Filosofi med børn har siden 80’erne været kendt i Danmark som en stærkt dialogisk undervisningsform med fokus på elevernes evne til at reflektere sammen og argumentere selvstændigt. Feltets idealer kan dog være vanskelige at leve op til i praksis. Denne caseanalyse undersøger en rapport, hvor de dialogiske idealer for Filosofi med børn beskrives sammen med praksiseksempler, og analysen viser, at den faktiske undervisning ikke lever op til idealerne. Casen illustrerer dermed nogle af udfordringerne ved at bryde med en klassisk lærercentreret (...) undervisningsform, samt nødvendigheden af didaktiske værktøjer og strategier for at lykkes med den dialogiske tilgang i Filosofi med børn. (shrink)

The ongoing expansion of new communication technologies is inseparably linked to the transformation of political communication. The new thinking behind communication is embedded directly in the code of popular social networks. Can a formal political party successfully implement a decentralized mode of communication based on personal connections and weak social ties, or is it against the very logic of both the hierarchical organizations and the technology itself? Our case study describes the vast spectrum of various types of behavior of political (...) actors on Twitter through computer-assisted analysis of Twitter communication in Czech Republic before the elections to the European Parliament in May 2014. The research is based on the concept of connective action, as defined by Bennett and Segerberg. Preliminary results show an emerging typology of campaign strategies, from formal and centralized campaigns on one hand to various hybrid overlaps of traditional and new forms of communication on the other. (shrink)

Open peer commentary on the article “The Autopoiesis of Social Systems and its Criticisms” by Hugo Cadenas & Marcelo Arnold. Upshot: I argue in favor of not eliminating humans from social theory. My argumentation is based on the “mechanistic” perspective that emerged in the interdisciplinary context of systems theory but that is lacking in Luhmann’s work. Based on defining communication in the constructivist-mechanist tradition, I claim that research on human universals contributes to solving the constructivist problem of how understanding among (...) individuals is possible. I also argue against the author’s critique of an “utilitarian” approach and for maintaining the individual and social level in systems theory. Finally, I address the observer-problem in Luhmann’s theory. (shrink)

Context: Ernst von Glasersfeld’s radical constructivism (RC) develops two positions that are, for the founder of RC, necessarily linked: (1) all accessible realities are perceived realities, (2) perceived realities are “constructed” by “individuals.” Purpose: Von Glasersfeld refers quite often to the theory of evolution. Despite this frequent referring, he uses an evolutionary approach primarily when discussing the viability of constructs. Furthermore, although this use of evolutionary thinking is already restricted, it plays an even smaller part in the reception of RC. (...) The first goal of this paper is to show that as a result of this restriction, individuals as “constructors” do not have enough properties to explain the production of behaviors that we observe. The second goal is to open a perspective on the much richer picture of human cognitive activities that results from the abolishment of this restriction. Approach: Starting with the difference between the interest of philosophers in the problem of “reality” and the problems that organisms have to solve in coping with their needs in varying environments, it is argued that, from an evolutionary perspective, only the perceived or “constructed” realities matter because they are the ones that allow organisms to survive, find partners, cooperate, etc. Hence, both the position of RC and the perception of the environment from an evolutionary perspective are compatible, as claimed by von Glasersfeld. Looking then at the individual, it is argued that RC mainly looks at the construction of realities as ontogenetic processes. Findings: As a result, the constructing individuals do not have enough properties to explain observable behavior or to predict the results of their cognitive constructions. Taking von Glasersfeld’s references to evolutionary theory seriously, it is argued that all organisms, and of course humans, have an evolutionary history that influences their construction of realities. Due to this broadly common background, all humans share an important number of inherited dispositions that influence the constructive processes of individuals. As a result, communication is possible, though not perfect, and there are transcultural (near-)universals and individual dispositions for solving reoccurring problems of social life, as shown by references to current research. Implications: The construct of the constructing individual in RC needs conceptual and interdisciplinary enrichment. (shrink)

Social networks can influence people’s behaviour and therefore it is assumed that central individuals in social networks, also called “opinion leaders”, play a key role in driving change in agricultural and food systems. I analyse the outcomes of an intervention (that encouraged Sulawesi smallholder farmers to take a specific action toward improving the health of their cocoa trees) to assess the impact of engaging opinion leaders in agricultural programs that aim to change farmers’ practices. The intervention has been implemented through (...) (a) 18 opinion leaders identified by interviews and a social network survey of 1885 cocoa farmers; and (b) 18 randomly selected farmers who were not central in local social networks. The obtained social networks and statistical data were quantitatively analysed and the results were interpreted with input from the field staff. Contrary to expectations, the highly socially central opinion leaders were not more effective in promoting the initiative in their communities. On average, randomly selected low-centrality farmers convinced almost twice as many of their peers to take the recommended action as compared to the identified opinion leaders (17.1 versus 8.6) but the variation within the random group was also significantly higher. Importantly, while the identified opinion leaders were mostly senior men, women performed better in influencing others into taking action even when their centrality in local social networks of agricultural advice was lower. I discuss the implications of the conventional selection of perceived opinion leaders as model farmers for achieving sustainable and equitable change at scale in agriculture and propose practical alternatives. (shrink)

When discussing the morality of gonad transplantation for procreative purposes, it can be tempting to examine the act solely qua reproductive technology. This paper, instead, compares the gonad to the kidney and evaluates the act qua organ transplantation. First, the author expounds a hierarchy of organs in relation to personal identity. Next, after considering an organ’s subjective effect on identity, the author elucidates an organ’s objective effect by ranking the powers of the soul and the goods of the human person. (...) The hierarchy of organs shows the gonad to be among the highest organs and most perfective of the human person. Because of the gonad’s highly personal nature, it cannot licitly be directed to another’s good. (shrink)

Studie se zabývá utopickými úvahami brněnského augustiniána Františka Matouše Klácela (1808–1882), jejich zdroji a pokusy o uvedení do praxe a také možnými důvody, kvůli kterým své vize nedokázal realizovat tak, jak si předsevzal. Klácel v teoretických reflexích ideálního uspořádání lidské společnosti i při projektování návrhů utopických komunit (Svojanovů) čer­pal jednak z prací svých předchůdců, jež se snažili formulovat či uvést do praxe myšlenky sociální utopie (Saint-Simon, Fourier, Jednota bratrská, Komenský), z hlediska ontologického se ovšem opíral o svůj koncept vesměrnosti, jemuž (...) se věnoval od počátku čtyřicátých let až do konce života. (shrink)

The edition presents the evaluation of Czech students Johannes Salmon, Matthaeus Titus, Johannes Litomilus, Johanes Amosus and Johannes Stadius that was requested by Matouš Konečný, the senior priest of the Unity of Brethern, from the head of Herbon Academy J. Piscator and its other professors. The brief evaluations have been written by seven professors: J. Matthaeus, H. Gutberlet, H. Ravensperger, J. H. Alsted, H. Dauber, G. Pasor, J. J. Hermann, who all have expressed a predominantly positive opinion about the (...) study and conduct of Czech students. The document has been discovered in 2006 in the town of Mladá Boleslav in the course of reconstruction work in the former monastery called Karmel that served as the residence of the seniors of the Unity in the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. (shrink)