cannot consistently fulfil the epistemological and ontological requirements of the scientific standards underlying this conception. What can be scientifically recognized as true cannot be answered, neither through the actual ontological structure of the object of observation nor through a methodological demarcation. These limitations necessarily lead to the claim for both a pragmatic and a radical methodological pluralism.

Illustrating the Value of Critical Methodologies Through Third-sector Gender Studies: A Case for Pluralism

To encourage methodological pluralism in the field, this paper examines an illustrative sample of articles that apply critical approaches to third-sector studies focused on gender. Specifically, the paper analyzes three articles that were previously identified as among the most critical work on gender in the field between 1970 and 2009 to illustrate how critical research is produced and the value it brings to third-sector studies. We find this work: uncovers hidden assumptions and/or uncomfortable erasures that mask gender-based inequities and injustices; resists hegemonic scientific norms in doing and writing research; and rejects ‘woman’ as a uniform object of theorizing. We discuss against what methodological standards such work should be evaluated and suggest a wider understanding of these ‘alternative’ standards, which might derive significant benefits for the field through increased critical scholarship and the unique features it brings.

Suomen kielen hallinta ja sen kehitys. Peruskoululaiset ja nuoret aikuiset

The topic of the book is the incremental growth of linguistic knowledge from lexical to structural-cum-textual during the so-called later language development. Language mastery does not presuppose any acquaintance with prescriptive grammar but, instead, concerns the core of language which the so-called consensus principle applies to: the most frequent words and structures are mastered with certainty by everybody, but uncertainty increases as less frequent and more variable phenomena are taken into consideration. It is the goal of the study to make explicit the knowledge that is common to school children of different age groups, and to show how it develops both in its core and in its fringe areas. The mastery of less common aspects exhibits considerable statistical variation. The research embodies methodological pluralism insofar as it has been carried out by means both of the corpus method and the experimental method. Here experimental subsumes writing tasks, paper-and-pencil tests, and behavior under experimental conditions. The amount of participants native in Finnish varies from 300–2000. The book has a bipartite structure: mastery of meanings (Part I), and mastery of forms (Part II).

The “Symbolic Worldview” of V. Solovyov and the Issue of the Development of the Historical Process: An Interpretation by F.A. Stepun (1884–1965)

This article presents F.A. Stepun’s interpretation of the views of the outstanding Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900) concerning the issue of the direction of historical development, as an integral part of Solovyov’s philosophy of unitotality. It must be observed that this part of Stepun’s creative output has not yet been sufficiently studied. In fact, Stepun’s interpretation of Solovyov’s views in the context of religious symbolism facilitates a deeper understanding of Solovyov’s conception as well as the comprehension of the theoretical sources of the historical and religious constructions of Stepun himself. This study emphasizes the importance of Solovyov’s work and personality for Russia’s Silver Age culture, including his religious and philosophical trajectory, to which Stepun himself belonged. The interest of scholars in Solovyov’s work is also documented, with a particular focus on the contribution the Russian émigré community gave to its study: these authors, in fact, managed to preserve during emigration the best traditions of Russian culture, in general, and of Russian religious and philosophical thought, in particular. The core of a number of theoretical statements of Solovyov’s historiosophy will be also provided, along with Stepun’s interpretation of them. Moreover, the special nature of the “methodological pluralism”, which is peculiar to Stepun’s approach to research, will be analyzed as well as the importance for him of religious symbolism’s method in the study of Solovyov’s views on the historical process. Finally, the great meaning of Solovyov’s doctrine of God-manhood for Stepun’s work will be explored. The main theoretical statements of this doctrine turned out to be compatible with his ideas on the ontology of history, on its structure, and on its anthropological nature. It will be also emphasized the perception of the historicity and “singularity” of Christ, which is peculiar for Solovyov, and subsequently for Stepun, being it the key for Christianity, in general, and for Christian historicism, in particular. The conclusion deals with the significant influence of Solovyov’s ideas on Stepun’s historical and philosophical studies, as well as with the importance of the problems that concern the study of the intellectual history of Russia.

Methodological Pluralism of Legal Thinking: Problems of Theory and Philosophy of Law

Introduction. Currently, in theoretical and legal science, discussions continue about the un- derstanding of the content and the methodology of the knowledge of law. This article shows the theoretical approaches to the study of law in different historical periods. Law is analysed from the point of view of formal dogmatic jurisprudence, sociological direction in law, and the theory of natural law in both their historical and theoretical aspects. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The purpose of this work is to study the content of law as a sociocultural phenomenon. To achieve this, the following tasks are examined: the analy- sis of law as the most important social regulator of human activity is undertaken – which shows the right as a part of spiritual life. Further, the main legal schools and trends in law are analysed. In the course of the study, the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis, a her- meneutic, and a comparative approach. Results. As a result of the study, the author came to the following conclusions: 1) the plurality of methodological approaches to the study of the nature and purpose of law are due to the dialogical nature of theoretical and legal sciences (philosophy of law, theory of state and law, history of political and legal doctrines, and the sociology of law); 2) the basis of the methodological pluralism of legal thinking lies in the different content of law. This is where law is understood as an interest, as a freedom, as a social duty, as a morality, as an order of the authorities, as the discretion of a judge, as well as the degree of implementation of the legal phenomenon in the concrete historical conditions of society; 3) each doctrine of law and the state is a model for solving the legal issues of its time. This includes proposing and arguing for one or another option for maintaining public order. It is original and can (and should) be applied in specific socio-political conditions. Discussion and Conclusion. Each doctrine of law and the state is a model for solving legal issues of its time. Offering various options for resolving urgent political and legal issues, these theories can (and do) enter into conflicts with each other. Each of the legal concepts, offering and arguing for one or another option for maintaining public order, is original and can (and should) be used in specific socio-political conditions. At the doctrinal level, political and legal concepts are variants of alternative legal thinking, the validity and relevance of which is confirmed by the degree of demand at a particular historical stage of the develop- ment of society, law, and the state.

Chemistry and Measurement: Some Philosophical Lessons

How do chemists assign numbers to chemicals properties? What do these numbers refer to? To answer these questions, we will first point out both the context-dependence of chemicals and the epistemic limitations of chemistry. We will then investigate how chemists use various procedures to stabilize measurements and how they use mixtures of samples as ‘references’ in order to determine the amount of different chemicals in a sample. This study will enable us to query how it is possible for chemists to change one factor while holding others constant at each step of the measurement procedure. This part of our work which will lead us to query the meaning of the ceteris paribus clause and the very possibility of making holistic inferences in the domain of chemistry. To conclude, we will highlight how methodological pluralism developed by chemists makes it possible for a relational type of consistency to emerge.

Effect of Lateral Thinking Dispositions on Groupwork

The aim of this study is to compare the effect of lateral thinking dispositions on groupwork in a collaborative learning environment from different angles as quantitatively and qualitatively in line with methodological pluralism. The population of the study included freshmen students studying Gastronomy and Culinary Arts in Tourism Faculty of a state university. The study was conducted in three samples within the scope of methodological pluralism including data triangulation (for SPSS analysis: N= 83- all the students in the study universe-; for thematic analysis: N= 66- selected on a voluntary basis depending on voluntary response sampling-; and for the Rasch analysis: N= 16 students accepting to participate this aspect of the study voluntarily and 3 faculty members who have the responsibilities of the groupwork of the students). In the quantitative phase, descriptive analysis was performed through the Rasch Measurement Model and SPSS program while in the qualitative part of the study, the case study approach was conducted under the checklist of COREQ Statement. Rasch results indicated the LATD (Lateral Thinking Dispositions) scores of the students graduating from tourism or cooking related vocational high schools and having work experience were higher than their counterparts not graduating from tourism related high schools and had no work experience beforehand. Qualitative results showed consistency with the quantitative results. Teachers are suggested to be trained so that lateral thinking skills can be implemented in class environment.

Methodological pluralism through the lens of the buddhist doctrine of time kālacakra: an interview with dr. Jensine Andresen

Modern dialogue between Western science and Buddhism raises an enormous range of cognitive issues that require interdisciplinary research. The idea of methodological pluralism (MP) arises here as an effective solution for such projects. Having immersed in the study of the background of its opponent, Western science touched the fairly old and specific way of reality cognition, which in certain aspects actually can be identified as a Tibetan-Buddhist version of the MP. In an interview with the professor from the United States, who for many decades has been engaged in research on the boundaries of various science disciplines, ethics, and religious studies, we tried to clarify the specifics of this so-called version of MP, which is set out in the Buddhist doctrine of time, K lacakra. Texts of this doctrine are included in the corpus of Buddhist canonical literature and form the basis for two classical Buddhist sciences: the science of stars (which is actually “social astronomy”); and the science of healing (which looks like a certain version of “psycho-medicine”). During the interview, we went directly to the possibility of using the Buddhist version of MP at least within the dialogue “Buddhism-Science”, to the need to understand the specifics of such an implementation, and to the mandatory combination of MP with an integrated approach. The interview was intended to raise the question that deals with transgressing the abovementioned dialogue from the “consumer” level (when we are looking for something that could be useful to the Western neuro-cognitivist) to the philosophical one, in order to formulate a criterion for recognizing a different way of thinking, and finally, to move on toward the semantic discussion, without which the integration phase of any kind of MP is impossible.

The phenomenon of methodological pluralism as a sign of the development of historical science

The purpose of the research is to study the influence of methodological pluralism as a meta-approach on the formation of modern historical science; to examine the role that diverse approaches played in the scientific study of the past; to demonstrate the importance of a multi-vector view of history as an integral part of the study of the past. The relevance of the research: these are interdisciplinary interactions between both socio-humanitarian and natural sciences. The consequence of this is the emergence of the phenomenon of methodological pluralism as the basis of modern historical science. Conclusions: in the process of research we discovered that diverse methodological approaches influence the historical science, which ultimately leads to the emergence of the new directions in historical knowledge.