From Seminary to University in Quebec: de la théologie aux études religieuses

In his book ‘From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada’, Aaron Hughes offers a comprehensive portrait of the historical construction of the study of religion in Canada. While Hughes explains in-depth the social, political and historical conditions of production of knowledge on religion as an academic domain in provinces of Protestant heritage, his contribution is less thorough regarding the development of this academic field in the province of Quebec. In this article, I depict how the creation of institutions of knowledge in Quebec hinged around the Catholic hegemony that lasted since the inception of the colony, namely among faculties of theologies that framed main historical universities. I also argue that this heritage has shaped the ongoing construction of the study of religion as an epistemological issue between Catholic theologians and religious studies scholars.

Dramatización y argumentación en sociedades orales africanas

African traditional societies are oral societies. Orality, in these societies, is the effect as much as the cause of the particular mode of social being of the African man (Aguessy 1979). An African man is socially configured by orality. It is therefore a cultural formatting whose main issue is preservation and transmission, from age to age, of traditions, social norms and practices that determine the relationship of man of orality with the world. Moreover, according to Diagne (2005), the process by which this cultural formatting, specific to traditional African societies is carried out, is the “dramatization”. Dramatization is the ruse of oral reason (Diagne 2005). The aim of this paper is to grasp, through the process of dramatization, cultural particularities of argumentation in traditional African societies. In order to do so, the analysis focuses on the discursive practices through which dramatization is revealed. More precisely, the study of proverbs in eʋe society allows pointing out the specificities of dramatized argumentation in an oral society. The epistemological issue animating this paper is to present a different way of grasping argumentative functions of image and metaphor.

Twentieth-century research on the Alpine rural house between the epistemological issue and legitimizing narratives

Throughout the twentieth century, the gazes of observers from different disciplinary fields, ethnologists, geographers, architects have focused on the Alpine rural house. What do scholars seek within the theme of the house and the rural area? In Switzerland, the pioneering nineteenth-century studies were followed by research, starting from the 1870s, by the philologist Jakob Hunziker. In his analysis, he took into consideration not only exceptional constructions but also widespread building production. Buildings were detected and illustrated through diagrammatic “primarily planimetric” and photographic representations. However, the original data in Hunziker’s work is found above all in the correlation that is established between language and architecture. In this context, rural architecture is no longer a simple determinist adhesion to the natural and environmental context in which one lives but becomes a historically determined affirmation of a verified and mediated cultural model concerning the local datum. Alongside the readings of geographers and ethnologists, there is the chapter of the studies on the rural house conducted by architectural culture. The theme of rural architecture will represent a subject of dispute with often ideological overtones between proponents of modernity and those of traditionalism. Towards the mid-thirties, Pagano’s semantic translation represents the definitive shift, at least by the architects of the modernist front, from a mere question of a more complex theme, capable of considering the multiple aspects of building in the countryside, culminating in the exhibition Architettura rurale Italiana by Pagano and Daniel. The use of the category of functionalism when dealing with the farmer house allows to recognize rural architecture as a discipline and simultaneously allows it to function as a cultural background and a historical validation for rationalism.

Ineffectual Regulation When An Official of A Regulatory Agency Seems to Regulate Effectually Without Actually Doing So

Occasionally, officials of the world’s regulatory agencies embark upon attempts at bringing previously unregulated physical systems under regulation by them. Each such attempt raises an epistemological issue. At issue is whether enough information about the outcomes of the events of the future, given the outcomes of the events of the present, will be in the hands of a would-be regulator for this regulator to regulate effectually. If present, this information is provided by runs of a model of the physical system that is slated for regulation. Ideally, this model makes an argument that draws its conclusion from the evidence presented to it. If so, this argument is of the form of a predictive inference. However, the process by which an argument draws its conclusion from the evidence may go awry. This happens, for example, when the axiom of probability theory called unit measure is falsified by a conclusion that is drawn from the evidence by this argument.A method is derived from first principles for determination of whether unit measure is satisfied or falsified by an argument made by a model, given that this argument may attach unusual meanings to statistical terms. This method is used in a study of whether unit measure is satisfied or falsified by the arguments that are made by a pair of models. Both models are in active use by regulatory agencies around the world. Under neither argument do runs of the model provide an official of a regulatory agency with the information gain aka mutual information that he or she would need to regulate effectually. Under both arguments, attachment of unusual meanings to statistical terms creates the illusion that such an official can and does regulate effectually.

A Naturalistic Perspective on Knowledge How: Grasping Truths in a Practical Way

For quite some time, cognitive science has offered philosophy an opportunity to address central problems with an arsenal of relevant theories and empirical data. However, even among those naturalistically inclined, it has been hard to find a universally accepted way to do so. In this article, we offer a case study of how cognitive-science input can elucidate an epistemological issue that has caused extensive debate. We explore Jason Stanley’s idea of the practical grasp of a propositional truth and present naturalistic arguments against his reductive approach to knowledge. We argue that a plausible interpretation of cognitive-science input concerning knowledge—even if one accepts that knowledge how is partly propositional—must involve an element of knowing how to act correctly upon the proposition; and this element of knowing how to act correctly cannot itself be propositional.

Likheter og forskjeller mellom tilnærminger til aksjonsforskning

This article focuses on similarities and differences between some key approaches to action research. The aim is to investigate perspectives, principles and dilemmas concerning the purpose of action research, development methods, the role of the researcher and the epistemological basis. The analysis sheds light on important dilemmas to which there are various answers. There are different views on the extent to which the purpose of action research is to develop and document knowledge for practitioners or for academia. A major methodological challenge is about the distribution of power and balance between participant influence and research management. An important dilemma is whether the researcher should be internal or external in relation to the context in question. One important epistemological issue concerns the potential of action research to transcend established traditions and structures. Another is whether democratic participation is an end in itself. A common core is to create value-conscious, practically relevant research through collaboration in social and professional fields.