Edgar Wind on Experiment and Metaphysics

The paper presents a detailed interpretation of Edgar Wind’s Experiment and Metaphysics (1934), a unique work on the philosophy of physics which broke with the Neo-Kantian tradition under the influence of American pragmatism. Taking up Cassirer’s interpretation of physics, Wind develops a holistic theory of the experiment and a constructivist account of empirical facts. Based on the concept of embodiment which plays a key role in Wind’s later writings on art history, he argues, however, that the outcomes of measurements are contingent. He then proposes an anti-Kantian conception of a metaphysics of nature. For him, nature is an unknown totality which manifests itself in discrepancies between theories and experiment, and hence the theory formation of physics can increasingly approximate the structure of nature. It is shown that this view is ambiguous between a transcendental, metaphysical realism in Kant’s sense and an internal realism in Putnam’s sense. Wind’s central claim is that twentieth century physics offers new options for resolving Kant’s cosmological antinomies. In particular, he connected quantum indeterminism with the possibility of human freedom, a connection that Cassirer sharply opposed.

Evolving Networks of Human Intelligence

Twentieth century theory formation in human intelligence was dominated by factor theories; network theories will dominate the twenty first. Network theories answer a broad call for formal theories in psychological science, provide a strong approach to an idiographic science, and create an opportunity to study the developmental mechanisms of human's cognitive dynamics. Although the current century already delivered two formal stationary network theories of human intelligence—mutualism and wired intelligence—integrating dynamic mechanisms remains a serious challenge. This challenge translates into clear priorities: the identification of robust developmental phenomena, the study of the mechanisms that drive these phenomena, the integration of these mechanisms into network theories of growth, the integration of network theories from different explanatory levels, and the empirical characterization of the structure of network theories.

Scientific path of Viktor Borisovich Sochava and his contributions for landscape analysis

This paper is dedicated to the life of the Soviet geographer Viktor Borisovich Sochava (1905-1978), who contributed substantially to the geosystemic theory formation in the field of knowledge of Geography, Ecology, and Geosciences in general. The paper covers his academic trajectory and scientific production, pointing out V. Sochava’s main research and contributions for landscape analysis and evolution and development of these disciplines in theoretical and applied sciences. The main results of V. Sochava’s research are also presented throughout the text.

Scholastic fallacies? Questioning the Anthropocene

The view that we live in the Anthropocene is increasingly gaining currency across scientific disciplines. Especially in sociology this is said to require a paradigm shift in analysis and theory formation. This article argues that such a conclusion is premature. Owing to a scholastic fallacy – the uncritical transposition of the concept from the natural to the social sciences – Anthropocene lacks analytic clarity and explanatory power evidenced by: a normative overreach that erroneously imagines an idealised world citizenry with collective action capacities; an obfuscation of the unequal distribution of ecological pathologies caused by capitalism; a normative indeterminacy concerning modes of redress; and an abstract ecological universalism offered as moral panacea. The article suggests that sociology needs to address the Anthropocene’s heterogeneity marked by contradictory regional interests and inequalities that neither appeals to social justice or ‘one humanity’ nor an escape into a dissolution of ontological differences between actors and artefacts can redeem. To that end, sociologists are asked to undertake a critical reconstruction of the concept.

Theory Construction Methodology: A Practical Framework for Building Theories in Psychology

This article aims to improve theory formation in psychology by developing a practical methodology for constructing explanatory theories: theory construction methodology (TCM). TCM is a sequence of five steps. First, the theorist identifies a domain of empirical phenomena that becomes the target of explanation. Second, the theorist constructs a prototheory, a set of theoretical principles that putatively explain these phenomena. Third, the prototheory is used to construct a formal model, a set of model equations that encode explanatory principles. Fourth, the theorist investigates the explanatory adequacy of the model by formalizing its empirical phenomena and assessing whether it indeed reproduces these phenomena. Fifth, the theorist studies the overall adequacy of the theory by evaluating whether the identified phenomena are indeed reproduced faithfully and whether the explanatory principles are sufficiently parsimonious and substantively plausible. We explain TCM with an example taken from research on intelligence (the mutualism model of intelligence), in which key elements of the method have been successfully implemented. We discuss the place of TCM in the larger scheme of scientific research and propose an outline for a university curriculum that can systematically educate psychologists in the process of theory formation.

Operationalization

This chapter describes operationalization, which refers to the intellectual operations the researcher undertakes to decide how to observe a concept in reality. This is a crucial step of the research process, as many concepts in the social sciences are too abstract to be immediately observed. The most important criteria of a successful operationalization are consequently the consistency between each step of the research design, from theory formation to data collection, and the degree to which the indicators effectively allow the researcher to gather observations that work well in the context under study. One way to synthesize these points is that operationalization should enable the researcher to respect the principle of double adequacy. First, the researcher’s conceptual argument and the operationalized data should correspond. Second, there is a need for adequacy between those data and the ‘reference reality’.

Ethnocinematographic Theory. How to Develop Migration Theory Through Ethnographic Filmmaking

Film and text can be complementary modes of theory formation in the field of migration studies. If the theoretical potential of filmmaking is recognized in research, this also opens opportunities for teaching migration theory through film. This argument is illustrated here through the project Living like a common man, in which both film and text were used to observe, analyse, and theorize the migration experiences of young Indians to the UK - as ‘middling migration’. The resulting film offers a stand-alone argument that is used as teaching material in courses of migration studies; while accompanying texts make the argument explicit and clarify its significance for migration scholarship.

Geographizität des Rechts – ein <i>missing link</i> in der geographischen Theoriebildung?

Law is on the one hand indispensable for the constitution of space, and, on the other, legal orders emerge or develop in specific local situations. Does the question of the law exist in geographical theories and how has it been received? The article raises the issue of a missing link in geographical theorisation: Are the legal dimensions of social spatialities sufficiently considered? This text aims at enriching geographical theory formation through legal dimensions, especially by translating legal studies’ contributions into geographical questions who experience a specific spatial turn. On the one hand, the concept “geographicity of Law” is being developed for this purpose. On the other hand, two examples will be used to illustrate how geographical theory can benefit from legal dimensions: the right to public space and the issue of urbanness.