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This paper develops a phenomenological defense of Ian Hacking's experimental realism about unobservable entities in physical science, employing historically undervalued resources from the phenomenological tradition in order to clarify the warrant for our ontological commitments in science. Building upon the work of Husserl, Merleau‐Ponty and Heelan, the paper provides a phenomenological correction of the positivistic conception of perceptual evidence maintained by antirealists such as van Fraassen, the experimental relevance of which is illustrated through a phenomenological interpretation of the 1974 discovery of the J/ψ particle generally regarded as evidence for the charmed quark. The argument then turns to address known problems in Hacking's account, demonstrating that his own instrumentalist criterion of the real is inadequately rooted in the phenomenology of perception, and as a result, passes over the true ontological significance of experimental phenomena. The paper maintains that the proper crite...

This paper offers reflections on the use of a phenomenological method in the exploration of the experience of taking part in extreme sport. A phenomenological method was chosen in an attempt to gain some understanding of the meaning and significance of an embodied experience. The paper presents a brief account of the process and outcome of the research. This is followed by a discussion of the researcher's experience of conducting phenomenological research and the kind of knowledge that was produced as a result. Reflections revolve around the openness of the method and its ability to reveal a phenomenon, the degree to which it is able to capture uniqueness and specificity, problems around translation and language, recruitment of participants, and, finally, issues around the relationship between description and interpretation. The paper concludes with some recommendations for phenomenological research practice.

The present paper attempts to accomplish the following: (1) to clarify and critically discuss the phenomenology of “belief” as we find it in Husserl’s Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, First Book (1913) (henceforward, Ideas I); (2) to clarify and critically discuss the manner in which the phenomenological method treats beliefs; (3) to clarify and critically discuss the manner of belief justification as described by the phenomenological method; and (4) to argue that, just as the phenomenological method can be used to validate scientific hypotheses, it can likewise be practised in our everyday worldly comportment to justify our everyday, commonsense beliefs. The paper proceeds from the idea that the phenomenological method is not the static descriptive method some make it out to be, but, rather, a living method at the service of life. The author begins with some preliminary remarks about Husserl’s concerns with unfounded or presupposed beliefs and their necessary “suspension” as dictated by the phenomenological reduction and epoche (“the method”). He then engages the text of Ideas I, especially sections 101 to 106, where Husserl presents a phenomenological conception of the character of belief. The paper concludes by treating the nature of belief justification, or “rational positing”, and puts forward the view that the phenomenological method in everyday practice can aid us in the realization of responsible epistemic conduct and, ultimately, lead toward responsible conduct towards ourselves and, hence, authentic being. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Volume 7, Edition 2 September 2007

This paper outlines key ideas in phenomenology and phenomenological psychology in order to clarify some of the processes which are used in ecosystemics. Occasionally writers take the view that a phenomenological approach indicates simply that we are concerned with an individual's experiences or that we are dealing with subjective perspectives. This paper shows that the important theoretical perspectives and specific techniques of phenomenological psychology provide the basis for important aspects of the ecosystemic approach.

Although attempts to complement the concept of reflexivity with social embeddedness have been made by many sociologists, theoretical tools for coming to grips with ‘temporally embedded’ aspects of reflexive activity have yet to make an entrance in the sociological arena. This paper intends to rectify this deficiency by spelling out how laypeople’s reflexive orientations draw on past lived experiences in the social world. Margaret Archer’s celebrated approach to reflexivity struggles to accommodate this dimension of reflexive agents since its clear ‘subjective–objective distinction’ is hostile to any talk of reflexivity as being historically constituted. A complementary account that allows us to map out and systematize temporal processes concerning reflexivity is, therefore, apt, an account that must address the fact that: reflexive activity does not start from scratch, in a vacuum, each time it operates; and, effects of previous lived experiences are at the heart of the mediatory process of reflex...

This paper attempts to trace the dynamic processes involved in the establishment and maintenance of teacher-pupil relationships and to explore some of the frameworks to be found at the level of face-to-face interaction. The article draws upon a qualitative study of one-to-one adult literacy tuition (Braund, 1981), which utilises the perspectives, experiences and definitions of grass-roots participants to provide illumination and insight into an essentially 'closed' world. To these everyday interpretations, concepts from social phenomenology and symbolic interactionism are applied. The study reveals the stage by stage evolution of tutor-student relationships during which individual interpretations and definitions of the situation are combined through negotiation to form a tailor-made working concensus within each dyad. It goes on to show how the seeds of change contained within each relationship cause it to be in a state of constant evolution leading ultimately to its metamorphosis or termination. This emerging pattern, or relationship 'career', provides a framework to an apparently unstructured situation and it is the analysis of this process which forms the basis of the paper. In the late 1970s, when I began my investigation of adult literacy provision, the field was not only unresearched but was still in the process of formation and self- evaluation. Indeed the birth of the Adult Literacy Campaign had been a hasty affair and the explosion of activity in 1975/76 had allowed the government funded

Drawing on insights from phenomenological sociology and various strands of socio-cultural theory, this paper reports the findings of a qualitative investigation into critical incidents as formative influences in the research orientation and research cultivation of 22 academics working in research-intensive university education departments. The study first outlines the context in which educational research has taken place, focusing on evidence of tension and conflict associated with differences in epistemological and professional orientation. The research findings indicate two ideal-type categories of educational research professional: the ‘intellectual-academic’, motivated primarily by the intellectual virtue of research excellence and accountability to the academic community; and the ‘humanistic-professional’, motivated by service to the wider community. It is concluded that a synergy of both orientations is necessary in producing quality research that is both rigorous and meaningful to a constituency of...

The spectrum of methods (cf. Osterhoudt 1974) and the modes of thought that are used to analyse the world of sports are enormous. However, in international contexts, the range of philosophical reflections often seems to be reduced to a dichotomous structure, i.e. the analytical and the phenomenological approach. While the analytical position is linked to Anglo-Saxon countries, the phenomenological tradition is ascribed to continental philosophers. In this paper, firstly, I will address this seeming dichotomy of the continental and the Anglo-Saxon positions – being well aware of the problems of such generalisations. Secondly, I will sketch some key aspects of the phenomenology of movement and, especially, the phenomenological methodology from a German/French/Dutch perspective. Thirdly, I will focus on the existentialist interpretation of sports and how the existential philosophy is rooted in the phenomenological tradition. And finally, I will outline some advantages and limitations of the phenomenological ...

Phenomenological inquiry offers a vehicle for transcending conventional disciplinary boundaries and investigative settings. Van Manen's protocol writing offers a hermeneutic tool for human scientific phenomenological research that is ideal for the empirical realm of everyday lived experience. Underlying this approach is the tenet that interpretative phenomenological research and theorizing cannot be separated from the textual practice of writing. The entirety of this paper is a protocol, in the form of a phenomenological self-study. It describes one experience in an unfamiliar environment as a criminal trial juror. It represents data capture that can stand alone for purposes of independent interpretation. Since qualitative research in the venue described is limited by protective judicial restrictions, this phenomenological protocol captures unique data in an otherwise inaccessible setting. It suggests that protocol writing offers potential as a research tool in a myriad situations where conventional data collection techniques are impractical or unavailable.

The aim of the study presented in this paper was to understand the lifeworlds of children who experience immigration and whose lives are marked by dramatic changes in their being-in-theworld. More specifically, the study proceeded from the question: What does it mean for an immigrant child to enter school in a new country? Two methodological questions were also explored, namely (1) How does one conduct a phenomenological investigation of a childhood phenomenon when the researchers and the participants do not share a common language? and (2) How does one engage children in the research process so that they provide not only “thick” descriptions of their experiences using alternative, non-linguistic means, but also make meaning of these experiences? In the current study, still photography was used to help the immigrant children recall and make meaning of what they experienced on their first day of school in a new country. In the process, they were enabled to become conscious photographers who came to see the world in such a way that photographic seeing became phenomenological seeing. Two examples of the children’s visual narratives in the form of fotonovelas are presented to illustrate a methodology that involves fusion of the horizons surrounding the children, captured images of situations they encountered as they entered the classroom, and how the viewer saw the created image. The expanded notion of text and the use of digital technology in developing the text opened a space not only for visual representation of the children’s lived experiences, but also for phenomenological analysis of these experiences. It is suggested that, although the written and visual texts produced as a result of the study differ, they are similar in the way in which they allow for phenomenological reflection and in their ability to show the phenomenon so as to evoke the reader’s “phenomenological nod”.

The labeling perspective has been one of the most influential in the field of deviance over the past two decades. Firmly rooted in the thought of George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer, it is also referred to as the interactionist approach. The purpose of this paper is to move the interactionist perspective on deviance beyond political debate and piecemeal research to a slight measure of theoretical consensus. First, the development of the perspective will be reviewed (examining the separate strands of symbolic interactionism, interactional conflict, and phenomenological sociology). Second, an interactionist model of the components of social deviance will be presented (a total of eight components will be developed). Finally, important conceptual distinctions will be noted on the basis of the proposed model. Included here are moral entrepreneurs, primary and secondary deviance, role engulfment, and master status. The interactionist tradition is the heart of deviance theorizing. Clear conceptualization is n...

This paper examines the contention that the writings of Alfred Schutz are not phenomenological. In particular, the indices of discontinuity between Schutz and Husserl previously expounded by Barry Hindess are considered. The article concludes that rather than being a Weberian working with a phenomenological gloss, Schutz is in fact a phenomenologist working with a Weberian gloss. It is further held that the difficulties associated with Schutz's programme for sociology are a consequence of the phenomenological status of his work.

This paper is a comparative analysis of black sociology and phenomenological sociology and an attempt to show how phenomenology might be used to provide an epistemological foundation for black sociology. Attention is directed toward the writings of black and phenomenological sociologists. Arguments rest on appeals to authorities—quotations from and citations to influential writers. The specific points of comparison are the way the protagonists of the perspectives (1) define their activities, (2) criticize conventional sociology, and (3) investigate social reality. Epistemological issues are examined within a framework of the standard methodological problems of validity and reliability.