The role of transformative thinking and practice in a property entrepreneur's response to the funding crisis since 2008

This portfolio of exploration explores the role of transformative thinking and practice in a property entrepreneur’s response to the financial crisis which swept over Ireland from 2008. The complexity of this challenge and the mental capacity to meet its demands is at the core of the exploration. This inquiry emerged from the challenges the financial crisis presented to my values, beliefs, assumptions, and theories, i.e. the interpretive lens through which I make meaning of my experiences. Given the issue identified, this inquiry is grounded in aspects of theories of constructive developmental psychology, applied developmental science, and philosophy. Integrating and linking these elements to business practice is the applied element of the Portfolio. As the 2008 crisis unfolded I realised I was at the limits of my way of knowing. I came to understand that the underlying structure of a way of knowing is the ‘subject-object relationship’ i.e. what a way of knowing can reflect upon, look at, have perspective on, in other words, make object, as against what is it embedded in, attached to, identified within, or subject to. My goal became enhancing my awareness of how I made meaning and how new insights, which would transform a way of knowing, are created. The focus was on enhancing my practice. This Portfolio is structured into three essays. Essay One reported on my self-reflection and external evaluation out of which emerged my developmental goals. In Essay Two I undertake a reading for change programme in which different meaning making systems were confronted in order to challenge me as a meaning maker. Essay Three reported on my experiment which concerned the question whether it was possible for me as a property entrepreneur, and for others alike, to retain bank finance in the face of the overwhelming objective of the bank to deleverage their balance sheet of property loans. The output of my research can be grouped into General Developmental and Specific Business Implications. Firstly I address those who are interested in a transformational-based response to the challenges of operating in the property sector in Ireland during a crisis. I outline the apparatus of thought that I used to create insight, and thus transform how I thought, these are Awareness, Subject-object separation, Exploring other’s perspectives from the position of incompleteness, Dialectical thinking and Collingwood’s Questioning activity. Secondly I set out my learnings from the crisis and their impact on entrepreneurial behaviour and the business of property development. I identify ten key insights that have emerged from leading a property company through the crisis. Many of these are grounded in common sense, however, in my experience these were, to borrow Shakespeare’s words, “More honor'd in the breach than the observance” in pre Crisis Ireland. Finally I set out a four-step approach for forging a strategy. This requires my peer practitioners to identify (i) what they are subject to, (ii) Assess the Opportunity or challenge in a Systemic Context, (iii) Explore Multiple Perspectives on the opportunity or Challenge with an Orientation to change how you know and (iv) Using the Questioning Activity to create Knowledge. Based on my experience I conclude that transformative thinking and practice is a key enabler for a property entrepreneur, in responding to a major collapse of traditional (bank debt) funding.

Second Wave Positive Psychology: Exploring the Positive–Negative Dialectics of Wellbeing

Positive psychology has tended to be defined in terms of a concern with ‘positive’ psychological qualities and states. However, critics of the field have highlighted various problems inherent in classifying phenomena as either ‘positive’ or ‘negative.’ For instance, ostensibly positive qualities (e.g., optimism) can sometimes be detrimental to wellbeing, whereas apparently negative processes (like anxiety) may at times be conducive to it. As such, over recent years, a more nuanced ‘second wave’ of positive psychology has been germinating, which explores the philosophical and conceptual complexities of the very idea of the ‘positive.’ The current paper introduces this emergent second wave by examining the ways in which the field is developing a more subtle understanding of the ‘dialectical’ nature of flourishing (i.e., involving a complex and dynamic interplay of positive and negative experiences). The paper does so by problematizing the notions of positive and negative through seven case studies, including five salient dichotomies (such as optimism versus pessimism) and two complex processes (posttraumatic growth and love). These case studies serve to highlight the type of critical, dialectical thinking that characterises this second wave, thereby outlining the contours of the evolving field.

La conjuration de la totalité : épistémologie et société dans l’œuvre de Theodor W. Adorno

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) propose une philosophie dont les problèmes centraux concernent la réalité sociale. Depuis cette perspective, nous démontrerons, à travers la présentation de quelques modèles théoriques, comment les problèmes traités sont déterminés historiquement et comment la quête de leur résolution engage la philosophie à entrer dans un rapport critique avec elle-même. Cette critique a pour but de corriger les excès de la théorie de la vérité comme adéquation dont la philosophie s’est montrée responsable, tant vis-à-vis d’elle-même que vis-à-vis de l’histoire. À travers ce parcours, nous défendons la thèse que le modèle adornien effectue une « négation déterminée » du concept de totalité sociale en vue d’orienter le penser vers la conscience et la connaissance des éléments hétérogènes de la réalité. Selon nous, une telle réorientation permettrait de rouvrir la conscience à l’expérience de ce qu’elle a de plus précieux : la possibilité de rendre compte de ses erreurs et de les corriger.

A questão do meio na pedologia e suas implicações pedagógicas

Ce texte est une lecture de la conférence de Vygotsky sur la question de l'influence de la culture et de l'environnement sur la pédologie et cherche les implications pédagogiques des ces idées sur l'éducation des enfants et, en particulier, les petits enfants. Initialement, met en évidence la méthode de l'auteur que enseigne à ses auditeurs et lecteurs à penser dialectiquement, un défi que doit être confrontés par les lecteurs - habitués à penser avec la logique formelle - pour essayer de comprendre les études de Vygotsky. Deux éléments apportés par Vygotsky à la conférence sont prise pour réfléchir sur son importance pour le développement de l'enfant: la question de la langue orale et de son importance pour l'influence de la culture et de l'environnement sur le développement humain dans l'enfance et la spécificité du développement culturel dans l'enfance que dit que ce que nous pouvons parvenir à la fin ou à la suite du processus de développement est présente dans la culture depuis le début et touche et guide ce développement de l'enfant. Dans les deux cas, la discussion au sein de cette conférence de Vygotsky déclenche une révolution dans la pensée et l'action des enseignants.

TRANSFORMAÇÕES NO MUNDO DO TRABALHO NA REGIÃO DO GRANDE ABC: UMA ANÁLISE COMPREENSIVA A PARTIR DO FILME PEÕES

Com o advento da revolução industrial o capitalismo assumiu uma forma assombrosa jamais vista anteriormente em outras passagens do mundo do trabalho, ao se alimentar de um ritmo acelerado de produção, consumo e acumulação. Esta nova era baseada na mecanização e numa nova divisão do trabalho impôs ao trabalhador o principio da fragmentação, que seguindo o modelo do cronômetro da gerência científica e a linha de produção do açougue dividiu a força de trabalho do empregado e multiplicou a acumulação do empregador. Na década de 1970 o capitalismo sofreu uma crise estrutural que viria a transformar o mundo do trabalho novamente. Esta nova transformação do capital fundamentado na globalização e nos conceitos neoliberais visando ainda mais a lucratividade em cima da força de trabalho atingiu a objetividade e a subjetividade da classe-que-vive-do-trabalho ao (des)re regulamentar seus direitos e conquistas. No mundo do trabalho brasileiro as transformações do capital mundial tiveram seu impacto nos anos 1990 abalando regiões produtivas inteiras como a do Grande ABC, com o desemprego estrutural e com a reestruturação produtiva. Em 2002 o diretor de cinema Eduardo Coutinho filmou um documentário Peões com 21 operários que narram suas origens, suas participações no movimento nas décadas de 1970-1980-1990 e os desfechos de suas vidas fazendo uma construção de si pela fala. Desta forma, Peões será para esta dissertação o corpus de análise para uma aproximação entre ciência e arte, onde será utilizado o método fenomenológico para a análise das narrativas que se apresentam para compreensão da divisão do trabalho capitalista que vem transformando o mundo do trabalho e atingindo perversamente a classe-que-vive-do-trabalho ao fragmentar sua subjetividade que se explicita objetivamente na fragmentação da relação intersubjetiva com o outro, os objetos e o mundo. Por meio da aplicação do método para a compreensão das narrativas pode se chegar à seguinte síntese: os homens e mulheres, de Peões, viveram e vivem ainda hoje intensamente entre a linha tênue da resistência e da submissão, da desalienação e alienação, do despontar e do anonimato na esfera pública evidenciando a importância ainda em nossos dias do alargamento do pensamento dialético entre a lógica da acumulação capitalista versus a lógica da sobrevivência humana.

Slavoj Žižek, lector de Hegel

In this article I present the main points of Slavoc Zizek´s interpretation of Hegel´s philosophy. Three basic lines of thought are discussed: the relations between the Hegelian philosophy and Lacan´s psychoanalysis, the dialectical thinking, and the answers dialectical thinking presents against objections raised by post-structuralistic critiques of Hegel.

Tolerance and Critical Thinking

Post-soviet countries are in the process of transformation from a totalitarian order to a democratic one, a transformation which is impossible without a profound shift in people's way of thinking. The group set themselves the task of determining the essence of this shift. Using a multidisciplinary approach, they looked at concrete ways of overcoming the totalitarian mentality and forming that necessary for an open democratic society. They studied the contemporary conceptions of tolerance and critical thinking and looked for new foundations of criticism, especially in hermeneutics. They then sought to substantiate the complementary relation between tolerance and criticism in the democratic way of thinking and to prepare a a syllabus for teaching on the subject in Ukrainian higher education. In a philosophical exploration of tolerance they began with relgious tolerance as its first and most important form. Political and social interests often lay at the foundations of religious intolerance and this implicitly comprised the transition to religious tolerance when conditions changed. Early polytheism was more or less indifferent to dogmatic deviations but monotheism is intolerant of heresies. The damage wrought by the religious wars of the Reformations transformed tolerance into a value. They did not create religious tolerance but forced its recognition as a positive phenomenon. With the weakening of religious institutions in the modern era, the purely political nature of many conflicts became evident and this stimulated the extrapolation of tolerance into secular life. Each historical era has certain acts and operations which may be interpreted as tolerant and these can be classified as to whether or not they are based on the conscious following of the principle of tolerance. This criterion requires the separation of the phenomenon of tolerance from its concept and from tolerance as a value. Only the conjunction of a concept of tolerance with a recognition of its value can transform it into a principle dictating a norm of conscious behaviour. The analysis of the contemporary conception of tolerance focused on the diversity of the concept and concluded that the notions used cannot be combined in the framework of a single more or less simple classification, as the distinctions between them are stimulated by the complexity of the realty considered and the variety of its manifestations. Notions considered in relation to tolerance included pluralism, respect and particular-universal. The rationale of tolerance was also investigated and the group felt that any substantiation of the principle of tolerance must take into account human beings' desire for knowledge. Before respecting or being tolerant of another person different from myself, I should first know where the difference lies, so knowledge is a necessary condition of tolerance.The traditional division of truth into scientific (objective and unique) and religious, moral, political (subjective and so multiple) intensifies the problem of the relationship between truth and tolerance. Science was long seen as a field of "natural" intolerance whereas the validity of tolerance was accepted in other intellectual fields. As tolerance eemrges when there is difference and opposition, it is essentially linked with rivaly and there is a a growing recognition today that unlimited rivalry is neither able to direct the process of development nor to act as creative matter. Social and economic reality has led to rivalry being regulated by the state and a natural requirement of this is to associate tolerance with a special "purified" form of rivalry, an acceptance of the actiivity of different subjects and a specification of the norms of their competition. Tolerance and rivalry should therefore be subordinate to a degree of discipline and the group point out that discipline, including self-discipline, is a regulator of the balance between them. Two problematic aspects of tolerance were identified: why something traditionally supposed to have no positive content has become a human activity today, and whether tolerance has full-scale cultural significance. The resolution of these questions requires a revision of the phenomenon and conception of tolerance to clarify its immanent positive content. This involved an investigation of the contemporary concept of tolerance and of the epistemological foundations of a negative solution of tolerance in Greek thought. An original soution to the problem of the extrapolation of tolerance to scientific knowledge was proposed based on the Duhem-Quine theses and conceptiion of background knowledge. In this way tolerance as a principle of mutual relations between different scientific positions gains an essential epistemological rationale and so an important argument for its own universal status. The group then went on to consider the ontological foundations for a positive solution of this problem, beginning with the work of Poincare and Reichenbach. The next aspect considered was the conceptual foundations of critical thinking, looking at the ideas of Karl Popper and St. Augustine and at the problem of the demarcation line between reasonable criticism and apologetic reasoning. Dogmatic and critical thinking in a political context were also considered, before an investigation of critical thinking's foundations. As logic is essential to critical thinking, the state of this discipline in Ukrainian and Russian higher education was assessed, together with the limits of formal-logical grounds for criticism, the role of informal logical as a basis for critical thinking today, dialectical logic as a foundation for critical thinking and the universality of the contemporary demand for criticism. The search for new foundations of critical thinking covered deconstructivism and critical hermeneutics, including the problem of the author. The relationship between tolerance and criticism was traced from the ancient world, both eastern and Greek, through the transitional community of the Renaissance to the industrial community (Locke and Mill) and the evolution of this relationship today when these are viewed not as moral virtues but as ordinary norms. Tolerance and criticism were discussed as complementary manifestations of human freedom. If the completeness of freedom were accepted it would be impossible to avoid recognition of the natural and legal nature of these manifestations and the group argue that critical tolerance is able to avoid dismissing such negative phenomena as the degradation of taste and manner, pornography, etc. On the basis of their work, the group drew up the syllabus of a course in "Logic with Elements of Critical Thinking, and of a special course on the "Problem of Tolerance".