Abductive Reasoning as a Way of Worldmaking
"What is the function of abductive inference? For [Charles Sanders] Peirce it is 'the process of forming an explanatory hypothesis. It is the only logical operation which introduces any new idea; for induction does nothing but determine a value, and deduction merely evolves the necessary consequences of a pure hypothesis. Deduction proves that something must be; induction shows that something actually is operative; abduction merely suggests that something may be' (CP 5.171, cf 1991a, p.333). Abduction may thus be conceived of as a principle that allows us to reconstruct how conceptual order is achieved through the imposition of a hypothesis (in the form of a minimal theory, an idea, a rule or a law-like hypothesis) - which inaugurates constructivist thinking. Here I can only hint at the great variability of this schema; it enables us to bridge the traditional gap between the arts and the sciences because it can be used as a model both of explanation and of understanding."
(Hans Rudi Fischer, pp. 368, 2001)
Peirce, Charles Sanders (CP). (1931-35, 1958) "Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce". Bd. I-VI (1931-34) ed by Ch. Hartshorne and P. Weiss. Vol. VII-VIII (1958) ed. By A.W. Burks. Cambridge, Massachusetts/London.
Peirce, Charles Sanders (1991a), Naturordnung und Zeichenprozeß. Schriften über Semiotik und Naturphilosophie. Hrsg. und eingeleitet von Helmut Pape. Frankfurt/Main, Suhrkamp.
Foundations of Science, special issue on "The Impact of Radical Constructivism on Science", edited by A. Riegler, 2001, vol. 6, no.4: 361-383. "Abductive Reasoning as a Way of Worldmaking", Hans Rudi Fischer, Heidelberger Institut für systemische Forschung und Therapie, Kussmaulstr. 10, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Complex representations not simple quantified measurement
"Primarily because of its association with achievements in the physical sciences, quantified measurement seems a step toward enhanced precision. But, precision, as understood here, means more than reliability and validity; it also requires appropriately complex representation of the target construct. In phenomenological terms, precision refers to the distinctiveness that fosters reliability, the coherence that assures validity, and the richness that is appropriate to the targeted phenomenon. First, distinctiveness is the extent to which a phenomenon is discriminable from others. Judgments about distinctiveness require more than explicit (e.g., operational) definitions. They require the capacity to anticipate attributes that remain implicit in even the most explicitly conceived phenomenon and, on the basis of those implicit meanings, to consistently verify that phenomenon's presence or absence. Second, coherence is the extent to which judgments about the attribute structure of a particular phenomenon are congruent. Short of logical entailment but beyond associative contingency, judgments about coherence require consideration of both the explicit and implicit meanings of the attribute structure they describe. Third, richness is the extent to which judgments about a phenomenon capture its complexity and intricacy. Richness entails full differentiation of a phenomenon's attributes, identification of its attribute structure, and appreciation of its structural incongruities."
(Don Kuiken and David Miall, 2001)
[4] profiles and the ideal prototype. This numeric assessment of degree involves profiles of attributes rather than individual attributes. Although we appreciate the potential importance of the latter (see note 3), we have not attempted to address the analytic problems that arise from the combination of nominal and ordinal variables in estimates of profile similarity. It should be noted, however, that some available software facilitates the assessment of ordinal information during attribute identification (cf. KUCKARTZ 1995; WEITZMAN & MILES 1995). The possibility of coordinating ordinal and nominal attribute judgments deserves further consideration.
Kuiken, Don & Miall, David S. (2001). "Numerically Aided Phenomenology: Procedures for Investigating Categories of Experience." [68 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 2(1), Art. 15, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114- fqs0101153.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Constructing Models for Practitioner-Based Research
"This paper considers differing understandings about the role and praxis of practitioner-based research for the arts. Over more than a decade the nexus between theory and practice has been a point of debate within the contemporary arts school both in Australia and overseas. This paper attempts to reveal ways of approaching this issue from within and across the disciplines. Discussions with colleagues from the arts representing fields as diverse as music, visual arts, creative writing, women's studies, dance and theatre studies indicate that the research principles explored, albeit briefly, here have resonance for each of these disciplines. Consequently, in an attempt to be broadly relevant for these diverse fields I have chosen to position the model as practitioner-based. Within this widened context I will be exploring the different ways in which studio-based practitioners and academics conceptualise the processes and characteristics of research in the arts and professional practice. However, as this is still work in progress, my exemplars will largely reflect my own field of the visual arts. Further research will enable this model to expand.
Presented is a way to conceptualise and explain what we do as studio-based researchers in the arts. In so doing I am recognising that contemporary practices in the arts reflect a meridian era of evolution, which requires us to be articulate practitioners. This includes being able to analyse and write about our practice in sophisticated ways. I see practitioner-based research and the resultant exploration of personal praxis as a way to achieve this. What I propose is that as artists we open up a larger domain by recontextualizing and reinterpreting aspects of standard mainstream research processes, looking at the resemblances, the self-resemblances and the differences between traditional and practitioner-based research methods as a logic of necessity."
(Robyn Stewart, 2001)
TEXT Vol Vol 5 No 2 October 2001 [http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/text/]
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Eraserhead Stories: David Lynch on the Making of His Famously Nightmarish First Film
"Not only does the documentary Eraserhead Stories offer as much information as you'll find anywhere on the making of David Lynch's first feature film, it has a few Lynchian qualities of its own. For almost an hour and a half, David Lynch sits down behind a microphone and reminisces about the six years his ragtag team spent putting the movie together. But he does it in black-and-white, in front of a curtain, smoking, like something out of an early-1950s television broadcast. The ambient dull roar of an ill wind appears, intermittently and inexplicably, on the soundtrack. Photographs flash by, supporting some of Lynch's inspiring, arduous, and bizarre recollections. Many of his stories deal with the nuts and bolts of bringing one's financially impoverished but creatively overflowing early movies into reality."
(Colin Marshall, 17 December 2012, Open Culture)
David Lynch (2001). "Eraserhead Stories".
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
IAMAS 情報科学芸術大学院大学 / Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences
"Cultivating new media creators in a variety of fields IAMAS was opened in 2001 both as a hub for training new creators in an information society, and as an educational institution that fuses together advanced technology and artistic creativity to produce new culture. Since then IAMAS has graduated a large number of information technology specialists who are active in the broad field of media culture and industry, garnering high praise not just in Japan, but internationally as well. The school's activities cover many disciplines and offer new possibilities to industry. These activities include interaction design and media products that lead to collaboration with industry, media art that constantly explores new methods of expression, social research and design, as well as new publishing ideas. All of these endeavors exemplify the spirit of pioneering into new fields. The Department of Media Creation at IAMAS is a place where people with the desire to create something new are able to meet, collaborate, and challenge each other."
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
