O Fazer Teológico como Hermenêutica-Transdisciplinar: A Teologia desafiada pelo Pensamento Complexo de Edgar Morin

A pesquisa procura identificar como se dá a dinâmica relacional que deve existir entre o saber/fazer teológico e as demais formas de saberes na contemporaneidade, tendo como base o filósofo francês Edgar Morin em seu referencial teórico intitulado Pensamento Complexo . Nessa perspectiva, a pesquisa se delineará por uma hermenêutica complexa ou uma hermenêutica transdisciplinar. Este conceito (Hermenêutica-Transdisciplinar / Hermenêutica na Complexidade) não é um sistema dedutivo, e sim um sistema aberto, operacionalizado por uma razão aberta (racionalidade) que procura interpretar a realidade contemporânea observando a tradição. Também de forma criativa, interpreta a tradição como resposta emergente para a contemporaneidade em meio a uma realidade complexa. A partir desse conceito observam-se também as relações dinâmicas dos saberes deste mesmo tempo, e isso, não apenas observando pelas lentes da interdisciplinaridade, mas indo além, se tornando um saber transdisciplinar. A teologia cristã continua sendo amor à tradição-bíblica, sem jamais transformar-se num sistema completo e acabado do saber teológico. Passado e presente se completam e apenas lançam luz para o futuro. Para isso, na tradição teológica cristã, há na Bíblia fundamentos reflexivos e axiomas, a partir dos quais podemos refletir a respeito de todos os temas que os saberes vão impondo (complexidade na realidade) como tematização.

The authority of complexity

The assertion about the unique 'complexity' or the peculiarly intricate character of social phenomena has, at least within sociology, a long, venerable and virtually uncontested tradition. At the turn of the last century, classical social theorists, for example, Georg Simmel and Emile Durkheim, made prominent and repeated reference to this attribute of the subject matter of sociology and the degree to which it complicates, even inhibits the development and application of social scientific knowledge. Our paper explores the origins, the basis and the consequences of this assertion and asks in particular whether the classic complexity assertion still deserves to be invoked in analyses that ask about the production and the utilization of social scientific knowledge in modern society. We present John Maynard Keynes' economic theory and its practical applications as an illustration. We conclude that the practical value of social scientific knowledge is not dependent on a faithful, in the sense of complete, representation of social reality. Instead, social scientific knowledge that wants to optimize its practicality has to attend and attach itself to elements of social situations that can be altered or are actionable.

Regularization and complexity control in feed-forward networks

In this paper we consider four alternative approaches to complexity control in feed-forward networks based respectively on architecture selection, regularization, early stopping, and training with noise. We show that there are close similarities between these approaches and we argue that, for most practical applications, the technique of regularization should be the method of choice.

The exact sample complexity of PAC-learning problems with unit VC dimension

The Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) dimension is a combinatorial measure of a certain class of machine learning problems, which may be used to obtain upper and lower bounds on the number of training examples needed to learn to prescribed levels of accuracy. Most of the known bounds apply to the Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) framework, which is the framework within which we work in this paper. For a learning problem with some known VC dimension, much is known about the order of growth of the sample-size requirement of the problem, as a function of the PAC parameters. The exact value of sample-size requirement is however less well-known, and depends heavily on the particular learning algorithm being used. This is a major obstacle to the practical application of the VC dimension. Hence it is important to know exactly how the sample-size requirement depends on VC dimension, and with that in mind, we describe a general algorithm for learning problems having VC dimension 1. Its sample-size requirement is minimal (as a function of the PAC parameters), and turns out to be the same for all non-trivial learning problems having VC dimension 1. While the method used cannot be naively generalised to higher VC dimension, it suggests that optimal algorithm-dependent bounds may improve substantially on current upper bounds.

The unique complexity of social phenomena and the uses of social science knowledge

The assertion about the peculiarly intricate and complex character of social phenomena has, in much of social discourse, a virtually uncontested tradition. A significant part of the premise about the complexity of social phenomena is the conviction that it complicates, perhaps even inhibits the development and application of social scientific knowledge. Our paper explores the origins, the basis and the consequences of this assertion and asks in particular whether the classic complexity assertion still deserves to be invoked in analyses that ask about the production and the utilization of social scientific knowledge in modern society. We refer to one of the most prominent and politically influential social scientific theories, John Maynard Keynes' economic theory as an illustration. We conclude that, the practical value of social scientific knowledge is not necessarily dependent on a faithful, in the sense of complete, representation of (complex) social reality. Practical knowledge is context sensitive if not project bound. Social scientific knowledge that wants to optimize its practicality has to attend and attach itself to elements of practical social situations that can be altered or are actionable by relevant actors. This chapter represents an effort to re-examine the relation between social reality, social scientific knowledge and its practical application. There is a widely accepted view about the potential social utility of social scientific knowledge that invokes the peculiar complexity of social reality as an impediment to good theoretical comprehension and hence to its applicability.

High-performance human resource practices, citizenship behaviour and organizational performance:A relational perspective

Taking a relational perspective on the employment relationship, we examined processes (mediation and moderation) linking high-performance human resource practices and productivity and turnover, two indicators of organizational performance. Multilevel analysis of data from hotels in the People's Republic of China revealed that service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) partially mediated the relationships between high-performance human resource practices and both performance indicators. Unemployment rate moderated the service-oriented OCB-turnover relationship, and business strategy (service quality) moderated the service-oriented OCB-productivity relationship. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved.

Creation of relational assets through the 'library of equipment' model:an industrial modernization approach of Japan's local technology centres

SMEs with a weak internal R&D capacity show the tendency to shy away from using external sources of technical expertise. The tendency deters providers of industrial modernization services from supporting such structurally weak SMEs. This paper examines how Japan's local technology centres - kosetsushi - remove the bottleneck and reach out to a significant proportion of SMEs with a weak R&D capacity in their localities. Kosetsushi centres sustain habitual interactions with client firms through 'low information gap' services solving immediate needs and lead the clients to a riskier and longer path toward innovation capacity building. This gives kosetsushi centres a position distinct from universities and consultancies in the regional innovation system. While long-term relationships between kosetsushi centres and their client firms can increase switching costs and produce lock-in effects, a case study of two kosetsushi centres illustrates the importance of 'low-information gap' services and relational assets created thereby to the modernization of SMEs with a weak internal R&D capacity. The paper calls for long-term commitment by the public sector if it addresses the issue through modernization services.

What's in a handshake? Exploring business-to-business relational exchange

Despite its importance in the development of competitive advantage, attempts to unify diverse classifications of business-to-business relational exchange (B2B RE) have been largely unsuccessful. We used 18 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with managers from a range of industries to explore the B2B RE construct. Analysis of the data revealed that B2B RE comprises five key dimensions. These are communication, understanding, commitment, trust and power symmetry. The research identifies the importance of personal interaction in business relationships and provides additional insights into the importance of affective commitment. In addition we uncover a number of negative consequences of affective commitment, which have been previously unexplored. This research contributes to the domain of B2B research by synthesising and advancing knowledge in this area to provide a new conceptual framework of B2B RE and directions for future research.