/Dissertation/c WHOLENESS AND THE RATIONAL STRUCTURE OF INQUIRING SYSTEMS CHAPTER X

Appendix A

Giorgi, A. (1974a)

Purpose:
1. Psychological research and theory
Content:
1. Data for inquiry
  1. data is in the form of text
  2. begin with the phenomenon itself
  3. obtain a description of it
2. Phenomena
  1. take on distinct characteristics
  2. based on the terms in which they are described
  3. must describe their meaning in human terms
3. Description of meaning structures
  1. explicit or implicit structure
  2. distinct concrete forms
  3. access to the world of the describer
  4. meaning of the situation as it exists for the describer
4. Structure of inquiry
  1. environment in which inquiry takes place
  2. constitution of the data to be considered
  3. process by which the data is collected and organized
  4. criteria for interpreting, organizing and communicating the data that satisfy environmental requirements
3. Process:
1. Best method to describe meaning
  1. interrogate descriptions
  2. faithfully describe indigenous phenomena
2. Dialectic
  1. between differentiation
  2. and integration of the data
3. Procedure
  1. Review the entire text of the describer
    1. achieving an understanding of the whole
    2. for distinct and irreducible categories of meaning
  2. Clarify and elaborate each category of meaning
    1. based on the describers text
    2. showing the consistent logical relationships within and between categories
  3. Normalize the language of the describer
    1. transforming the meaning into general terms
    2. relevant to the purpose of the inquiry
  4. Fill in systemically necessary lacunae
    1. Interrogate the description for hints
  5. Insure the systemic wholeness of the description
    1. completeness
    2. consistency
  6. Produce formal description
    1. accessible by others
      1. for verification
      2. improvement
4. Control:
1. Ultimate object of inquiry
  1. content of consciousness
  2. not the content of the text
2. Method used
  1. made explicit by the researcher
  2. using a method
    1. replicable
      1. other researcher should be able to obtain the same
        
        meanings
        understandings.
    2. efficacious
    3. leads to agreement among researchers
3. Distinct forms of description
  1. Separated into different sets of descriptive statements
    1. that capture
      1. the describer's text
      2. the intentions of the describer
  2. Description should produce
    1. better understanding than any other description
      1. all the data
      2. objects of inquiry
  3. Describe the phenomenon under investigation
    1. the clearest
    2. most relevant way
    3. at the necessary level
      1. generality
      2. concreteness
4. Interpretation of the data
  1. Elimination of bias is impossible
    1. Different philosophical outlooks of the researcher
      1. unavoidable impact
      2. should be made explicit
      3. fundamental premises
        
        separate
        
        intentionality of the researcher
        intentionality of the describer
        
        conscious effort
        constant reflection
  2. Bias is controlled
    1. attempt to set aside all preconceptions
    2. concentrate on the describer's text alone
      1. Continuously reflecting on
        
        structure of inquiry
        relative to what is being produced
      1. Great care must be taken on unspecified portions of the description
        
        interpolation
        extrapolation
  3. Limits to reducibility
    1. fundamental essences in the phenomenon
  4. Root or ground of description
    1. prior to
    2. insufficiently determined by
      1. the perceptions and conceptions of humans
      2. the text that may represent them
  5. Inferences made about the data
    1. let the unfolding of the phenomena guide the inquiry
    2. continually re-evaluated
    3. until the researcher can make no further improvements
5. Results
  1. A harmonious balance
    1. whole
    2. parts
  2. Clear logical relationships
6. Evolution of process of inquiry
  1. ground new methods in more comprehensive theory
  2. insure process of inquiry itself is undergoing this same process
  3. open up new avenues of research

Giorgi, A. (1974b)

Unity = a single frame of reference
1. Enabling a common set of
  1. Approaches
  2. Concepts
  3. Methods
  4. Theories
2. Linking via meta-science
  1. Different levels of research
  2. Philosophical analysis with concrete practice
3. Describe how science is practiced
  1. Articulate results and significance
  2. Avoid confusion of divergence of practices
  3. Acknowledge contributions of all
  4. Use best insights
  5. Define essential meta-science
Superior alternatives are possible
1. Hindered by realistic postulates
2. Bound in popular philosophical prejudices
1. Combine essential intuition and concrete analysis
2. Philosophical clarification of the notion of structure
  1. Structure is a systemic necessity
    1. change in any part modifies the system's properties
    2. conserving systemic relationships during change
    3. not an objective quality but a subjective one; systems are perceived and conceived as wholes
3. Unites realism and idealism
4. Transcends causal and mechanical thinking
5. Goes beyond traditional philosophy requiring new language
6. Clarifies role of consciousness as the origin of our creation of the world
  1. Structure = indiscernable joining of idea and existence; fundamental unit of experience
  2. Contingent relationship between perception (sensation) and conception (meaning)
  3. Structure has many types and levels
    1. dynamic and static
    2. mutually implies and envelops
    3. dialectically related to function
    4. experienced as reality
    5. constantly undergoing restructure
  4. Structure emerges as form underlying both perception and conception
  5. Becomes more tenable as confirmed
  6. Mediates between individual and environment
    1. totality with internal laws
    2. moves toward greater comprehension
    3. not fully describable nor conscious
  7. Consciousness is an archaic, primordial, ambivalent, and fallible investment
  8. Symbolic representation with hidden meanings
    1. The other is another incarnate subject that must be allowed to speak for itself
  9. Collective consciousness is a structure of structures
    1. encompasses both sympathetic and antipathetic dialectics
    2. system by which the conceptual is transformed into the physical
    3. described differently by a variety of movements
    4. understood only by reflection on the evidence
First reflection - a convergence of movements
1. An underlying unity emerges in the terms of phenomenology
  1. Gestalt psychology
    1. polymorphism
    2. body understood as subject
    3. social facts understood as structures
  2. Behaviorism
    1. humans as social organisms
    2. behavior as a totality with internal laws
    3. behavior understood ecologically
  3. Psychoanalysis
    1. comprehend the totality of experience in a structural context of meanings
    2. understand reality as dream-like
  4. Social Psychology
    1. collective consciousness comprises multiple interpretations of structure
    2. individuals relate structurally to groups
  5. Notion of structure is broad enough to comprehend concepts from any of these movements
2. Structure is a universal concern of all useful conceptions of consciousness
Second reflection - relationship to phenomenology
1. Phenomenological perspective
  1. Descriptive, not analytic or explanatory
  2. Achieving a transcendent perspective
  3. Actively receptive to the describing subject
  4. Describe the essences of phenomena in terms of discovered meanings
    1. interrogate the complete concrete evidence
    2. intuitive comprehension of the phenomena
  5. Context of intentionality
    1. relationship between a consciousness and its objects
    2. consciousness as a totality of body and world expressed as phenomena
  6. Structure as spontaneous organization manifest in symbolic patterns of experience
  7. Phenomenological reduction
    1. distinguishing and separating the observer's reality from the describer's reality in understanding and description
    2. making assumptions and prejudices explicit
  8. The unconscious as a mode of consciousness
2. These aspects are convergent with other movements
Third reflection - relationship to philosophy
1. Philosophy provides the foundation for theory
  1. Adequacy of theory limited by philosophy
  2. Metaphysical context for theory
2. Phenomenology requires revision of philosophy
  1. Structure to replace substance
  2. Comprehensive role of consciousness
  3. Acknowledge limitations of consciousness
3. Phenomenological meta-philosophy
  1. Transforms understanding of knowlege
    1. bases knowledge on the ordinary
    2. being is necessarily anthropomorphic
  2. Revises systemic understanding of knowledge
    1. content is structure
      1. still to be worked out
    2. process is dialectic
      1. privileges ground over figure
      2. between open and closed system
    3. and hermeneutic (interpretive)
      1. interrogation of foundations
      2. creative reorganization
Link diverse conceptual systems by
1. Seeking fundamental conceptual similarities
2. Ignoring complex intellectual differences

Giorgi, A. (1975)

Purpose:
1. To describe mentality
2. To integrate different descriptions of mentality
Process:
1. Discourse invests in opposing views
2. Ongoing dialog - continuous dialectic between polarized views
  1. Perception (physical, sensation) vs. Conception (mental, meaning)
  2. Physical vs. metaphysical
  3. Individual meaning vs. collective meaning
  4. Mechanical control vs. systemic control
  5. Privileged perspective vs. naive perspective
Content:
1. Intentionally constructed realities
2. Non-intellectualized descriptions
3. Spacial/temporal context of experience
4. Described in terms of structure
Control:
1. Intend to integrate
2. Found description empirically
3. Promote dialog
4. Treat other descriptions charitably
5. Avoid radical polarization
6. Avoid hypostatization
7. Eliminate dualism
8. Seek similarities in method and approach
9. Seek most desirable rather than absolute
10. Make meanings more precise

Giorgi, A. (1982)

Purpose: To achieve unity between different universes of discourse
Content:
1. Philosophical foundations
  1. Ontological
  2. Epistemological
2. Set of essential concepts
  1. Logical
  2. Physical
3. General methodology
Process: Describe different universes as a single system with a unified structure
Control:
1. Standards for acceptance related to subject matter
2. Seek comprehensive, central perspective
3. Avoid destructive criticism
4. Focus on underlying philosophies and all encompassing framework

Giorgi, A. (1984)

Purpose: To achieve unity between research and therapeutic views and practices of psychology
Content:
1. Descriptions of lived experiences
2. Discovered essential meanings
3. General meanings of phenomena
Process:
1. Dialectic between describer and researcher
  1. Experiencer describes situation
  2. Researcher describes psychological structure
2. Description of phenomena
  1. Begin with open-ended questions and answers
  2. Seek deeper meaning
  3. Lead to comprehensive descriptions
  4. Move toward closure
3. Therapist
  1. Offer discovered meaning to describer
  2. Close on shared meaning of phenomenon
4. Researcher
  1. Offer discovered meanings to research community
  2. Close on general meaning of phenomena
Control:
1. Maintain the phenomenological perspective
  1. Based on description on describers's viewpoint
  2. Descriptions co-constituted by describer and researcher
  3. Descriptions fit with experience
  4. Portray total context concretely
2. Evolve to objectively precise descriptions of phenomena

Giorgi, A. (1985)

Purpose: To understand whether a meaning of unity can be applied to psychology
Content:
1. Alternate meanings of "singleness"
  1. Absence of internal differences (homogenous)
  2. Integrative (concinnous)
    1. single idea subsuming
    2. diverse ideas
2. Descriptions of distinct psychological systems of theory
Process:
1. Method
  1. Examine the parts that are necessary for a system to function
  2. If these parts are diverse, the system is not a homogeneity
  3. If different parts related to function are all subsumed under a unified purpose, the system is a concinnity
2. Application to psychology
  1. Diverse systems competing for the unifying idea
  2. Each system seeks universal hegemony
  3. Unrelated organisms each intent on consuming all other organisms
Control:
1. Unity in psychology derives from either homogeneity or concinnity
2. Intent to unify can be political or functional
  1. Localized intent forces unification through homogenization
  2. Globalized intent constructs unity through functionalization

Giorgi, A. (1990)

Purpose: To understand experience based on the fundamental primacy of consciousness
Content:
1. Rationally constructed systems of experience
2. Philosophical foundations
  1. Ontological - descriptions of experience as objects in logical relationships (phenomena)
    1. spacio-temporality
    2. collectivity
    3. intentionality
  2. Epistemological - understanding objects as dependent or independent of our intention where understanding is problematic
    1. understand as conscious phenomena
    2. systemic understanding
    3. collective understanding
3. Levels of abstraction
  1. Continuum of inductions
    1. Universal
    2. Purposeful
    3. Physical
  2. Deduction of unknowable details
Process:
1. Phenomenological analysis
  1. Obtaining descriptions of phenomena as experienced
  2. Analyzing descriptions for lived meaning
2. Recursive refinement of analytic products resulting in evolution of both structures and methods
  1. Dialectics
    1. General and specific
    2. Objectivity and subjectivity
    3. Subject and researcher
    4. Researcher and community
  2. Higher platforms for induction
Control:
1. Adopt phenomenological perspective
2. Standard processes for
  1. reduction to ordinary
  2. rejecting hypostatization
  3. free imaginative variation
  4. induction of essences
3. Collective confirmation of descriptions
4. Criticality
  1. Judge new data in terms of existing generalities
  2. Judge existing generalities in terms of new data
5. Seek larger perspectives through
  1. Concrete experiences
  2. Essential subjectivity
  3. Systematic inquiry

Giorgi, A. (1992a)

Purpose: Conceiving of psychology as a coherent discipline
1. Capture in a schema its irreducible elements
2. Advance the discussion of key issues
Content:
1. The researcher
2. The researcher's reality
  1. Psychological perspective
    1. phenomenological reduction
    2. consciousness as object
    3. intentionality of consciousness
  2. Experiencer as object
    1. since the consciousness of others cannot be directly observed, it must be deduced
    2. expressed consciousness of phenomena as lived
  3. Experiencer's reality as object
    1. identifiable ends
    2. means for attaining ends
3. The experiencer
4. The experiencer's reality
  1. conscious phenomena
    1. reality
    2. understanding
    3. intentionality
  2. conditions of material existence
    1. mind
    2. space/time
    3. causal regularity
    4. teleological criteria
    5. objects independent of action
5. Realities are described as schemas
Process:
1. Dialectic between self and other
  1. Organic (psychological)
    1. consciousness is affected by environment
    2. conscious structures guide action that affects environment
  2. Mechanical (non-psychological)
    1. unconscious
    2. predetermined
2. Begin with concrete, personal descriptions and progress to objective description
3. Move from the concrete to the thematized by induction of essences
4. Describe the structure or meaningful pattern in the expressions
5. Explication of complex systems of objects and relationships as schemas
6. Consciousness can assume many different schemas
7. Interpretation can form many different schemas
8. Evaluate schemas for completeness
Control:
1. Assume basis of reality in consciousness (the psychological attitude)
  1. Expressions should reflect reality of the other
  2. Others' experience is the only legitimate object
  3. Researcher is not a privileged perspective
2. Describe experiencer's reality as schema
  1. Maintain structural unity of schema
  2. Allow multiple referencing of constituents
  3. Be prepared to deal with complex relationships
  4. Embed schemas in psychological perspective
3. Avoid metaphysical interpretations
  1. The psychologist must not become a philosopher
  2. Be explicit with philosophical assumptions
4. Assume phenomenological reduction
  1. Hold aside unwarranted assumptions and past knowledge
  2. Withhold existential claims about realities
  3. Accurately capture the irreducible data
  4. Critically evaluate data
  5. Challenge all elements, laws, and deductions
  6. Identify incompleteness
5. Capture phenomena as experienced including
  1. All meaning and relationships
  2. Conscious and unconscious
  3. Essences intact (objectivity)
6. Do not be concerned about absolute certainty
  1. Concentrate on concrete meaningful expression
  2. Make attitudinal differences explicit
  3. Intuition is clarified by reflection
  4. A description is neither absolute nor exhaustive

Giorgi, A. (1992b)

Purpose: To formulate psychological problems in a way that is faithful and relevant to the way problems are lived in everyday life
1. Seek the essential aspects of phenomena
2. Gain deeper and more precise understanding of essentials
Content:
1. Independent science
  1. Describe
    1. nature
    2. scope
    3. problems
    4. legitimate methods
  2. Specifies relations to
    1. other forms of science
    2. metaphysics
2. Scientific knowledge
  1. Systematic - different aspects are related and understood as a whole
  2. Methodical - processes are replicable
  3. General - enables deduction to other situations
  4. Critical - subjected to relevant challenges
Process:
1. Mechanical control (causality)
  1. No change is allowed except
  2. Independent variable is controlled
  3. Causing control of dependent variable
2. Organic control (systemic)
  1. Observe natural activities of organism
  2. Induce essentials of organism's conscious reality
  3. Predict future activities based on logical structure of reality (meaning)
Control:
1. Different types of problems require
  1. Sustained study
  2. Different conceptual attitude
    1. systemic phenomena require
    2. systemic concepts
  3. Other attitudes conceal rather than illuminate improved understanding
2. Researcher must consider
  1. The ordinary individual
  2. Everyday behavior
3. Approach must be
  1. Descriptive
  2. Qualitative
4. Maintain an essentially human level of discourse
  1. Especially in thematization (reflective consciousness)
  2. Must be optimized, thorough and consistent
5. More complex organic phenomena are not reducible to mechanical phenomena
  1. Conscious action transcends mechanical transfer of energy
  2. Use of energy is based on a specific construal of reality
6. Mechanical model of causality does not enable prediction of conscious organisms
  1. Primacy of consciousness and meaning over mechanical causality
  2. Understood as dialectical relationship between consciousness and objective world
  3. Whole is affected by change in part

Giorgi, A. (1992c)

Purpose: Distinguish descriptions of organic phenomena from those of mechanical phenomena
Content:
1. Definition of the organic dimension of transcendence - conditions of organic existence are not limited to mechanical causality
2. Descriptions of mechanical phenomena - physical structure determines and enables causal prediction of all changes in the phenomena
3. Descriptions of organic phenomena - conscious selection of structure by the organism allows widely variable choice of possibilities for change
Process:
1. Show that
  1. Transcendence is necessary to organic descriptions
  2. Transcendence cannot be addressed in mechanical descriptions
  3. Conclude that mechanical descriptions cannot be used for organic phenomena
Control:
1. Use multiple independent descriptions of the characteristics of organic existence that constitute transcendence
2. Use multiple independent descriptions of mechanical existence
3. Critically compare the essences of the two forms of existence for expressing transcendence

Appendix B

Integration of Giorgi Text

Purpose:
1. Describe how science is practiced
  1. Articulate results and significance
  2. Avoid confusion of divergence of practices
  3. Acknowledge contributions of all
  4. Use best insights
  5. Define essential meta-science
2. To achieve unity between different universes of discourse
  1. Seek the essential aspects of phenomena
  2. Gain deeper and more precise understanding of essentials
    1. Distinguish descriptions
      1. organic phenomena
      2. mechanical phenomena
  3. Join philosophical analysis with concrete practice
  4. Link diverse conceptual systems
    1. Seeking fundamental conceptual similarities
    2. Ignoring complex intellectual differences
3. Psychological research and theory
  1. To understand experience based on the fundamental primacy of consciousness
    1. To describe mentality.
    2. To integrate different descriptions of mentality.
    3. To formulate psychological problems in a way that is faithful and relevant to the way problems are lived in everyday life
  2. To achieve unity between research and therapeutic views and practices of psychology
  3. Conceiving of psychology as a coherent discipline
    1. Capture in a schema its irreducible elements
    2. Advance the discussion of key issues
Content:
1. Scientific knowledge
  1. Systematic - different aspects are related and understood as a whole
    1. Unity = a single frame of reference.
      1. Alternate meanings of "singleness"
        
        Absence of internal differences (homogenous)
        Integrative (concinnous)
        
        single idea subsuming
        diverse ideas
      2. Enabling a common set of
        
        Approaches
        Essential concepts
        
        Logical
        Physical
        
        Levels of abstraction
        
        Continuum of inductions
        
        Universal
        Purposeful
        Physical
        
        Deduction of unknowable details
        
        Methods
        Theories
      3. Linking via meta-science
        
        Different levels of research
        
        Descriptions of mechanical phenomena - physical structure determines and enables causal prediction of all changes in the phenomena
        Descriptions of organic phenomena - conscious selection of structure by the organism allows widely variable choice of possibilities for change
        
        Descriptions of distinct psychological systems of theory
        
        Describe
        
        nature
        scope
        problems
        legitimate methods
        
        Specifies relations to
        
        other forms of science
        metaphysics
  2. Methodical - processes are replicable
  3. General - enables deduction to other situations
  4. Critical - subjected to relevant challenges
2. Philosophical foundations
  1. Ontological - descriptions of experience as objects in logical relationships (phenomena)
    1. spacio-temporality
    2. collectivity
    3. intentionality
  2. Epistemological - understanding objects as dependent or independent of our intention where understanding is problematic
    1. understand as conscious phenomena
    2. systemic understanding
    3. collective understanding
  3. Definition of the organic dimension of transcendence - conditions of organic existence are not limited to mechanical causality
3. Intentionally constructed realities.
  1. Realities are described
    1. Rationally constructed systems
      1. The researcher's reality
        
        Psychological perspective
        
        phenomenological reduction
        consciousness as object
        intentionality of consciousness
        
        Experiencer as object
        
        since the consciousness of others cannot be directly observed, it must be deduced
        expressed consciousness of phenomena as lived
        
        Experiencer's reality as object
        
        identifiable ends
        means for attaining ends
      2. The experiencer's reality
        
        conscious phenomena
        
        reality
        understanding
        intentionality
        
        conditions of material existence
        
        mind
        space/time
        causal regularity
        teleological criteria
        objects independent of action
    2. Schemas in terms of structure
      1. General meanings of phenomena in spacial/temporal context
      2. Discovered essential meanings of lived experiences
        
        Structure of inquiry
        
        environment in which inquiry takes place
        constitution of the data to be considered
        process by which the data is collected and organized
        criteria for interpreting, organizing and communicating the data that satisfy environmental requirements
        meaning of the situation as it exists for the describer
        
        Data for inquiry
        
        data is in the form of text
        begin with the phenomenon itself
        obtain a description of it
        
        Phenomena
        
        take on distinct characteristics
        based on the terms in which they are described
        must describe their meaning in human terms
        
        Description of meaning structures
        
        explicit or implicit structure
        distinct concrete forms
        access to the world of the describer
Process:
1. First reflection - a convergence of views
  1. Phenomenological analysis
    1. Obtaining descriptions of phenomena as experienced
      1. Describe different universes as a single system with a unified structure
      2. Recognize that discourse invests in opposing views
        
        Diverse systems competing for the unifying idea
        Each system seeks universal hegemony
        Unrelated organisms each intent on consuming all other organisms
    2. Description of phenomena
      1. Begin with open-ended questions and answers
      2. Seek deeper meaning
      3. Lead to comprehensive descriptions
        
        Explication of complex systems of objects and relationships as schemas
        
        Begin with concrete, personal descriptions and progress to objective description
        Move from the concrete to the thematized by induction of essences
        Describe the structure or meaningful pattern in the expressions
        Evaluate schemas for completeness
        
        Different schemas
        
        Consciousness
        Interpretation
      4. Move toward closure
    3. Analyzing descriptions for lived meaning
      1. Best method to describe meaning
        
        interrogate descriptions
        faithfully describe indigenous phenomena
      2. Procedure
        
        Review the entire text of the describer
        
        achieving an understanding of the whole
        for distinct and irreducible categories of meaning
        
        Clarify and elaborate each category of meaning
        
        based on the describers text
        showing the consistent logical relationships within and between categories
        
        Normalize the language of the describer
        
        transforming the meaning into general terms
        relevant to the purpose of the inquiry
        
        Fill in systemically necessary lacunae
        
        Interrogate the description for hints
        
        Insure the systemic wholeness of the description
        
        completeness
        consistency
        
        Produce formal description
        
        accessible by others
        
        for verification
        improvement
  2. Method - An underlying unity emerges from differing views in the terms of phenomenology
    1. Gestalt psychology
      1. polymorphism
      2. body understood as subject
      3. social facts understood as structures
    2. Behaviorism
      1. humans as social organisms
      2. behavior as a totality with internal laws
      3. behavior understood ecologically
    3. Psychoanalysis
      1. comprehend the totality of experience in a structural context of meanings
      2. understand reality as dream-like
    4. Social Psychology
      1. collective consciousness comprises multiple interpretations of structure
      2. individuals relate structurally to groups
  3. Notion of structure is broad enough to comprehend concepts from any of these movements
    1. Structure is a universal concern of all useful conceptions of consciousness
2. Second reflection - relationship to phenomenology
  1. Phenomenological perspective
    1. Descriptive, not analytic or explanatory
    2. Achieving a transcendent perspective
    3. Actively receptive to the describing subject
    4. Describe the essences of phenomena in terms of discovered meanings
      1. interrogate the complete concrete evidence
      2. intuitive comprehension of the phenomena
    5. Context of intentionality
      1. relationship between a consciousness and its objects
      2. consciousness as a totality of body and world expressed as phenomena
    6. Structure as spontaneous organization manifest in symbolic patterns of experience
    7. Phenomenological reduction
      1. distinguishing and separating the observer's reality from the describer's reality in understanding and description
      2. making assumptions and prejudices explicit
    8. The unconscious as a mode of consciousness
  2. These aspects are convergent with other movements
3. Third reflection - relationship to philosophy
  1. Philosophy provides the foundation for theory
    1. Adequacy of theory limited by philosophy
    2. Metaphysical context for theory
  2. Phenomenology requires revision of philosophy
    1. Structure to replace substance
    2. Comprehensive role of consciousness
    3. Acknowledge limitations of consciousness
  3. Phenomenological meta-philosophy
    1. Transforms understanding of knowlege
      1. bases knowledge on the ordinary
      2. being is necessarily anthropomorphic
    2. Revises systemic understanding of knowledge
      1. content is structure
        
        still to be worked out
      2. process is dialectic
        
        privileges ground over figure
        between open and closed system
      3. and hermeneutic (interpretive)
        
        interrogation of foundations
        creative reorganization
4. Recursive refinement of analytic products resulting in evolution of both structures and methods
  1. Structural dialectic
    1. between differentiation
    2. and integration of the data
  2. Dialectics create higher platforms for induction
    1. General and specific
    2. Objectivity and subjectivity
    3. Self and other (systemic control vs. mechanical control)
      1. Organic (psychological)
        
        consciousness is affected by environment
        conscious structures guide action that affects environment
      2. Organic control (systemic)
        
        Observe natural activities of organism
        Induce essentials of organism's conscious reality
        Predict future activities based on logical structure of reality (meaning)
      3. Mechanical (non-psychological)
        
        unconscious
        predetermined
      4. Mechanical control (causality)
        
        No change is allowed except
        Independent variable is controlled
        Causing control of dependent variable
      5. Transcendence is necessary to organic descriptions
        
        Transcendence cannot be addressed in mechanical descriptions
        Mechanical descriptions cannot be used for organic phenomena
    4. Describer and researcher
      1. Experiencer describes situation
      2. Researcher describes psychological structure
        
        Offer discovered meaning to describer
        Close on shared meaning of phenomenon
    5. Researcher and community
    6. Polarized views
      1. Perception (physical, sensation) vs. Conception (mental, meaning)
      2. Physical vs. metaphysical
      3. Individual meaning vs. collective meaning
      4. Privileged perspective vs. naive perspective
Control:
1. Superior alternatives are possible
  1. Hindered by realistic postulates
  2. Bound in popular philosophical prejudices
2. Adopt and maintain the phenomenological perspective
  1. Standard processes for phenomenological reduction
    1. reduction to ordinary
      1. found description empirically.
      2. non-intellectualized descriptions.
      3. hold aside unwarranted assumptions and past knowledge
    2. rejecting hypostatization
      1. Withhold existential claims about realities
      2. Seek most desirable rather than absolute
      3. Do not be concerned about absolute certainty
        
        Concentrate on concrete meaningful expression
        Make attitudinal differences explicit
        A description is neither absolute nor exhaustive
  2. Free imaginative variation
    1. Accurately capture the irreducible data
      1. Researcher is not a privileged perspective
      2. Researcher must consider
        
        The ordinary individual
        Everyday behavior
      3. Approach must be
        
        Descriptive
        Qualitative
      4. Based on describers's viewpoint
      5. Descriptions co-constituted by describer and researcher
      6. Descriptions fit with experience
        
        Capture phenomena as experienced including
        All meaning and relationships
        Conscious and unconscious
        Essences intact (objectivity)
      7. Portray total context concretely
      8. Maintain an essentially human level of discourse
        
        Especially in thematization (reflective consciousness)
        Must be optimized, thorough and consistent
    2. Induction of essences
      1. Combine essential intuition and concrete analysis
        
        Intuition is clarified by reflection
      2. Seek larger perspectives through
        
        Similarities in method and approach
        Concrete experiences
        Essential subjectivity
        Systematic inquiry
  3. Critically evaluate data
    1. Focus on underlying philosophies and all encompassing framework
    2. Judge new data in terms of existing generalities
    3. Judge existing generalities in terms of new data
    4. Challenge all elements, laws, and deductions
    5. Standards for acceptance related to subject matter
    6. Identify incompleteness
    7. Make meanings more precise
    8. Evolve to objectively precise descriptions of phenomena
3. Assume basis of reality in consciousness (the psychological attitude)
  1. Expressions should reflect reality of the other
  2. Others' experience is the only legitimate object
    1. Ultimate object of inquiry
      1. content of consciousness
      2. not the content of the text
4. Clarifies role of consciousness as the origin of our creation of the world
  1. Consciousness is an archaic, primordial, ambivalent, and fallible investment
    1. Symbolic representation with hidden meanings
      1. The other is another incarnate subject that must be allowed to speak for itself
    2. Mediates between individual and environment
      1. totality with internal laws
      2. moves toward greater comprehension
      3. not fully describable nor conscious
5. Goes beyond traditional philosophy requiring new language
6. Intend to integrate
  1. Eliminate dualism
  2. Promote dialog
    1. Seek comprehensive, central perspective
    2. Avoid destructive criticism
    3. Collective confirmation of descriptions
    4. Treat other descriptions charitably
    5. Avoid radical polarization
  3. Unity derives from either homogeneity or concinnity
    1. Intent to unify can be political or functional
    2. Localized intent forces unification through homogenization
    3. Globalized intent constructs unity through functionalization
7. Different types of problems require
  1. Sustained study
  2. Different conceptual attitude
    1. systemic phenomena require
    2. systemic concepts
  3. Other attitudes conceal rather than illuminate improved understanding
    1. More complex organic phenomena are not reducible to mechanical phenomena
      1. Conscious action transcends mechanical transfer of energy
      2. Use of energy is based on a specific construal of reality
    2. Mechanical model of causality does not enable prediction of conscious organisms
      1. Primacy of consciousness and meaning over mechanical causality
      2. Understood as dialectical relationship between consciousness and objective world
      3. Whole is affected by change in part
  4. Use multiple independent descriptions
    1. of the characteristics of organic existence that constitute transcendence
    2. of mechanical existence
    3. Critically compare the essences of the two forms of existence for expressing transcendence
8. Method used
  1. made explicit by the researcher
  2. using a method
    1. replicable
      1. other researcher should be able to obtain the same
        
        meanings
        understandings.
    2. efficacious
    3. leads to agreement among researchers
9. Distinct forms of description
  1. Separated into different sets of descriptive statements
    1. that capture
      1. the describer's text
      2. the intentions of the describer
  2. Description should produce
    1. better understanding than any other description
      1. all the data
      2. objects of inquiry
  3. Describe the phenomenon under investigation
    1. the clearest
    2. most relevant way
    3. at the necessary level
      1. generality
      2. concreteness
10. Interpretation of the data
  1. Elimination of bias is impossible
    1. Different philosophical outlooks of the researcher
      1. unavoidable impact
      2. should be made explicit
      3. fundamental premises
        
        separate
        
        intentionality of the researcher
        intentionality of the describer
        
        conscious effort
        constant reflection
  2. Bias is controlled
    1. attempt to set aside all preconceptions
    2. concentrate on the describer's text alone
      1. Continuously reflecting on
        
        structure of inquiry
        relative to what is being produced
      2. Great care must be taken on unspecified portions of the description
        
        interpolation
        extrapolation
  3. Limits to reducibility
    1. fundamental essences in the phenomenon
  4. Root or ground of description
    1. prior to
    2. insufficiently determined by
      1. the perceptions and conceptions of humans
      2. the text that may represent them
  5. Inferences made about the data
    1. let the unfolding of the phenomena guide the inquiry
    2. continually re-evaluated
    3. until the researcher can make no further improvements
11. Results
  1. A harmonious balance
    1. whole
    2. parts
  2. Clear logical relationships
12. Evolution of process of inquiry
  1. ground new methods in more comprehensive theory
  2. insure process of inquiry itself is undergoing this same process
  3. open up new avenues of research

Appendix C

Comparison of Structures - Giorgi vs. Gurwitsch

Purpose:
1. Describe how science is practiced
2. To achieve unity between different universes of discourse
3. Psychological research and theory
Content:
1. Scientific knowledge
2. Philosophical foundations
3. Intentionally constructed realities
Process:
1. First reflection - a convergence of views
2. Second reflection - relationship to phenomenology
3. Third reflection - relationship to philosophy
4. Recursive refinement of analytic products resulting in evolution of both structures and methods
Controls:
1. Superior alternatives are possible
2. Adopt and maintain the phenomenological perspective
3. Assume basis of reality in consciousness (the psychological attitude)
4. Clarifies role of consciousness as the origin of our creation of the world
5. Goes beyond traditional philosophy requiring new language
6. Intend to integrate
7. Different types of problems require
8. Method used
9. Distinct forms of description
  1. Interpretation of the data
  2. Results
  3. Evolution of process of inquiry

Purpose:
1. Phenomenology
  1. Accounting for the very knowledge of reality
  2. Describe the phenomenon of consciousness and how it reveals the experienced world
  3. Offers the philosophical foundation for all the sciences
  4. Presentation of subjective and intersubjective experience
2. Transcendental phenomenology
  1. The fundamental a priori science relative to the natural sciences
3. Psychology
  1. Translating the transcendental terms of phenomenology into mundane terms
Content:
1. Consciousness
  1. Universal medium of whatever validly exists
2. Intentionality
  1. Manifest in a correlation
Process:
1. Experience produces reality
  1. Continuing psychological events produce reality
  2. Continued interaction
2. Two prime constituents of reality
  1. Self
  2. Category of other objects
3. Shared reality
  1. Mutually recognizing selves
Control:
1. Suspension of belief
  1. Ultimate bases
2. Ultimate bases cannot be part of consciousness
  1. Not the same as denial of ultimate bases

Return to: Table of Contents

Please e-mail your impressions to: kengelhart@igc.org