Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons^™

Animal Pain And The Social Role Of Science, Leslie Irvine

Leslie Irvine, PhD

Assuming that all animals are sentient would mean ending their use in most scientific research. This does not necessarily imply an unscientific or anti-scientific stance. Examining the social role of science reveals its considerable investment in preserving the status quo, including the continued use of animal subjects. From this perspective, the use of animal subjects is a custom that science could move beyond, rather than a methodological requirement that it must defend.

The Al-Qaeda Organization And The Islamic State Organization: History, Doctrine, Modus, Operandi, And U.S Policy To Degrade And Defeat Terrorism Conducted In The Name Of Sunni Islam, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

The al-Qaeda Organization (AQO) and the Islamic State Organization (ISO) are transnational adversaries that conduct terrorism in the name of Sunni Islam. It is declared U.S. Government (USG) policy to degrade, defeat, and destroy them. The present book has been written to assist policymakers, military planners, strategists, and professional military educators whose mission demands a deep understanding of strategically-relevant differences between these two transnational terrorist entities. In it, one shall find a careful comparative analysis across three key strategically relevant dimensions: essential doctrine, beliefs, and worldview; strategic concept, including terrorist modus operandi; and specific implications and recommendations for current USG …

Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating al-Qaeda based and inspired terrorism is a declared policy of the U.S. Government. Three key strategic objectives have been identified for accomplishing this: attacking al-Qaeda’s terror network, undermining radicalization and recruitment, and hardening homeland defense. The present monograph proposes a distinct "jihad-realist" approach for undermining radicalization and recruitment to al-Qaeda. First, a brief discussion of six means for ending terrorist organizations is provided. Second, the premises of a jihad-realist approach are described. Third, a jihad-realist shari’a case against al-Qaeda’s terrorism is presented. In conclusion, key assertions are summarized, and several specific policy recommendations offered for …

Countering Radicalization And Recruitment To Al-Qaeda: Fighting The War Of Deeds, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

This Letort Paper proposes that actions, policies, and deeds—those of the U.S. Government and al-Qaeda—be leveraged as a means of delegitimizing al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda. Two chief fronts—changing deeds and challenging deeds—is proposed. Changing deeds requires that the United States carefully and systematically examine its own foreign and military policies and their specific consequences for the Arab and Muslim world. Challenging deeds comprises systematically countering with evidence and fact al-Qaeda’s two greatest propagandistic fabrications: that the United States is a crusader at war with Islam, and that al-Qaeda is the vanguard defender of a besieged and oppressed Muslim Umma. Provocative at …

The Mysterious Case Of The Islamic State Organization (Iso) Smiling Martyr--Solved, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Excerpt: For a mere Muslim mortal, Allah’s granting of martyrdom (Shahada) is the pinnacle of spiritual achievement. The martyr (Shahid) is granted unique privileges among which are the right to bypass the moral interrogation meted out to determine after death whether one is spiritually fit; the complete freedom from all anguish, pain, and suffering caused by one’s wounds as one immediately traverses into the highest of seven heavens; the right to intercede and request divine favors on behalf of seventy of one’s loved one’s; the enjoyment of exclusive sexual privileges with seventy-two virgins; and finally, the right to exist within …

The Egyptian Islamic Group’S Critique Of Al-Qaeda’S Interpretation Of Jihad, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

A specific branch of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh al-jihad) regulates the waging of the jihad of the sword (jihad bis saif). In this article, a detailed exposition is presented of the Egyptian Islamic Group’s (IG; Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiyya) use of fiqh al jihad against Al-Qaeda. The present author’s ‘jihad-realist’ approach is first briefly described; the IG’s critique of AQ systematically outlined; and in conclusion, implications are derived for counter-radicalisation strategies.

On Self-Declared Caliph Ibrahim’S May 2015 Message To Muslims: Key Problems Of Motivation, Marginalization, Illogic, And Empirical Delusion In The Caliphate Project, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Excerpt: On May 14, 2015 a 34-minute audio message was released by the self-proclaimed Islamic State’s media arm al-Furqan.

On Self-Declared Caliph Ibrahim’S December 2015 Speech: Further Evidence For Critical Vulnerabilities In The Crumbling Caliphate, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Excerpt: On December 26, 2015 a 24-minute audio message was released by the Islamic State Organization’s (ISO) official media arm al-Furqan.

Has Adam Gadahn Forsaken The Lawful Jihad For Anti-Americanism? A Case Study Of Ideological Contradictions, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Despite his importance as a senior Al-Qaeda spokesman, no detailed examination exists of Adam Yahiye Gadahn’s employment of fiqh al-jihad—that branch of Islamic jurisprudence regulating the lawful waging of jihad—to condemn or condone violence committed in the name of Al-Qaeda. This article first provides a detailed exposition of Gadahn’s sharia-based critique of affiliates’ conduct deemed by him in violation of Islamic law and involving the commission of major sins. Second, Gadahn’s conception of fiqh al-jihad is contextualized and contrasted with the comprehensive fiqh al-jihad-based critiques produced by respected militant Islamist scholars. A key finding here is that Gadahn (unlike these …

Baghdadi’S Bunker: Five Essential Tasks For Which The World Should Now Prepare, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Excerpt: The Islamic State Organization (ISO) will be defeated. That defeat will occur sooner rather than later. The nature of this terrorist organization suggests that preparations should now be made to minimize the carnage, loss of irreplaceable life, and cultural treasures that may without sufficient preparation accompany the final days and aftermath of ISO.

Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani’S May 21, 2016 Speech: More Evidence For Extreme Marginalization, Implosion, And The Islamic State Organization’S Certain Future As A Hunted Underground Ultra-Takfiri Terrorist Criminal Entity, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Excerpt: On May 21, 2016 a 31-minute audio file by Islamic State Organization (ISO) chief spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani (real name: Taha Sobhi Falaha) was uploaded by the ISO’s Al Furqan Media outlet onto the internet.

Defining The Other, Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

G. W. F. Hegel said: “Everything is what is not.” Throughout human history, we find a continuous struggle to define the other, the foreigner, the unknown, the opposite of we or I. And, as the quote from Hegel indicates, what they are, that we are not, helps define the frontiers of personal and group identity.

Creativity In Scientific Teams: Unpacking Novelty And Impact, You-Na Lee, John P. Walsh, Jian Wang

Jian Wang

Scientific Teams: Self-Assembly, Fluidness, And Interdependence, Jian Wang, Diana Hicks

Jian Wang

Reading Du Bois On East Africa: Epistemological Implications Of Apartheid Constructions Of Knowledge, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

No abstract provided.

Innovation And Degrowth, Steffen Roth, Miguel Perez-Valls, Jari Kaivo-Oja

Prof. Dr. Dr. Steffen Roth

Innovation is essential for economic growth. The dominant view therefore is that innovation and human development are inseparable. However, ecological economists have argued that an insatiable appetite for the creative destruction leads to the self-destruction of humankind. The key component of the growth engine (Jackson, 2011), innovation, constantly renovates the iron cage of consumerism that eventually consumes the planet to excess (Urry, 2010), while popular attempts to link innovation and sustainability constantly fail to green the economy as they do not challenge the overall functionality of the growth engine (Schneider et al., 2010; van Griethuysen, 2010). Innovation is therefore considered …

Ciencia, Técnica Y Sociedad, Antonio V. Menéndez Alarcón

Antonio V. Menéndez Alarcón

En las ideas de la gente, en general, se puede constatar que existe una confusion entre los resultados de le ciencia y la utilizacion de esos resultados.

Backward Thinking: Exploring The Relationship Among Intersectionality, Epistemology, And Research Design, Daniel Tillapaugh, Z Nicolazzo

Daniel Tillapaugh

No abstract provided.

Cumulating Evidence About The Social Animal: Meta-Analysis In Social-Personality Psychology, Blair T. Johnson Dr., Marcella H. Boynton Dr.

Blair T. Johnson

Like most scientific fields, social-personality psychology has experienced an explosion of research related to such central topics as aggression, attraction, gender, group processes, motivation, personality, and persuasion, to name a few. The proliferation of research can be a monster unless it is tamed with the scientific review strategy of meta-analysis, literally analyses of past analyses that produce a quantitative and empirical history of research on a particular phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to outline the basic process and statistics of meta-analysis, as they pertain to social-personality psychology. Meta-analysis involves: (i) defining the problem under review; (ii) gathering qualified …

Connecting Through Consilience: Ecology, Society, Culture And Technology, Ruth Mirams, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

Amongst linguistic, cultural and geographic diversity, humanity is characterised by inquisitiveness, communication and a deep desire to connect with each other. Despite our advanced intelligence and technological capacity, we are creatures of nature - a species which occupies a habitat, depends on consumable resources and fragile in many ways. As a species, we currently face challenges including overpopulation, diminishing resources and habitat degradation. In essence, we are exhausting the resources we depend on. [1] Resource depletion, disruption, famine, growth and sustainability are all observable in other species and natural systems. Human societies and systems can be described through the same …

A Simple Introduction To The Practice Of Ethnography And Guide To Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

In this article, I will provide a simple introduction to the practice of ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic approaches, while born of the work conducted by anthropologists over one hundred years ago, are increasingly employed by researchers and others from a variety of backgrounds and for a multitude of purposes from the academic to the applied and even the commercial. In this article, I will provide an introduction intended for those new to this approach but who have already had some basic experience or training. I also provide a discussion of the centrality of fieldnotes to the conduct of this very personally …

Unpacking The Matthew Effect In Citations, Jian Wang

Jian Wang

Celebrating Student Scholars: An Introduction, Maureen A. Scully, Esther Kingston-Mann

Maureen Scully

The essays in this issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge have received awards in The Kingston-Mann Student Achievement Awards for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship. Written by undergraduate students who address deeply urgent and important issues, each essay possesses a clear, distinctive voice. The authors do not turn away from difficult questions and do not waffle, even when they are dealing with questions and data that are ambiguous or contradictory. Although faculty may be accustomed to academic articles rife with qualifiers, indirect points, jargon, and a limited concern for relevance, the essays included here are …

Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram

David Ingram

In today’s America the persistence of crushing poverty in the midst of staggering affluence no longer incites the righteous jeremiads it once did. Resigned acceptance of this paradox is fueled by a sense that poverty lies beyond the moral and technical scope of government remediation. The failure of experts to reach agreement on the causes of poverty merely exacerbates our despair. Are the causes internal to the poor – reflecting their more or less voluntary choices? Or do they emanate from structures beyond their control (but perhaps amenable to government remediation)? If both of these explanations are true (as I …

The Immortal Spirit Of Harriet Tubman: Scholarly Reconceptualization Of Human Trafficking And Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

I propose a presentation in which I will describe my personal and professional experiences developing and teaching university level courses on human trafficking, including both sex trafficking and forced labor.

Although I have read about historic slavery all my life, my research, writing, and teaching has focused on contemporary human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking. Seven years ago, I developed and started teaching a course on sex trafficking and a course on human trafficking, which included forced labor. I have taught these courses every year since 2006.

For some time, I did not include historic slavery in the curriculum. My research …

An Ethnographic Study: Becoming A Physics Expert In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez

Idaykis Rodriguez

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the …

Generalization And Induction: Misconceptions, Clarifications And A Classification Of Induction, Eric W. K. Tsang, John N. Williams

John N. WILLIAMS

In “Generalizing Generalizability in Information Systems Research,” Lee and Baskerville (2003) try to clarify generalization and classify it into four types. Unfortunately, their account is problematic. We propose repairs. Central among these is our balance-of-evidence argument that we should adopt the view that Hume’s problem of induction has a solution, even if we do not know what it is. We build upon this by proposing an alternative classification of induction. There are five types of generalization: (1) theoretical, (2) within-population, (3) cross-population, (4) contextual, and (5) temporal, with theoretical generalization being across the empirical and theoretical levels and the rest …

Generalization And Induction: More Misconceptions And Clarifications, Eric W. K. Tsang, John N. Williams

John N. WILLIAMS

In ‘Generalization and Induction: Misconceptions, Clarifications, and a Classification of Induction’, we comment on Lee and Baskerville’s (2003) paper ‘Generalizing Generalizability in Information Systems Research’, which attempts to clarify the concept of generalization and classify it into four types. Our commentary discusses the misconceptions in their paper and proposes an alternative classification of induction. Their response ‘Conceptualizing Generalizability: New Contributions and a Reply’ perpetuates their misconceptions and create new ones. The purpose of this rejoinder is to highlight the major problems both in their original paper and in their reply and to provide further clarifications. Lee and Baskerville’s so-called ‘new …

Are Women The New Dominant Sex?: Investigating The Impact Of Feminism On Masculine Roles And Identity, Lauren Boothby

Lauren Boothby

Women are becoming the new dominant sex in Western society. Pursuing feminist equality reform results in a trend toward extremes. The trajectory of women’s rights needs to be examined in light of its effects on men. The present paper examines the decline of patriarchy and progression of matriarchy, as evidenced by female superiority in educational and vocational attainment, degrading representations of men – “the idiot man” – in popular sit-coms, and feminist ideological dominance in political and academic discourse. Normlessness and anomie result from the subversion of masculine roles. Sociological theories – including those of Mead, Goffman, Hochschild, Schutz, Durkheim, …

Deleuze & Guattari And Minor Marxism, Eugene W. Holland

Eugene W Holland

This paper suggests a version of Marxism - a minor Marxism - derived from Deleuze & Guattari's political philosophy.