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Mental health services are currently undergoing immense cultural, philosophical, and organisational change. One such mechanism involved in this change has been the recognition of lived experience as a knowledge subset in its own right. Within five Community Health Care Organisations [CHOs] in the Irish mental health services, 2017 marked a new era as the traditional statutory mental health service hired a total of 30 Peer Support Workers. Since then, additional Peer Support Workers were recruited along with the added addition of Family Peer Support Work. The purpose of such positions is to use their lived experiences and the knowledge subset within it to normalise experiences, break down hierarchical barriers and facilitate candid conversations that will allow the service user to progress on their own, self-defined recovery journey. Since it's inception into Irish mental health services, peer support has been line managed by a non-peer discipline. It is this where this paper highlights a potential problem. The paper raises concerns that the supervision conducted by these non-peer professionals could tamper, mutate and destroy the essence of peer support—the transfer and use of lived experience between service users. As such, a recommendation is suggested that the literature pauses discussions as to the mechanism by which lived experience is delivered and instead focus energies on identifying the ontological and epistemological position that underpins the experiences.One potential position to examine is that of constructionism as such knowledge is created or constructed through the fusion of life experiences and sub-concious thoughts and emotions experienced at a particular moment in time which are then entangled together with current information to create a narrative or story that can be therapeutic. It is through this philosophical exercise involviong/including existential themes that the essence of lived experience can be identified, protected, and nourished within mental health discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did the exhibition in the Chinese pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale entitled Continuum – Generation by Generation (buxi 不息) mobilize the concept of buxi, which translates literally as “endlessness” or “never ceasing”? What does it mean to conceive of art, the world, and oneself through the lens of buxi, as endlessly intrarelated? This paper delves into this question from a multi-pronged perspective. First, it explains the meaning of buxi and analyzes how the show engages with aesthetic, epistemological, social and political implications of art and the world conceived through a contemporary perspective on the concept of “endlessness”. Second, the paper explores how a reading of the show and the artworks – their adopted aesthetic strategies, media, techniques, and materialities – through the lens of buxi complicates the critical and aesthetic framework for contemporary art in the global context. Finally, the paper evaluates the engagement with buxi – and the respective alternative processual ontology and temporality of art and world – as a useful mode of decolonizing the discipline of art history, even as it emphasizes the importance of adopting a dynamic pluriversal approach that attends to the transcultural relations that shape and reshape the multiplicity of meanings of art in a global framework, its multiple and entangled critical and aesthetic discourses, and the complexity of power structures, and avoids obscuring significant contexts and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deuteronomy 23:3, says: "No ... Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord". This verse is motivated by a discriminatory tendency embedded in the ontology of the Deuteronomist. Interestingly, Deuteronomy 23:3 was used by Ezra-Nehemiah to discriminate against the "Moabites" during the Second Temple. Such ontology is countered by the author of Ruth in the narrative of Ruth during the Second Temple. This demonstrates an ontological "war" within the Bible itself. The primary contestation lies in whether God is exclusive or inclusive. This development necessitates a hermeneutics of suspicion. In the course of history, the "theology" of Deuteronomy has been used to grossly violate the human dignity of many God-fearing African people and many other people of the South for colonial purposes. To exacerbate the situation, there were persistent attempts from some quarters to universalise such a discriminatory biblical perspective. This would feed into the centre–periphery arrangement, with the centre feeding the periphery with such hermeneutics. For this reason, African scholars are implored to be very vigilant against ardent pressures put on the biblical texts by ontological, epistemological, and contextual biases of interpretations. Accordingly, Andrew Mbuvi identifies African Biblical Hermeneutics perfectly when he says it seeks to undo "the very construct of the 'centre-periphery' binary by allowing the possibility of multiple centres"). Kenneth Ngwa, thus, rightly asserts that African Biblical Hermeneutics considers African epistemologies and conditions "to be invaluable and legitimate contexts and resources in biblical interpretation"), drinking from our own wells). In consequence, this paper intends to set a dialogue between Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22. This paper aims to examine the understanding of God behind these verses. This paper will then compare the two theologies with the African philosophical concept of God. Harnessing the African concept of Ubuntu, this paper will de-ideologise the two texts and thus will provide a recommendation concerning the two texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At this moment, humanity is confronting several global metacrises that demand a new image of science to deal with the complex problems associated with these crises. In addition to natural sciences and humanities, social sciences can become an equally efficient resource for use in this transformation if they succeed in constructing new frameworks congruent with the new reality. The purpose of this theoretical paper in the discourse of philosophy of science is to discern the features of the social sciences within a new paradigm of metamodernism. For the first time, the authors elaborate on the new principles of metamodernist philosophy and apply them to the ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology of the social sciences. The set of six transversal principles comprises the ontological principle of paradoxical simultaneity, caused by oscillation, epistemological principles of paradoxical understanding of truth and grand narratives, as well as metaxis-based thinking and dia/polylogue, axiological negotiation between rhizomatic and hierarchical social relations and values, and methodological pluralism. The last principle showcases the coexistence and interlinkage of previous stages of metamodernism. The application of these principles to the social sciences was designed from the perspectives of a specific discipline, inter/transdisciplinarity, and instrumental level of social practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of additional avenues for the development of metamodernism in the social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigated the evolution of prioritized E L ontologies in the presence of new information that can be certain or uncertain. We propose an extension of E L description logic, named E L ⊥ + , within possibility theory to encode such knowledge. This extension provides a natural way to deal with the ordinal scale and represent knowledge in a way that can handle incomplete information and conflicting data. We provided a polynomial algorithm for computing the possibilistic entailment. Then, we defined the evolution process at the semantic and syntactic levels. Interestingly enough, we show that the syntactical algorithm is done in polynomial time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Philosophical Investigations / Pizhūhish/hā-yi Falsafī is the property of University of Tabriz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The short analysis allows the emphasis of interdependence between epistemology and ontology, by focusing on types and structures of thought which shed light on the different meanings and importance of (the concept of) order. We, as observers, belong to the world we describe, and thus the paper is a combined effect and interplay of both the inner order we do or we do not have feelings about, and our images about the order of our outside. How we do understand the concept of order and how we do describe the order from within and from without are related to an entire system of concepts we assume. Thus, the message is the importance of the critical evaluation of perspectives and the optimism to having criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Boletín de Filología is the property of Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Filozofija i Drustvo is the property of University of Belgrade, Institute for Philosophy & Social Theory and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Distributed agile software development (DASD) has gained much popularity over the past years. It relates to Agile Software Development (ASD) being executed in a distributed environment due to factors such as low development budget, emerging software application markets and the need for more expertise. DASD faces a number of challenges with respect to coordination and communication issues. Task allocation in such an environment thus becomes a challenging task. Adopting proper task allocation strategy is crucial to overcome challenges and issues in DASD. Various studies highlight the challenges being faced by DASD and have proposed solutions in the form of framework or models. Knowledge models in the form of ontologies can help to solve certain issues and challenges by providing a proper representation of data that is shareable among distributed teams. Several ontologies with respect to task allocation exist. However, ontologies incorporating factors and dependencies influencing task allocation process in DASD are limited. An ontology representing the knowledge related to task allocation and coordination is important for proper decision making in organizations. Based on an in-depth literature review and a survey conducted among professionals in industry, this paper proposes an ontology, OntoDASD, that incorporates relevant factors and dependencies to be considered in task allocation and coordination process in DASD environment. The ontology facilitates team coordination through effective communication and task allocation by defining the concepts to share knowledge and information in an appropriate way. OntoDASD has been properly evaluated and validated by professionals in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks, what ‘newness’ (Springgay & Zaliwska, 2015) does a new materialist feminist engagement with photos of ‘nothing’ produce for thinking about images as data in research about sexuality at school? Somewhat unusually, this paper takes as its focus – photos of what appear to be, nothing. These indecipherable photos were captured by student photo-diarists as part of research into the sexual cultures of schooling. Traditionally, these photos would not constitute data because they contain no identifiable people or objects, are blurry and were classified by photo-diarists as ‘mistakes’. This paper involves a revisiting of these images drawing on the work of Barad (2007), Hultman and Lenz Taguchi (2010) and MacLure (2013). It considers how ideas around onto-epistemology, intra-activity and agential realism might undo and unknow the researcher’s previous encounters with them. The paper argues feminist new materialism challenges the nature of what counts as data about sexuality at school and thereby the ontology of data about sexuality itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Filozofija i Drustvo is the property of University of Belgrade, Institute for Philosophy & Social Theory and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to bring the resources of virtue epistemology to bear on the issue of the epistemic objectivity of science. A distinction is made between theoretical virtues, which may be possessed by scientific theories, and epistemic virtues, which may be exercised by individual scientists. A distinction is then made between ontological objectivity, objectivity of truth, and epistemic objectivity, the last being the principal focus of the paper. It is then noted that a role must be played by deliberative judgement in determining how to apply the theoretical virtues. It is suggested that such judgement may be virtuous in light of the exercise of the epistemic virtues. It is argued that the primary location of epistemic objectivity is the theoretical virtues, whereas the epistemic virtues of scientists play a subordinate role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ProInflow is the property of Casopis ProInflow and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Universitas Humanística is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bonaventure's epistemology is partly based on his Trinitarian theology. This paper investigates the Trinitarian connotations in this epistemology and their broader significance. Like the divine Father, any object of human understanding is liberally generating a likeness of itself: the species. Apprehending the form of the object through this species is an essential feature of human knowledge for Bonaventure. More fundamentally, the human soul itself is structured according to the Augustinian Triad of memoria, intellectus and voluntas, and the transcendentals of being correspond to the human soul's structure: unum, verum and bonum. Both the human being and the transcendentals of being originate ultimately from the Trinitarian life or actuality, which is a self-relation in truth and love: The Father generates a Word and both together spirate the nexus between Father and Son: the Holy Spirit. Bonaventure's notion of Trinitarian actuality as it is imaged in the human and being itself can help deepen Aquinas' metaphysical notion of created esse as the actuality of all acts: An enriched notion of Trinitarian actuality necessarily involves, just as Hugo of St. Victor's notion of love, a life of personal self-communication and reception, in the context of which the speech of divine 'suffering' makes sense, and does not involve mutability. Understanding Trinitarian actuality as the life of love exemplary for creation might open up vistas for a mutual fertilization between Thomistic metaphysics and Bonaventure's Trinitarian theology, so as to further the development of a Trinitarian ontology without confusing the distinction between Philosophy and Theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I approach Venturinha's ideas on contextual epistemology from the perspective of linguistic practices of argumentation. I point to the "thick" descriptions of social situations as a common context in which our epistemic language-games take place. In this way, I explore promising connections of Venturinha's work to key concepts in recent speech act theory, social ontology and social epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the modern science world scientists are still searching for some kind of ontological and epistemological common ground. In this paper I try to show that we, by the aid of Michael Polanyi's concepts of knowledge, of personal as well as objective knowledge, and his descriptions of the tacit dimensions in the process of knowing, can take some substantial steps toward a better understanding of the contemporary scientific conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive classification of quid pro quo exchange transactions, so as to distinguish the different ways that desired exchange outcomes can be determined and that transactional processes can be conducted. This permits reflection on the generality of the theory of the individual embedded in neoclassical (orthodox) economics.Design/methodology/approach The approach adopted is to draw upon the contending dichotomies in epistemology (naturalism or hermeneutics) and ontology (agency or structure) to demarcate and depict a set of Weberian archetypal social actors, so as to explore their cognitions and behaviors in a transactional arena. These archetypal social actors are hypothetical role-playing actors – they do not describe real people.Findings These archetypal social actors, collectively, are suggestive of the profuseness of ways people can engage in exchange transactions. Each archetype’s credibility is contingent upon the veracity of its ontological and epistemological standpoints. Each, indeed, has blindspots that permit the denied standpoints to be ignored without analytical detriment. None can, therefore, claim the status of a general theory of exchange process.Originality/value The paper’s originality is that it explores exchange transactions from a variety of epistemological and ontological perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some sense, both ontological and epistemological problems related to individuation have been the focal issues in the philosophy of mathematics ever since Frege. However, such an interest becomes manifest in the rise of structuralism as one of the most promising positions in recent philosophy of mathematics. The most recent controversy between Keränen and Shapiro seems to be the culmination of this phenomenon. Rather than taking sides, in this paper, I propose to critically examine some common assumptions shared by both parties. In particular, I shall focus on their assumptions on (1) haecceity as an individual essence, (2) haecceity as a property, (3) the classification of properties, and thereby (4) the search for the principle of individuation in terms of properties. I shall argue that all these assumptions are mistaken and ungrounded from Scotus' point of view. Further, I will fathom what consequences would follow, if we reject each of these assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of EMPIRIA: Revista de Metodología de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Aufklärung: Revista de Filosofia is the property of Aufklarung: Revista de Filosofia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Building on pragmatism, we advance an entrepreneur-as-scientist perspective and depict entrepreneurs as engaging in causally inferential action by forming beliefs, testing these beliefs, and responding to the feedback received. However, this sequence of entrepreneurial actions arrives with a set of companion doubts: namely, doubt about product–market fit, because the entrepreneurs' beliefs are self-chosen; doubt about feedback validity from false positives or false negatives; and doubt about over- and under-fitting in responses to feedback. We discuss the rationality of heuristics deployed by the entrepreneur to overcome these doubts. Our insights contribute to the microfoundations of entrepreneurial action and strategy by explaining how entrepreneurs generate the information to produce value out of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the ontology and epistemology of time in Lucretius' De rerum natura. It uses the physiology of perception as well as epistemology to shed new light on the metaphysics. It presents an exegesis-based interpretation of the nature of time and of its perception, both arguing for and refining this interpretation by showing its explanatory power. The paper shows that Lucretius represents the perception of time or sensus temporis as a distinct sensory faculty, reconstructs how it emerges and operates, and relates it to his account of perception more generally. The sense of time in turn is seen to explain aspects of related faculties, including thought and sight, and cases of apparent simultaneity. The paper thus contributes to, among other things, our understanding of the speed of perception and Lucretius' account of the nature of time itself -- arguing that Lucretius represents time as both continuous (not atomic) and real, as well as something perceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasises the importance for researchers to explicitly locate their work within a philosophical framework. It examines the ontological, epistemological and methodological similarities and differences of Positivism and Critical Realism; highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of these philosophical approaches in relation to nursing research. Whilst acknowledging several limitations and risks associated with undertaking research from a critical realist perspective it concludes that this perspective still appears to provide a more appropriate foundation for systematic enquiry within the discipline of nursing than is achieved by adopting a positivist approach to such investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to appeal to the structural-attributive approach to help establish a useful ontological categorization of information. Specifically, it argues that a framework for library and information science (LIS) based on Stonier's theory of information would be helpful, with the intention to advance one of the unfinished dialogues of LIS, the so-called Wiener's problem, or statutum ontologicum. This proposal advocates the possibility of developing a theory based on the assumption that information is a basic property of the universe. Stonier's perspective is an evolutionary type, so the basis of this research is interdisciplinary, such that his ideas can help describe the development of society in the information age. It also explains the two main categories or forms of information, which Stonier called "applied," for the library scope. In other words, there are the information contained in a system and the transformed and processed information. He argues that information is an ontological category that exists independently of being perceived. This paper asserts that information characterizes the world in itself, since it is through it that all knowledge is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper opposes to a common attitude towards forms - as being something non-important, superficial, "formal" - Plato and Aristotle's philosophy, according to which things exist because of forms. From the inquiry of their logic that mixes the epistemological and the ontological standpoint, the analysis goes on to the problem of the understanding of forms as events: as mirrors of the manner we see the world/as mirrors of the way of thinking. I contrast the event to the situation - in Alain Badiou's manner - and I show that there is a logic of continuity between Aristotle's insistence on the concrete face of form (σὺνoλoν) and Badiou's concept of fidelity: because this concept always relates to the concrete which deserves to be faithful towards. The value of things we support gives their "forms". If so, fidelity towards forms is something more complete and suggestive than to follow essences: forms are as important as essences; this is obvious when the forms change but the essence do not; in fact, it is not a real change. The real change is when the form changes bringing also the change of the essence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dramatic increase in the use of knowledge discovery applications requires end users to write complex database search requests to retrieve information. Such users are not only expected to grasp the structural complexity of complex databases but also the semantic relationships between data stored in databases. In order to overcome such difficulties, researchers have been focusing on knowledge representation and interactive query generation through ontologies, with particular emphasis on improving the interface between data and search requests in order to bring the result sets closer to users research requirements. This paper discusses ontology-based information retrieval approaches and techniques by taking into consideration the aspects of ontology modelling, processing and the translation of ontological knowledge into database search requests. It also extensively compares the existing ontology-to-database transformation and mapping approaches in terms of loss of data and semantics, structural mapping and domain knowledge applicability. The research outcomes, recommendations and future challenges presented in this paper can bridge the gap between ontology and relational models to generate precise search requests using ontologies. Moreover, the comparison presented between various ontology-based information retrieval, database-to-ontology transformations and ontology-to-database mappings approaches provides a reference for enhancing the searching capabilities of massively loaded information management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will argue that the categories of physical individuals and chemical stuff are not sufficient to face the chemical ontology if nanomaterials are taken into account. From a perspective that considers ontological questions and wonders which the items involved in science are, we will argue that the domain of nanoscience must be considered as populated by entities that are neither individuals, as those of physics, nor stuff, as those items of macro-chemistry. This discussion, in virtue of the analysis of the nature of nanomaterials, leads to propose a proper ontological category for nanoparticles: nanoindividuals. Nanomaterials are sorts of individuals, but they are different from physical individuals and from chemical stuff. We will also claim to contribute to the growing field of the philosophy of chemistry, especially regarding discussions that manifest not only epistemological but also ontological issues. In this scenario, the field on nanoscience is particularly challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper strives to pursue two goals at the same time: how can one get to know in depth the intellectual life of the USSR in the 1930s--1950s; and, what can the virulent anti-Saussurean criticism in Russia at that time tell us about the specificity of the Marxist-Leninist theory of signs? We propose the following angle of attack: the recurring theme of this criticism, namely that Saussure's Cours presents a "theory of hieroglyphics", therefore a type of "bourgeois idealist" theory that Lenin assailed in his 1909 book Materialism and Empiriocriticism about Ernst Mach. Yet thinking about hieroglyphics is based on much older controversies, dating back to the 17th century and concerning the deciphering of Egyptian writing. The issue which arises here is semiotic in nature: it is the scalar opposition between transparency and opacity of the sign that is at stake. Does the sign hide or reveal? The Soviet discourse on language and signs in the 1930s--1950s seems to be based on an interrogation of the sign/referent, language/thought, form/content relationship. A part of the history of semiotics can thus be discovered from the critique of the "hieroglyphic theory", a little-known episode in a debate on the interpretation of Saussurism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically reflects on the research portfolio by the ecological economist Clive Spash who has helped pinpoint specific and systemic blindspots in a political-economic system that prioritises myopic development trajectories divorced from ecological reality. Drawing on his published work and collaborations it seeks to make sense of the slow, or absent, progress in averting global warming and ecological destruction. Three strands of key concern and influence are identified and discussed with reference to their orientation and explicit expression regarding Ontology, Epistemology and Axiology. Some complementary points about indeterminacy and holism are presented to further strengthen the arguments for a transition towards a social-ecological economic system that puts values and principles back into focus. While Clive Spash's work has made a strong case within the economic community and appealing to ecology professionals, the value-myopia or value-vacuum has to be tackled across all disciplines, politics and society for a meaningful and urgently required transformation in decision making. Hence, the article finishes with some suggestions for the (higher) education system, and highlights the importance of simplicity and sufficiency, as well as strong sustainability-driven citizen and community action as necessary catalysts of change in this social-ecological transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines clear signs of market-led instrumentalisation for HE cultures in Britain, before critiquing the 'ontological turn' in HE theory and its intrinsic political abdication from those signs. It focuses on a paper by Ronald Barnett to both diagnose the problem, which is a 'precarité' that is ghosted in his work, rather than explicitly posited, before identifying a possible new approach to the problems of the ontological turn in post-foundational humanism. This paper also critiques the philosophical use of the ontological turn per se, particularly in the face of a conservative political shift in Britain. It both agrees and differs with Barnett's advocacy, but ultimately uses his paper as a springboard to an alternative set of philosophical and ethical frameworks that might be offered to replace the ontological turn, along with a full justification. To make that case, this paper outlines the emerging work of Marcus Morgan and the possibility of a neo-humanist, post-foundational turn. This paper ultimately critiques a large philosophical trend within current HE pedagogy, and therefore is of relevance to international HE practitioners of all subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an ontology and CBR (case-based reasoning) based method which overcomes the difficulty for computers to understand complex structures of various mechanical products and makes the disassembly decision-making process of the products fully automated and cost-saving. In this method, (1) ontology concept is applied to the disassembly decision-making. This enables computers to understand and self-reason the CBR/RBR (rule-based reasoning) based disassembly decision-making process. Since ontology uniforms different kinds of disassembly-related knowledge from different sources, the integration and sharing of the knowledge could be achieved; (2) high flexible decision-making to various conditions with high quality is achieved by the combination of ontology and CBR; (3) to achieve the decision-making when CBR fails, an ontology based RBR method is designed to complement the shortage of CBR in the disassembly decision-making field. The paper also presents an application program to realise the proposed method. In addition, a case study is analysed to verify the validity and automation of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper strives to pursue two goals at the same time: – how can one get to know in depth the intellectual life of the Soviet Union in the 1930s–50s? – what can the virulent anti-Saussurean criticism in Russia at that time tell us about the specificity of the Marxist-Leninist theory of sign? We will propose here an apparently narrow angle of attack: the recurring theme of this criticism, namely that Saussure’s Cours presents a ”theory of hieroglyphics” (or symbols), therefore a type of bourgeois idealist theory that Lenin assailed in his 1909 book Materialism and Empiriocriticism about E. Mach, and which was upheld for a time by Plekhanov. But thinking about hieroglyphics is based on much older controversies, dating back to the 17th century about the deciphering of Egyptian writing. The issue which arises here is semiotic in nature: it is the scalar opposition between transparency and opacity of the sign that is at stake. Does the sign hide or reveal? The Soviet discourse on language and signs in the 1930s–50s seems entirely to be based on an interrogation of the sign/referent, language/thought, form/content relationship. A part of the history of semiotics can thus be discovered from the critique of the “hieroglyphic theory”, a little-known episode in a debate on the interpretation of Saussurism.

I shall in this paper seek to unravel the challenges which global expansion as it is practised, poses to the understanding of and the relationship between the "self" and the "other" through the mechanism of Ibuanyidanda ontology. Although globalisation tends to collapse borders and promote social cohesion between cultures and individuals at the polar points of the globe, in practice, the relationship which emerges as a result of this global expansion is fraught with inter-racial, inter-tribal and intergroup tensions. My goal is to show that globalisation is not as inclusivist and tolerant in practice as is suggested in theory. I shall explore this by using the problem of ihe mkpuchi anya (the obstacle of passion which inspires a sectional mind-set as opposed to objectivity in human relations), that is identified in Ibuanyidanda ontology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory is the property of University of Chicago Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper addresses the notion of dialectics in the linguistic bodies theory. First, it presents it as a three-aspect concept, namely, the ontological aspect, the methodological aspect, and the dialectical model. Subsequently, it discusses the ontological aspect and the dialectical model and, based on the enactivist linguistic notions of concreteness and abstraction, suggests that it can be conceived as a two-fold concept: methodological and epistemological. This suggestion intends to avoid the paradox we are led to by acknowledging three ontological enactivist claims and a few assumptions of the methodological approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progress of the social science disciplines depends on conducting relevant research. However, research methodology adopted and choices made during the course of the research project are underpinned by varying ontological, epistemological and axiological positions that may be known or unknown to the researcher. This paper sought to critically explore the philosophical underpinnings of the social science research. It was suggested that a "multiversal" ontological position, positivist-hermeneutic epistemological position and value-laden axiological position should be adopted for social science research by non-western scholars as alternative to the dominant naïve realist, positivist, and value-free orientation. Against the backdrop of producing context-relevant knowledge, non-western scholars are encouraged to re-examine their philosophical positions in the conduct of social science research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents the findings of research exploring the value and impacts of corporate community investment (CCI) through community partnerships. The research considered the community partners' perceptions of the value and impact of CCI. We adopted an inquiry paradigm utilising constructivist ontology, interpretivist epistemology and a case study method. In dialogue with Wesfarmers Ltd's community partners, the 'realities' presented by these beneficiary stakeholders were interpreted and understood ( verstehen). While the CCI programmes with each of the not-for-profit organisations had different objectives, we were able to classify, under broad headings, the nature of the benefits to the community. One question highlighted is whether all corporate investing is the same? We found two aspects to this: the strategic fit for the community organisation of proposed investment and whether the corporate partner sought a relational as opposed to transactional approach to funding provision. Recommendations can be made for the funding structure deemed to be most effective from the community partners' perspectives. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigm envisions systems whose central entity is the user. AmI integrates technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, implicit Human Computer Interaction, and Ubiquitous Services. Each capability of AmI systems is oriented towards assistance of humans at work, in the classroom, or even at home. In consequence, the AmI development process usually incorporates the final user since the first stages. However, having users available during all this long process is not always possible. Agent-based social simulations where the users׳ role is played by simulated entities can be used to make the AmI development process faster and more effective. In this scenario, the modelling of CMHBs (Computational Models of Human Behaviour) is a major challenge. To address this issue, this paper proposes a methodology whose main contributions are: (1) the use of domain experts׳ knowledge to create CMHBs; (2) a common methodological framework to develop CMHBs by combining information obtained from sensors׳ perceptions and experts׳ experiences; and, (3) open source tools to support this development paradigm. The paper also presents a full case of study in a hospital which illustrates: the number of recommendations made by the methodology; the techniques proposed (mainly the use of ontologies and temporal reasoning); and, the potential of the methodology to model the personnel in a hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Theory building is conditioned by three registers – the ontological (reality), the epistemological (knowledge) and the ethical (values). The significance of the first two is widely acknowledged. But the third register tends to be overlooked, especially where a positive/normative dichotomy is assumed. Post-positivist thinking problematizes this dichotomy but leaves the ethical register unthematized. The paper addresses this neglect and illustrates the role of the ethical register in processes of theory formation. Attentiveness to the ethical register is seen to invite radical reflection on a dominant, anthropocentric value-orientation, and thereby problematize the institutionalized estrangement of researchers from the ‘objects’ of their analysis and the abstraction of organizations from their embeddedness in the biosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A semantic approach to represent and validate Big Data analytics is proposed. • An OWL Ontology and SWRL rules are developed for reasoning in workflow design. • The proposal is validated with two real-world (traffic) and academic cases study. • Obtained semantized data successfully recommends and validate Big Data tasks. • We provide actual Big Data practitioners with software to enhance their analytics. Abstract Knowledge extraction and incorporation is currently considered to be beneficial for efficient Big Data analytics. Knowledge can take part in workflow design, constraint definition, parameter selection and configuration, human interactive and decision-making strategies. This paper proposes BIGOWL, an ontology to support knowledge management in Big Data analytics. BIGOWL is designed to cover a wide vocabulary of terms concerning Big Data analytics workflows, including their components and how they are connected, from data sources to the analytics visualization. It also takes into consideration aspects such as parameters, restrictions and formats. This ontology defines not only the taxonomic relationships between the different concepts, but also instances representing specific individuals to guide the users in the design of Big Data analytics workflows. For testing purposes, two case studies are developed, which consists in: first, real-world streaming processing with Spark of traffic Open Data, for route optimization in urban environment of New York city; and second, data mining classification of an academic dataset on local/cloud platforms. The analytics workflows resulting from the BIGOWL semantic model are validated and successfully evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The representation of attributed and n-ary relations is proposed on the ontology description language, OWL. • Reification is impractical and heavy for the aim of knowledge reuse and randomization. • The proposed modeling approach avoids the need for reification to model the attributed and n-ary relations using OWL. • The extension of OWL relies on the expansion of the syntactic, semantic and reasoning aspects of the basic language. Abstract Knowledge modeling is the basis for the whole process of conceptual design. We aim, in this paper, at representing knowledge through an efficient model that enables efficient reuse. The knowledge model must be both expressive, so as not to omit any pertinent knowledge, and computable to allow for reasoning and learning. The ontology model, along with its well-known description language OWL (Web Ontology Language), is commonly used for this purpose. However, despite the strong expressiveness of OWL, this ontology language still shows limitations with regard to some modeling needs. We aim at promoting the representation of such aspects. We especially deal with the lack of an adequate representation for attributed relations and n-ary relations. The attributed relation, which is a relation that possesses its own attributes, is introduced into OWL, while preserving the basic semantics. The n-ary relation is also added to OWL by introducing a supplementary representational layer that is defined with a sound semantics, inspired from the DLR logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of science is to explain reality and the world, and the goal of philosophy is also ontology. Philosophical views on scientific opinions and scientific opinions have had a direct influence on the way of worldview and ontology. Since the early twentieth century, the scientific flow of reduction affects logic and philosophy, psychology and sociology, and even theology and religion. On the other hand, the new emergent flow of emergentism in opposition to reductionism flourished in the late twentieth century. The philosophical and analytical validation of these two seemingly contradictory views promotes the levels of scientific methods and approaches, as well as philosophical views, especially philosophies such as the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of psychology, and the philosophy of sociology. Reductionism is trying to coordinate with unity, realize the unity of sciences, eliminate the waste of scientific theories, and provide the possibility of a stronger justification. On the other hand, emergentism involves the hierarchical plurality of the world's creatures. On the other hand, emergentism involves the hierarchical plurality of the world's creatures which causes the classification of science. Each level and class have its lows, rules, and concepts per se. Reductionism is unable to explain the plurality of facts and levels of existence; But emergentism with its theoretical framework explains both the continuum, unity and multiplicity of reality means the hierarchical plurality of reality. the reduction merely is an essential step in understanding and discovering down-up causality that is used as one of the theoretical concepts of emergentism and somewhat explains the cause of the relationship between the layers of existence. But reduction strategy is not successful in recognizing and explaining the existence of layers and classes of science. Reductions with a priority look at reality are subject to selfish judgment and preference, but in emergentism, reality and ontology determine and identify the methodology and epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does quantum physics tell us about the nature of reality, specifically the parts of reality we do not directly perceive called hidden variables? One may think it could tell us a lot because of our enhanced technological sensing abilities that delve into the realms that quantum physics covers so well. Surprisingly, it seems to surround us in a deeper mystery rather than reveal more of nature's secrets. It seems that we cannot escape from philosophical consideration when dealing with what is hidden in quantum physics. In Part I we will look at how Epistemology and Ontology bear upon Hidden Variables. In Part II we will consider Hidden Variables in the light of Contextuality, and Non-Classicality. Inevitably questions of subjectivity and objectivity arise in dealing with states of observation. How should we think about these states? Perhaps it is a question of the meaning associated with our knowledge of a state-that is, a question of ontology or epistemology. The issue of ontic and epistemic states is particularly important when considering hidden variables in quantum physics because, as one may argue, the interpretation of quantum states as either ontic or epistemic will naturally lead to different assumptions about how reality is constructed; if it is constructed or not. It also raises the question of what attributes we are able to observe simultaneously and that brings contextuality into the discussion. If it turns out that reality is constructed contextually what does that imply about ontological realism? If on the other hand reality is constructed noncontextually what does that imply about ontological realism? Many implications can arise when considering these questions from a quantum physical point of view. In this paper I shall discuss how quantum physics provides some answers to these questions by considering quantum physical states and their measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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