scholarly journals Sustainability Science: A Paradigm in Crisis?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iván González-Márquez ◽  
Víctor M. Toledo
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Thomas Kuhn ◽  
Main Criterion ◽  
Scientific Paradigms ◽  
History Of ◽  
Critical Revision

The global socio-environmental crisis poses what is arguably the greatest challenge in the history of science. It has demanded an interdisciplinary effort in which thousands of scientists from around the world have rapidly articulated what is already recognized as a consolidated research field: Sustainability science [SS]. Considering the urgency of the matter, it is necessary to evaluate the progress so far achieved. How should this evaluation be carried out? This paper addresses this question taking into consideration some insights from the philosophy of science. In particular, it applies the conceptual framework developed by Thomas Kuhn to the study of scientific paradigms. It first reviews the development of SS, demonstrating that Kuhn’s model is followed step by step. The notion of problem-solving power is discussed as the main criterion for an evaluation of scientific paradigms. Next, several elements are presented suggesting that there is a general insufficiency of problem-solving power in SS. Furthermore, additional empirical data are considered early signs of a paradigm crisis. Subsequently, the way forward for SS is discussed. From Kuhn’s perspective, scientific progress is not only achieved by a steady accumulation of knowledge, but also by episodes of crises that precede radical qualitative leaps in which basic premises are modified. This paper concludes that the urgently needed progress in SS requires engaging in a critical revision of the fundamental claims upon which the field was constructed.

Scientific Progress

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bird
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
History Of ◽  
Disruptive Change

What constitutes scientific progress? This article considers and evaluates three competing answers to this question. These seek to understand scientific progress in terms of problem-solving, of truthlikeness/verisimilitude, and of knowledge, respectively. How does each fare, taking into consideration the fact that the history of science involves disruptive change, not merely the addition of new beliefs to old beliefs, and the fact that sometimes the history of such changes involves a sequence of theories, all of which are believed to be false, even by scientific realists? The three answers are also evaluated with regard to how they assess certain real and hypothetical scientific changes. Also considered are the three views of the goal of science implicit in the three answers. The view that the goal of science is knowledge and that progress is constituted by the accumulation of knowledge is argued to be preferable to its competitors.

scholarly journals Clinical Ecopsychology: The Mental Health Impacts and Underlying Pathways of the Climate and Environmental Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam V. Thoma ◽  
Nicolas Rohleder ◽  
Shauna L. Rohner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Underlying Processes ◽  
Detrimental Impact ◽  
A Current ◽  
Existing Data

Humankind is confronted with progressing climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and/or destruction of the air, soil, water, and ecosystems. The climate and environmental crisis is probably one of the greatest challenges in the history of humankind. It not only poses a serious current and continuing threat to physical health, but is also an existing and growing hazard to the mental health of millions of people worldwide. This synergy of literature provides a current summary of the adverse mental health impacts of the climate and environmental crisis from the perspective of Clinical Psychology. Furthermore, it presents potential underlying processes, including biological, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social pathways. The existing data suggest that the climate and environmental crisis not only acts as a direct stressor, but can also exert a detrimental impact on the various pathways, with the potential to amplify an individual's biopsychosocial vulnerability to develop mental ill-health. This is a call for an increased investigation into this emerging research field of Clinical Ecopsychology by clinical psychologists and other researchers.

scholarly journals Half-a-century of gamma-ray astrophysics at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Schönfelder ◽  
Jochen Greiner
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Max Planck ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Gamma Ray Astronomy ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
History Of

AbstractGamma-ray astronomy has been one of the prime scientific research fields of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) from its beginning. Over the years, the entire gamma-ray energy range accessible from space was explored. The purpose of this review article is to summarise the achievements of the gamma-ray group at MPE during the last 50+ years. This covers a substantial part of the general history of space-based gamma-ray astronomy, for which both, general review articles (e.g. Pinkau in Exp Astron 5: 157, 2009; Schönfelder in AN 323: 524, 2002; Trimble in AIP Conf Proc 304: 40, 1994) and a detailed tabular list of events and missions (Leonard and Gehrels in https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/history, version 1.0.8, 2009), have been compiled. Here, we describe the gamma-ray activities at MPE from the beginning till the present, reviewing the tight interplay between new technological developments towards new instruments and scientific progress in understanding gamma-ray sources in the sky. This covers (i) the early development of instruments and their tests on half a dozen balloon flights, (ii) the involvement in the most important space missions at the time, i.e. ESA’s COS-B satellite, NASA’s Compton Gamma-ray Observatory and Fermi Space Telescope, as well as ESA’s INTEGRAL observatory, (iii) the participation in several other missions such as TD-1, Solar Maximum Mission, or Ulysses, and (iv) the complementary ground-based optical instruments OPTIMA and GROND to enhance selected science topics (pulsars, gamma-ray bursts). With the gradual running-out of institutional support since 2010, gamma-ray astrophysics as a main research field has now come to an end at MPE.

Peran Perempuan Dalam Melestarikan Nilai-Nilai Moral Tradisional Pada Masyarakat Jepang

KIRYOKU ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-300
Author(s):  
Sri Sudarsih
Keyword(s):  
Family Environment ◽  
Japanese Society ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Japanese Women ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Material Object ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Era

The purpose of this study is to explore traditional moral values in Japanese society that are able to survive and be implemented in everyday life in the modern era. In addition, it is able to shape the distinctive character of the Japanese, including the role of women who contribute to maintaining traditional moral values. This research is a qualitative research field of philosophy with the object of formal values and the material object is the development of women's position in Japanese society. The results achieved in the study: Japanese women played an important role in the history of the struggle until Japan achieved prosperity and glory until now. This is based on the reason that Japanese women are able to maintain and preserve traditional moral values that still exist through early education in the family environment. These values can shape the character of children from an early age in the family. A family with character brings logical consequences to the life of a community with character so that it affects the culture as a whole.

Research Approaches in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tharrenos Bratitsis ◽  
Stavros Demetriadis
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
History Of ◽  
How People Learn ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
New Research

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is concerned with how people learn when working and interacting in groups with the assistance of ICTs. The field involves collaboration, computer mediation, online – distance education which raises interesting theoretical considerations regarding the actual studying of learning within CSCL settings. Being a rather interdisciplinary research field in nature, it has a long history of controversy about its theory, methods, and definition. In this editorial, through a quick review of the literature the diversity of issues examined under the CSCL research field becomes obvious. Moreover, an attempt to categorize these research issues is made. In this vein, the four interesting contributions of this Special Issue, regarding theoretical perspectives and issues of research of the field, are introduced. They comply with the distinguished categories, but they open new research borders as well.

scholarly journals Neoliberal epistemology: From the impossibility of knowing to human capital

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Primoz Krasovec
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Education Reforms ◽  
Learning To Learn ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Uncritical Acceptance

Today?s discussions on education policy mostly consist of uncritical shuffling of allegedly neutral and merely technical or practical notions such as life-long learning, learning to learn or problem-solving and are based on similarly uncritical acceptance of socio-economic theories of the knowledge society, which is supposed to present an objective framework of education reforms. The aim of this article is to sketch the history of mentioned notions and to present a critique of theories of the knowledge society through an analysis of its tacit political content. To this aim, we took upon early neoliberal epistemology (Hayek and Polanyi) as well as its transition towards theories of human capital (Drucker and Machlup).

scholarly journals Is science communication its own field?

2010 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. C04 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toss Gascoigne ◽  
Donghong Cheng ◽  
Michel Claessens ◽  
Jennifer Metcalfe ◽  
Bernard Schiele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Common View ◽  
The Status ◽  
Disciplinary Field ◽  
History Of

The present comment examines to what extent science communication has attained the status of an academic discipline and a distinct research field, as opposed to the common view that science communication is merely a sub-discipline of media studies, sociology of science or history of science. Against this background, the authors of this comment chart the progress science communication has made as an emerging subject over the last 50 years in terms of a number of measures. Although discussions are still ongoing about the elements that must be present to constitute a legitimate disciplinary field, we show here that science communication meets four key elements that constitute an analytical framework to classify academic disciplines: the presence of a community; a history of inquiry; a mode of inquiry that defines how data is collected; and the existence of a communications network.

The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union: Refining Strategies for Labor

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wooding ◽  
Charles Levenstein ◽  
Beth Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Community Activists ◽  
History Of ◽  
Traditional Roles

In a period of declining union membership and severe economic and environmental crisis it is important that labor unions rethink their traditional roles and organizational goals. Responding to some of these problems and reflecting a history of innovative and progressive unionism, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) has sought to address occupational and environmental health problems within the context of a political struggle. This study suggests that by joining with the environmental movement and community activists, by pursuing a strategy of coalition building, and by developing an initiative to build and advocate for a new political party, OCAW provides a model for reinvigorating trade unionism in the United States.

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