Gnoseological problem as a subject of the metaphysical discourse

The study focuses on the analysis of epistemological metaphysical discourses in their genesis: from the times of ancient philosophical thought, which contains the origins of the issue, to the epistemological explorations of the twentieth century. The author reviews the features of metaphysics as epistemology that expands interpretations of the cognition process in the context of limits and opportunities withing the relationship between a human and the world. The article also outlines the specifics of metaphysical approaches to the problem of truth. The process of cognition can be interpreted as a specific kind of spiritual activity of an individual. Knowledge can be defined as an information about the world that exists in a form of a certain reality - the ideal construct of existence. Cognition and knowledge differ one from another as the former is a process and the latter is a result. We should think of epistemology as numerous attempts to answer the fundamental question: what is the world really like? Is it such as we perceive it, or is it so different that we are not capable to comprehend its essence?

International Law's Invisible Frames

Law as a social process carried out by human beings is a stimulating object of investigation for those who would like to analyse social cognition and knowledge production processes. Humans acquire and form their knowledge through cognitive processes and in turn form a representation of reality by processing and using this knowledge through different mental channels. To better conceive the invisible frames within which international law moves and performs, we must understand how psychological and socio-cultural factors can affect decision-making in an international legal process, identify the groups of people and institutions that may shape and alter the prevailing discourse in international law at any given time, and unearth the hidden meaning of the various mythologies that populate and influence our normative world. Through illustrations across different areas of international law and insights from various fields of knowledge, this book seeks to investigate the mechanisms that allow us to apprehend and intellectually represent the social practice of international law, to unveil the hidden or often unnoticed processes by which our understanding of international law is formed, and to make us unlearn some of the presuppositions that activate automatic cognitive processes and inform our largely unquestioned beliefs about international law.

Going by the Book: What International Law Textbooks Teach Us Not to Know

International law textbooks are one of the most powerful invisible frames of our discipline. This chapter analyses some of the most influential international law textbooks as important objects of study that shed light on both processes of social cognition and knowledge production. It examines international law textbooks as engines of sociomental control that delimit the realm of the ‘relevant’ in international law. It also highlights how textbooks’ unarticulated assumptions, silences, and implicit messages help to constitute the discipline of international law, not only in the sense of influencing what counts as international law, but also what one thinks about and what one does as an international lawyer.

International Law’s Invisible Frames: Introductory Insights

The underlying premise of the research project is that humans acquire and form their knowledge through cognitive processes (eg perception, interpretation, language). At the same time, that knowledge is processed and used via different mental channels to form a representation of reality. Law as a social process carried out by human beings is a stimulating object of investigation for those who would like to analyse social cognition and knowledge production processes. Understanding how psychological and socio-cultural factors (including cultural bias) can affect decision-making in an international legal process; identifying the groups of people and institutions that may shape and alter the prevailing discourse in international law at any given time; and unearthing the hidden meaning of the various mythologies that populate and influence our normative world, are all key factors to providing a better understanding of the invisible frames within which international law moves and performs....

Framing in and through Public International Law

Framing is pervasive in public international law. International legal norms and international politics both inevitably frame how international actors perceive a given problem. Although framing has been an object of study for a long time, it has not been systematically explored in the context of social cognition and knowledge production processes in public international law. We aim to close this gap by examining the implications of framing effects—that is, issue framing and equivalence (including gain-loss) framing—for preference and belief formation in specific settings. After providing an overview of the experimental evidence of both types of framing, we identify typical situations in public international law where framing effects play an important role in social cognition and knowledge production processes. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we focus on international negotiations, international adjudication, global performance indicators, and norm framing.

What Makes an Image Interesting and How Can We Explain It

Here, we explore the question: What makes a photograph interesting? Answering this question deepens our understanding of human visual cognition and knowledge gained can be leveraged to reliably and widely disseminate information. Observers viewed images belonging to different categories, which covered a wide, representative spectrum of real-world scenes, in a self-paced manner and, at trial’s end, rated each image’s interestingness. Our studies revealed the following: landscapes were the most interesting of all categories tested, followed by scenes with people and cityscapes, followed still by aerial scenes, with indoor scenes of homes and offices being least interesting. Judgments of relative interestingness of pairs of images, setting a fixed viewing duration, or changing viewing history – all of the above manipulations failed to alter the hierarchy of image category interestingness, indicating that interestingness is an intrinsic property of an image unaffected by external manipulation or agent. Contrary to popular belief, low-level accounts based on computational image complexity, color, or viewing time failed to explain image interestingness: more interesting images were not viewed for longer and were not more complex or colorful. On the other hand, a single higher-order variable, namely image uprightness, significantly improved models of average interest. Observers’ eye movements partially predicted overall average interest: a regression model with number of fixations, mean fixation duration, and a custom measure of novel fixations explained >40% of variance. Our research revealed a clear category-based hierarchy of image interestingness, which appears to be a different dimension altogether from memorability or awe and is as yet unexplained by the dual appraisal hypothesis.

The Cognition Role to Understanding Planning and Architectural Production

This paper focuses on the concept of cognition and its clarification in the light of Islamic epistemology. Knowledge passes through two essential parts: conception and assent. Conception explains simple knowledge, while assent explains knowledge involving a judgment. The paper proceeded with the identification of the problem of relationship blurring between cognition and knowledge. The external and inner senses have explained the relationship between the stages of knowledge and cognition. The external senses receive stimuli and form primary conceptions. These conceptions transfer to the first part of the inner senses, which is common sense; it collects the sensations and transmits them to pictorial power. Secondary conceptions are formed, accompanied by feeling. Then, the estimative power role emerges in imparting meaning to be stored in memory, here knowledge is suspicion, and the perception is achieved. Finally, the images reach the thinking power to impart the specific meaning of the image, which constitutes cognition. Using the Hagia Sophia Case Study, the paper reached important indices in clarifying the cognition stages and understanding of planning and architectural production. These indices were represented by: color, scale, lighting, the harmony of the building with its surroundings, and the meanings associated with cultural, social, and civilized values. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091715 Full Text: PDF

Philosophical Background

This chapter provides a brief overview of certain elements of Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology that are essential background for understanding certain features of his ethical theory. In particular, it presents Kant’s distinction between the ‘world of sense’ or ‘phenomenal world’ and the ‘world of understanding’ or ‘noumenal world’ as a basis for explaining the limits of theoretical cognition which rules out theoretical cognition and knowledge of God, immortality of the soul, and freedom of the will, yet allows Kant to affirm their reality on moral grounds, needed to explain how the highest good is possible. Of importance for understanding certain claims in his work on virtue is the distinction between the phenomenal world and the noumenal world as it applies to human beings. The chapter concludes with reflections on the relation between Kant’s ethics and his metaphysical and epistemological commitments.

Truth in Language: Textual Data Analysis

The article presents Lithuanian linguistic cultural image of truth reconstructed from textual data. Textual data consists of contemporary and archaic (folklore and paremia) texts. The picture of truth distinguished from the textual data is highly philosophical, what proves the opinion that language is the reflection of a nation’s philosophy and worldview. Contemporary Lithuanian language reflects two main semantic aspects of truth: absolutism and relativism. Absolutism views truth as eternal and unique, forming the background of peoples’ lives. This type of truth usually has its source in religion. Subjectivism views truth as subjective and relative, depending on time, circumstances and opinions. The boundary between subjective truth and lie is very vague. This type of truth is never unique and has a pragmatic aspect which is either collective or individual. However, the dialogue of different sides is very important as it can help to achieve the final, objective truth. Epistemological aspect of truth is also salient. Two main aspects concerning truth cognition are scepticism and dogmatism. Cognition and knowledge is seen as the way to achieve the truth; however, sceptical question is raised whether truth cognition is possible at all. Dogmatism accepts certain facts or dogmas as naturally true. Truth is usually presented as unpleasant, painful, dangerous and unclear; however, it is highly important. Textual data also reflect a lot of opposites of truth: lie, unknown, myth, bluff, artificiality, half-truth, benefit.