Archive for the ‘Glossary’ Category
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Heuristic
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 10
Date: 07 November 2009Word: heuristic adj.
Context: Heuristic is used by Avruch in his treatment of culture: “…this assertion great heuristic value…” Heuristic is also mentioned in the definition of reification in The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought: “stressed for heuristic purposes”.
Definition: The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought defines heuristic as being “Concerned with ways of finding things out or solving problems”. Then explains that it is “a procedure for searching out an unknown goal by incremental exploration, according to some guiding principle which reduces the amount of searching required”. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy adds, “In modern logic, a heuristic procedure aims at problem solving, but offers no guarantee of proof. In this sense, heuristic contrasts with proof.
Word in Use: Leanne took a heuristic approach to statistical problem.Avruch, Kevin. 2002. Part 1: Culture. In Culture and Conflict Resolution, 5-7; 14-17. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Reification
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 7 (in Week 10)
Date: 07 November 2009Word: reification n.
Context: Avruch (2002) in his chapter on culture uses the word in the following contexts: “The reification of culture…” and “a series of short (cognitive) steps from shorthand to metonymy to reification”.
Definition: The authors of The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought provide an easy to understand definition of reification when they write, “The act of regarding an abstraction as a material thing”. When making an analysis of relationships a process of simplification takes place “through a set of abstractions” breaking down a given “phenomenon” to help us understand it. Reification is the “endowment” of one of these abstractions with “a material existence” of its own. Karl Marx also used the term with a special meaning and a particular purpose.
Word in Use: Daniel claimed ethnicity was choosing his partners, his reification of ethnicity was evident as he attributed intention to that concept.Avruch, Kevin. 2002. Part 1: Culture. In Culture and Conflict Resolution, 5-7; 14-17. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
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a priori
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 7 (in Week 10)
Date: 07 November 2009Word: a priori adj.
Context: A priori appears in Grant’s (1997, 104) article: “The a priori Cartesian mind/body dualism…”. It also appears in The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (2000) definition of proposition: “as a priori or empirical…”
Definition: The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought explains that knowledge is a posteriori when it is dependent upon evidence or our experience, while in contrast a priori knowledge is not bound by this dependence. It is commonly said that a priori is necessary and a posteriori is contingent (or dependent). Although there is much debate as to whether this is necessarily true, and that in fact there are cases of contingent knowledge, which can be called a priori and vice versa. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy (2009) adds: “The proponents of a priori knowledge usually claim that we have a faculty of intuition by which we may ascertain the truth of a priori propositions”. It is in this sense that Grant is contrasting the intuitively produced mind/body and the discursively produced body/subject.
Word in Use: If only women can have babies, and I am not a woman, then the a priori is that I cannot have babies. On the other hand, the statement that my ex-wife (i.e. a woman) is pregnant is a posteriori because I cannot confirm or deny this from logic alone.Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Grant, Barbara. 1997. Disciplining students: the construction of student subjectivities. British Journal of Sociology of Education 18(1): 101-114.
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hegemony
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 7 (in Week 8.)
Date: 22 October 2009Word: hegemony n. hegemonic adj.
Context: Hegemonic appears in the Bizzell (1986) article: “Hence the world view Perry describes can be taken as hegemonic…”
Definition: Hegemony (from Greek hegemonia, via hegemon, meaning leader or ruler, from hegomai, meaning to lead or command) has been used since the 19th century “to describe the predominance of one state over others”. The term was used most frequently to describe the political domination of one nation over others, for example the French rule over much of Europe during the Napoleonic area. During the 20th century a new definition arose, developed fully by (and associated closely to) Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who used it to “denote predominance of one SOCIAL CLASS over others”. Hegemonic can simply mean dominant, ruling, or supreme. In Bizzell’s case she refers to a dominant, ruling or supreme worldview over others.
Word in Use: Some commentators say that the left-wing has a hegemonic hold over article writing for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
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Discursively
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 7
Date: 16 October 2009Word: discursive adj. discursively adv.
Context: Discursively is in the Barbara Grant article: “The a priori Cartesian mind/body dualism is replaced by the discursively produced body/subject…”
Definition: The Oxford Dictionary of English defines discursive as follows:1. digressing from subject to subject: students often write dull, second-hand, discursive prose. • (of a style of speech or writing) fluent and expansive: the short story is concentrated, whereas the novel is discursive.
2. relating to discourse or modes of discourse: the attempt to transform utterances from one discursive context to another.
3. (Philosophy, archaic) proceeding by argument or reasoning rather than by intuition.I believe Grant is using the last definition of discursive in her article.
Word in Use: In the same sense as I believe the word is used by Grant, we can say, Descartes was discursive when he determined that he existed.Grant, Barbara. 1997. Disciplining students: the construction of student subjectivities. British Journal of Sociology of Education 18(1): 101-114.
“discursive adjective” The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). 2005. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Murdoch University. <http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e21471>
(Accessed 16th October 2009 ) -
Proposition
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 6
Date: 09 October 2009Word: proposition n.
Context: Proposition was used in both The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought and The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy, while defining belief.
Definition: A proposition is “a statement or assertion”; “a statement consisting of subject and predicate [what is said about the subject] that is subject to proof or disproof” (Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2004). The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (2000) when defining types of proposition says, “propositions may be distinguished in respect (1) of their logical form, e.g. (a) singular, particular or universal, (b) affirmative or negative, (c) categorical…, hypothetical or otherwise complex, (d) existential, attributive or relational; (2) of their kind of TRUTH or VERIFICATION, as a priori or empirical….” and so on. To put that into my own words with the assistance of The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy (2009), a proposition is required in some sentences (due to the grammatical rules of language) where an abstract object is expressed and which bears “truth-values”. Philosophers introduced the word proposition for these purposes. The existence of propositions and their use is debated by some philosophers.
Word in Use: Within the statement, “The west is losing the war on terror”, the word ‘losing’ is a proposition. The word is truth-bearing, but it can be either true or false.The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Belief
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 1-5 (in Week 6)
Date: 06 October 2009Word: belief n.
Context: Essay preparation: “Using the concept of a ‘world view’, identify some of the beliefs and attitudes….”
Definition: The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (2000) begins its definition of belief as the “acknowledgement that a proposition is true… in the absence of demonstrable proof as required by scientific method. Belief is often religious, as in belief in God, miracles or other supernatural phenomena”. It continues by saying that “belief can be a stage in the genesis of a particular piece of knowledge, where belief has waited for a methodology of adequate sophistication to valorize it as knowledge (i.e. many hypotheses can be classified as beliefs prior to proof)”. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy (2009) expands on the above statement by explaining that “[m]any discussions in the theory of knowledge take belief rather than knowledge as their starting-point. It is generally thought that belief is inherently relational and thus needs an object…. The object of belief has been variously understood to be an actual or possible sensory state, a state of affairs, or a proposition”.
Word in Use: It is the belief of the Christian that Jesus Christ is the Jewish messiah. It is the belief of the Orthodox Jew that he is not.Bullock, A. and S. Trombley. eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N. and J. Yu. eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Attitude
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 1-5 (in Week 6)
Date: 06 October 2009Word: attitude n.
Context: Essay preparation: “Using the concept of a ‘world view’, identify some of the beliefs and attitudes….”
Definition: The Australian Oxford Dictionary (2004) puts it as “a settled opinion or way of thinking” and the “behavior reflecting this” opinion or way of thinking. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy (2009) elaborates for us by explaining that belief is:A mental state of approval or disapproval, favouring or disfavouring. It is associated with emotion and feeling, but is contrasted to belief. While belief is concerned with fact and is cognitive, attitude is concerned with evaluation and emotional response. People having the same beliefs might have different attitudes, or have the same attitudes although they have different beliefs toward the same object. Hence the distinction between attitude and belief amounts to the distinction between value and fact.
Word in Use: I have a positive attitude toward tertiary education.
The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Bunnin, N. and J. Yu. eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Modernity
Glossary (Do not use for learning log)
Unit: SSK12
Week: 2
Date: 13 September 2009Word: modernity n.
Context: Modernity appears in different parts of the unit reader both as a period of societal development and as a framework of understanding the world that surrounds us (i.e. a worldview).
Definition: Modernity in the context of philosophy is broadly considered to date back to the Enlightenment of 17th and 18th century Europe, and is typically understood to have begun with Descartes (of “I think therefore I am” fame). The main feature of modernity is its emphasis on rationality and as the excerpt from the Conceptual Dictionary in the Unit Reader says, the “privileging of science over traditional thought and action”. (Conceptual Dictionary, 1994) The modernist believes that through the supremacy afforded to rationality and science over traditional thought it is possible to improve upon and progress human society. There is some disagreement as to whether the period of modernity has ended or not, and whether we are still in it, particularly from proponents of postmodernism.
Word in Use: The objectives and hopes of modernity as purported by the philosophers of the Enlightenment was the continued improvement and ultimate perfection of human society.Bullock, A. and S. Trombley. eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.
Bunnin, N., and J. Yu. eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Craig, A.P. et al. 1994. Conceptual Dictionary. Kenwyn, South Africa: Juta, University of Natal.
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Metacognitive
Glossary
Unit: SSK12
Week: 2 (updated in Week 6)
Date: 07 October 2009 (Updated: 09 October 2009)Word: metacognitive adj.
Context: Metacognitive is mentioned by Lorraine Marshall in the ‘Read this first’ introduction of A Guide to learning independently.
Definition: The Australian Oxford Dictionary simply defines metacognition as “awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes”. This might be more simply put as thinking about your own thinking and recognising what factors might influence our thinking (Encarta, 2009). A Dictionary of Psychology informs us that “Writings on metacognition can be traced back at least as far as De Anima and the Parva Naturalia of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), and the phenomenon was brought to prominence during the 1970s largely by the US psychologist John H(urley) Flavell (born 1928)…” In an influential article presented by psychologists, R.E. Nisbett and T.D. Wilson they “summarized a range of evidence suggesting that people are often unaware of the factors influencing their own choices, evaluations, and behaviour….” (A Dictionary of Psychology, 2009).
Word in Use: As she became more metacognitive in her approach to her choices, she became more aware of what was influencing her behaviour.Marshall, L., and F. Rowland. 2006. A Guide To Learning Independently. 4th ed. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Education Australia.
The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Encarta® World English Dictionary. 2009. Metacognition.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?search=metacognitive
(accessed September 07, 2009)“metacognition n.” A Dictionary of Psychology. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Murdoch University. <http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t87.e5014>
(accessed September 07, 2009)
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