Theme 3: Research and theory // Reflection

As an introduction to the lecture, we figured out that a common use of the word theory implies that something is unproven or speculative which is better characterized by the word hypothesis.  A theory is a set of proposition that aims to identify objects and their relation to each other. Furthermore, a theory is an abstract entity that aims to describe, explain and enhance understanding of the world and in some cases to provide predictions of what will happen in the future and to give a basis for intervention and action. Theory is something we construct it does not exist by itself. Knowing is about seeing. Theory is about the connections between phenomena, and explaining WHY, HOW and under WHAT circumstances acts, events, structures, and thoughts occur. Scientific theories attempt to explain the causal logic between cause and event. This is why theory ca be contrasted with praxis or practice. However, it is important to note that this distinction can be put in question, as theory is a form of practice and practice also always has a theoretical dimension. Due to these findings, you can say that truth is related to the state of knowledge right now. Truth is relative.

Furthermore, we discussed the question “What is men?” during the lecture. In our group, we brainstormed the following keywords: Technology; Cognition/mind; Very developed species; Feelings; Curiosity; Language; Culture; Social interaction/empathy; structured time/space. In class, we came to the following findings: A combination of the human bodies and consciousness; High developed species; Create and think;  Homo faber; High requirement of spiritual energy; Morality; Right/wrong; Know how to lie; Feigning; Living towards death; Egalitarian; Sexual. Furthermore, we mentioned Post-humanism, which is basically our keyword technology.

In the seminar, we discussed in small groups different aspects of the lecture and started with the different theory types Analysis, Explanation, Prediction, Explanation and Prediction (EP), and Design and Action mentioned in the paper. Furthermore, we tried to explain theory in our own words and came up with a differentiation of theory and hypothesis. To us, theory is an attempt to explain the causal logic between cause and event. But there is a difference between scientific and philosophical theory. We figured out that hypothesis is a statement or guess for research purpose which tries to explain two variables. In addition to this, we discussed that you can find truth for a hypothesis through falsification. In class, we stated that theory is what is practice not. In addition to this, we mentioned Thomas S. Kuhn, who “was an American physicist, historian, and philosopher of science whose controversial book ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ was influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term ‘paradigm shift’, which has since become an English-language idiom.”* A paradigm shift is a phrase to describe a change or "revolution" in the basic concepts of a scientific discipline.

All in all, I have understood the term theory better after the seminar since it was easier to get because of the simplified explanation even though my approach before the lecture was on the right track. Nevertheless, I would have find it useful if we would have discussed the chosen papers and focused a bit more on the questions since I am still not sure if I have classified my paper correctly regarding the characterization of theory types. Indeed, we discussed the different types briefly and tried to find an answer by comparing our papers with each other but we were still not sure if we were right.

  

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhn