Ontology

In different parts of Metaphysics , Aristotle presents different (and apparently, conflicting) views on the nature and subject matter of the discipline in question. These different characterizations led to wide-ranging interpretations of the relation between metaphysics and philosophical theology. Muslim Philosophers adopted two different views. Al-Kindi and al-Farabi (in some of his works) endorsed the view that metaphysics is the same as theology as far as its subject matter is the First Cause (God) and it deals essentially with incorporeal entities. After Avicenna, however, a second view became dominant according to which metaphysics has a broader realm that embraces theology as its most noble part. The rationale behind this view is that the subject matter of metaphysics is “being qua being”, or unconditioned existent, in its broad sense so that philosophical theology can be taken as discussing some of the proper accidents of the unconditioned existent. This view requires that metaphysics cannot be a secular discipline and should be totally consistent with theology. It also provides us with a certain interpretation of what is usually called “Islamic philosophy.”

The term paradigm has become a central issue in philosophy of science. Increasing attention to paradigm in public administration, as a branch of social science, is also highlighted. This paper attempts to analysis seven paradigms in public administration research and to study ontological, epistemological, methodological, rhetorical and axiological assumptions of the each paradigm. Finally, we briefly offer some potential areas of public administration that can be informed by seven research paradigm.

The concept of anxiety occupies a crucial position in early Heidegger’s writings. Most prominently, it appears in Being and Time (1927) and “What is Metaphysics?” (1929) as a structurally central concept. After 1920s, Heidegger began to use the term much less frequently, leading some scholars to suggest a change in Heidegger’s view of the significance of the concept of anxiety. In this essay, we argue that central to the understanding of the role of anxiety in Heidegger’s thought is the fundamental difference between Heideggerian and psychological anxiety. This distinction is crucial as it is directly connected to the idea of the ontological difference, i.e., the difference between the ontical and the ontological, between beings and the Being of beings. Psychological descriptions of anxiety remain at the level of the ontical and, therefore, fall short of comprehending the ontological meaning of Heideggerian anxiety, which is one of Dasein’s basic possibilities of Being. Equipped with such an ontological understanding, we argue that the concept of anxiety remained central to Heidegger’s thought, early and late alike. We also suggest that Heidegger’s less frequent use of the term anxiety after “What Is Metaphysics?” could possibly be associated with his recognition that its terminological similarity with psychological anxiety may become a source of misunderstandings. Moreover, in the last section of the essay which functions as an addendum, we engage with Freud’s analysis of the uncanny and examine its relation to Heidegger’s Being-not-at-home. We argue that although Freud’s analysis of the uncanny does, in a sense, open up horizons beyond the reach of empirical psychology, his quasi-scientific quest for causal explanation ultimately remains within the framework of an ontical analysis.

This paper proposes a categorization of sport that is based on the system of rules that a sport must adhere to. We focus on these systems of rules to examine how a winner is produced in different sports. The rules of a sport dictate the gameplay and the direction it takes. We propose to break down the gameplay into Events. At this junction, we observe two kinds of events – ones that follow sequential logic and ones that do not. Our focus is pertained to sports that comprise sequential events. To examine these events further, to understand how a winner emerges, we take the help of Finite State Automaton from theory of computation (Automata theory). We showcase how sequential sports are eligible to be represented as Finite State Machines. We depict these Finite State Machines as State Diagrams. We examine these State Diagrams to observe how a team/player reaches the final states of the sport, with special focus on one final state – the final state which determines the winner. This exercise has been carried out for the following sports: Hurdles, Track, Shot Put, Long Jump, Bowling, Badminton, Pacman, Weightlifting (Snatch). Based on our observations of how this final State of winning is achieved, we propose a categorization of sports.

Truth and knowledge are essentially the dictates of some rationality or metaphysical ordainment. By sense experience man is capable of accounting for his past, contemplate his life and predict his future and all of reality, for traditional Africa, however (as is the case with most native societies), there is another mode of knowing beyond man’s immediate capacity in search of truth and reality. An analysis of this perception indicates that there is some metaphysical tinge to epistemology or knowledge claims—whether in the spheres of justice, morality/ethics, religion, political authority, prosperity, law, or ontology/world-view. Put on a plain pedestal: Isn’t there an African mode of knowing? By the study among the Afemai-Etsako of Southern Nigeria, this article tersely adumbrates the scope and nature of knowledge and discovers that, beside the common routes to it (experience and reason), the gamut of knowledge among the traditional Africans also have several metaphysical strands reducible to creative determinism, reactive interference, and representativeness in timing and naming.

Parmenides' Poem, though expressed in an allegorical manner to the extent that it has been preserved and handed down to us, without at!} doubt, shows his in-depth and profound insight into the question of Being. After a concise representation of his thought, the main purpose has been to show that, with regards to 'The Wcry of Truth" and Parmenides disregard for the realm of sense perception, tno different approaches mcry be accounted for. One mcry be that of an ana/ytz'cal/y• oriented mind to read through and understand Parmenides perplexing scryings, and the other mcry pertain to someone ivho tries to see through and contemplate upon the existing Fragments in pursue of a much deeper meaning, not necessarily that of a discursive mind.

Current educational psychology scholarship lacks critical comparisons of empirical studies using the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology, which has been increasingly applied in psychology, education, and sociology. Unclarity and confusion in applying this methodology has negatively affected both theoretical and empirical studies that employ this method. To help fill this gap, the present paper critically compares two culturally different hermeneutic phenomenological studies by scholars from different fields: a psychological study from Iran and an educational study from Indonesia. We analyze the similarities and differences of the authors’ philosophical assumptions, including ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological assumptions as well as the interpretative and/or conceptual frame and rigors of the two studies. Our comparison and analysis reveal that the Iranian psychological study was stronger in applying the method but weaker in explaining the theory, while the Indonesian educational study comprehensively explained the theory without providing strong empirical evidence.

"Otherness" is one of the most important dimensions in understanding Islamic discourse in international relations. This arises from a critique of the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of the Western discourse of international relations. In fact, the formation of the Islamic discourse of international relations has two dimensions. On the one hand, the principles governing international relations with a focus on rationalist approaches are criticized, and on the other hand, its identity elements are presented based on the political discourse of Islam. This article tries to examine the process of otherness in the Islamic discourse of international relations by focusing on the Islamic Revolution of Iran approach in international politics.

Realism is one of the approaches that has long been considered as the dominant paradigm in the study of international politics and has played an important role in shaping it. So, it has been criticized by many theoretical schools of international relations. To address these challenges, neorealism led by Kenneth Waltz sought a methodical and scientific reading of realism that conformed to conventional scientific principles and had the ability to explain international relations. The result of Waltz's attempt was neorealism based on the assumptions of positivism. Opposite to positivist views for the analysis of international politics are the religious theories of international relations. Islamic theory is the most important high-powered religious theory for understanding, explaining, and interpreting international politics. This article seeks to express the meta-theoretical foundations of both neorealist and Islamic theory and to take steps to develop the theoretical framework of the Islamic theory of international relations.

SUBJECT AND OBJECTIVES : Contemporary human, despite reaching the peak of development and enjoying significant scientific, advancements, do not seem particularly satisfied and content. The destructiveness of time, the fear of death, and the brevity of life are among the factors that contribute to the emergence of disillusionment and the proliferation of nihilistic thoughts in the modern world.  The constant pursuit of material gains has failed to address deeper existential concerns. Therefore, there is a growing need to explore the profound aspects of life, such as the search for meaning and the quest for personal fulfillment, in order to alleviate existential pains and enhance the overall quality of human existence. In this regard, the main subject and objective of the present research are focused on the issue of life's meaningfulness and human longevity by finding tangible solutions to existential pains, improving the meaning and values of their lives. METHOD AND FINDING : This research, with an Analytical-Descriptive approach to examine the philosophical and existential theories of Ludwig Wittgenstein, particularly focusing on his early philosophy and exploring the constitutive components of meaning from his perspective in human life. CONCLUSION : The results of this research emphasize the importance of two fundamental elements, Aesthetics and Ethics, with a special emphasis on the metaphysical subject's eternal perspective, in creating a meaningful and purposeful life. These two components are considered as the highest means of expressing the real values of life and a solution for overcoming its challenges and difficulties, guiding humans towards a meaningful life.

Artifacts are ubiquitous and influential in our world, but their nature and existence are controversial. Several theories have been proposed to explain the ontology of artifacts. Drawing on Popper's theory of three worlds, this paper suggests a metaphysics for artifacts along the line of a critical rationalist (CR) approach. This theory distinguishes between three realms of reality: the physical world (World 1), the mental world (World 2), and the world of objective knowledge (World 3). The paper argues that artifacts have different ontological components that correspond to these three realms, and that each component is real and causal. The paper shows how this perspective can account for the intentional and functional aspects of artifacts, as well as their dependence on plans that influence different realms of reality. The paper explains how this pluralistic ontology, compared to the rival theories, enables one to explain the relevant ontological problems of artifacts. The paper also explores how this proposal can lead to a research program encompassing a broader range of technologies, such as social artifacts. In sum, the paper suggests that Popper's three worlds theory provides a rich and comprehensive framework for understanding the metaphysics of artifacts.

Purpose: The research is intended to extract repetitive themes in the field of semantic-rich learning and to express the basic opportunities and challenges therein. Method: The method applied was to review the articles published in the WOS database, during the years 2000 to 2020 by using the paradigm funnel technique; moreover the Nvivo software was used for document analysis and theme extraction. Findings: In the study, it was found that establishing access to appropriate educational content, proper analysis and representation of knowledge, human capabilities enhancement, personalization of learning, and improving the quality of assessment, are the most important positive effects of using STs in learning; Also, in this study, nine themes and seven major challenges in the field of semantic-rich learning were identified. Conclusion: personalization and adaptation, and the development of various ontologies, are the most cited themes; and access to learning content and concerns about the design and development of learning systems are the most important challenges facing semantic-rich learning environments. We believe that in order to overcome the enumerated challenges, the combination of STs with other emerging cognitive and communication technologies, such as IoT, is necessary and could be the subject of future research in this field.

By presenting the possibility of automatic reasoning by machines, semantic technology provides a new method for managing data and utilizing artificial intelligence based on formal and explicit patterns; emergence of these technologies in e-learning has enabled the development of next-generation learning and has created semantic-rich learning environments; So that, some researchers refer to this phenomenon as the next big wave in educational technologies. Despite the undeniable importance of this phenomenon and the many studies that have been done on semantic-rich learning environments, there is no combined knowledge that can demonstrate the evolved nature of these environments and related theories. the research, with the aim of extracting repetitive themes in the field of semantic-rich learning and expressing the basic opportunities and challenges in this field, systematically reviews the articles published in the WOS database, during the years 2000 to 2020 using the paradigm funnel technique; and has used Nvivo software in document analysis and theme extraction.

SUBJECT & OBJECTIVES : The emergent spiritualities have a special and new look at man and his relationship with the Almighty God, leading to humanism in some cases. Deepak Chopra believes man has a lot of ability due to his mind and he can know God without the need for divine religions. He can also behave like God and participate in the creation of the Universe with the Almighty God and control the material world and the universe. On the other hand, Mulla Sadra considers all human abilities to be related to his Nafs (soul), which can possess abilities and dominate existence if connected to God Almighty. METHOD & FINDING : This article is a critical research answering the question of what the position of humans in the universe is. The findings of the research show that Chopra imagined that divine religions were created to nurture and develop human abilities, especially the physical type; While the purpose of divine religions is the spiritual evolution of man. CONCLUSION : Using the qualitative method in the analysis of Chopra's writings based on Mulla Sadra's views, we can draw the following conclusion: Although man is composed of two domains, Nafs (soul) and the body, his most important domain is his soul, for which, although man has abilities, his abilities are due to his connection to the Almighty God.

This article mainly deduces the intellectual pattern existing in schools based on the formal model. Because schools in different educational systems are also created based on a specific intellectual basis. The documentary method is  used to extract the intellectual basis of formal model schools by referring to the texts and sources in the history of management  was done as required documents. which are often published in the form of books and articles in reputable magazines. In order to obtain comprehensive information until theoretical saturation, about 24 documents were examined and analyzed from the texts in order to achieve the goals of the research. Positivist was deduced as its underlying thought pattern based on analyzing information from the common points of the this model with classical management. Finally, the positivisms intellectual pattern has been analyzed regarding ontology, epistemology, and methodology. The research findings showed that in the ontology of positivists, humans create and label the relationships of external objects in the mental structure they already have and are not related to the external world itself. In addition, the positivist approach intends to use the quantitative and experimental methods in humanities studies as in natural sciences for credibility. Finally, specific positivist rationality believes that knowledge is accompanied by experience.

It is usually, and without much disagreement, regarded that ‘knowing one’s own consciousness’ is strikingly and fundamentally different from ‘knowing other things’. The peculiar way in which conscious subjects introspectively know their own consciousness in their immediate awareness is of immense importance with regard to the understanding of consciousness insofar as it has a direct bearing upon consciousness’ fundamental existence. However, when it comes to the understanding of consciousness, the role of consciousness’ introspective knowledge is rather downplayed or not given much importance with regard to its ontology. With this in the background, the whole purpose of this paper is, first, to make the rather obvious point that the very existence of consciousness in its most fundamental form is constituted by this introspective knowledge of it or its epistemic dimension, whereby its ontology gets its epistemological or epistemic nature. Second, it aims to strengthen the explanatory gap argument by appealing to our enhanced understanding of consciousness in terms of its epistemic ontology.

The afterlife (also the world to come) has been one of the major humans’ concerns throughout history. Although heavenly religions and Islamic philosophy have recognized the very foundation of the Hereafter, there are questions surrounding the existence and characteristics of that world. In the meantime, there is a myriad of theories about it, and Mulla Sadra’s view is a key theory here. This research analyzes the philosophical basics of Mulla Sadra’s views to distinguish his perspective from those of others and to portray a different aspect of the world-to-come observations. The findings suggested that Mulla Sadra argues that man achieves actualization over time and transfers to the world to come by abandoning the matter. In that world, there are no objects for man to observe; rather, he will create all his observations by himself, with every human creating a more transcendental world made of imaginary perceptions which, unlike imaginary observations in this world, assumes an external reality which is also formed in the existence and life of the human psyche.

The unpredictability of the stock market makes it a serious area of study and analysis. With the help of the accumulated information available in the current digital age and the power of high-performance computing machines, there is a great focus on using these capabilities to design algorithms that can learn stock market trends and successfully predict stock prices. The main goal is to create an intelligent system that provides these features for predicting short-term stock price trends to facilitate the investment decision process. To increase the accuracy and productivity of these systems and facilitate the routine of using common-sense knowledge in machine learning systems, developing or enriching knowledge bases and ontology for market modeling will be one of the effective measures in this field. In this research, an attempt has been made to strengthen and enrich the basic ontology created by the authors by using other global ontologies related to the subject of the stock market, and parts of the target space that were not addressed have been added to the ontology. By combining reference ontologies, a level of standardization is also created for the ontology and stability in the representation of concepts and relationships is ensured. In the next step, it has been tried to test the impact of the concepts and relations of the ontology in predicting stock price movements. For this purpose, news in the field of economy is considered as input and a model is created that first filters the textual inputs related to the desired stock symbol and then observes their effect on the price changes of the related stock. After improving the performance and comprehensiveness of the ontology, the study conducted in this report presented a model to measure and prove the effect of the relationships in this ontology on price changes. In practice, according to human limitations and the tools used, this effect was observed and confirmed with a proper level of certainty by checking the economic news.