Beware of the Concept

Yesterday Alan Ayckbourn's gold-nugget-laden book -

The Crafty Art of Playmaking by Alan Ayckbourn. Faber, 2004, softcover, ISBN 0571215106.
https://www.concordtheatricals.co.uk/s/45898/the-crafty-art-of-playmaking 

- found a new owner. Beforehand, I turned up the following helpful advice (or, 'obvious rules'): 

ix Introduction

'The following is an attempt to describe, as far as I can, this double process [writing and directing, PJ]. Some of it is quite probably unique to me and contains procedures and practices that it would be highly unwise for others to try and copy. The rest is really just plain common sense. But if I've learnt anything it is that it never hurts to point out the obvious occasionally, certainly in the theatre - to actors, directors or writers and sometimes even to designers, stage managers and technicians. Often we quite wrongly suspect simplicity. We go digging around in the creative sand trying to make.our art more meaningful, somehow 'deeper'. Generally all we do is end up with our heads entirely buried, presenting the audience with our rear ends.'

Obvious Rule No. 3
If you don't have the initial inspiration, put down the pen,put the pencil back in the jar, switch off the computer and go and dig the garden instead.
.. 
'At its most successful, theatre views things from a human standpoint. It is after all the most human in scale of all the performance media. My feeling is that that's also a good place for a dramatist to start, at the human level. As a playwright it may be your intention to build a vehicle to take us to the stars. But do make sure you have people aboard.

Initial inspiration - that essential starting point - comes in all shapes and sizes.' p..9.

Obvious Rule No. 49
Beware of the Concept.

DIRECTING

'Don't be talked into anything you feel instinctively you'll regret later. If you must have a concept (God save us from that word) then let the concept be something that's worked out between you. Let it spring from the play and not from the fact that the production manager has 5oo square metres of black lino left over from their last production. I once heard the fateful words, 'I think it's about time we did something with mirrors.' If at all possible, try and persuade the producer, whoever it is, to let you make as many scenic decisions as late on as possible. There will always be an intense pressure to decide everything before you start. This can be fatal.' pp.118-19.

In pencil I noted: 'Hodges' model is different. So, don't panic.' Is it? Really?

I've saved this for the last: 

'Then there is the new old playwright. Far more difficult to deal with. They have probably nursed this script for twenty-five years and they're damned if you're going to mess it up for them when they've waited so long. Especially someone your age who wasn't even born when their harrowing play about World War Two was still raging, dammit.' p.110.

It's not that I believe I'm a (potential) playwright, it's the learning.

See also: 'Ayckbourn' : 'drama'

Call for Submissions: Fall-Winter 2026 Intima Journal of Narrative Medicine

OUR CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS  FOR OUR FALL-WINTER 2026
JOURNAL IS OPEN. SUBMIT YOUR WORK TODAY.

 

Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine is a literary journal dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of narrative medicine, an interdisciplinary field that enhances healthcare through the effective communication, empathy and understanding between clinicians, caregivers and patients. Our name Intima has a specific resonance in the field: For us, narrative involves the intimate interface between people, who yield and gain from the experience of stories involving the clinical encounter.

 The word itself has an anatomical reality: intima is  the thin layer lining a blood vessel, speeding blood to the heart and brain, an apt analogy for the kind of narratives we publish that speak to the emotions and the intellect, the feelings and facts that engage the senses in stories with meaning and impact..

 

individual

|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES             

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

group

	©The Art of Anatomy by Khalil Harbie. Intima, Fall 2013

Art - https://www.theintima.org/missionandvison also reminded of Escher and Byte Magazine.

My source: Intima list

Previously: 'creativity' : 'crossroads' : 'narrative'

Interviews, playwriting, and clinical encounters: pause for breath - Roger Lewin

It can be surprising how you know something. Something that should be obvious to you. It's your 'Bread and Butter' as the saying goes. And yet for a variety of reasons, you persist in not seeing it, or you frame it in a way that ultimately reveals a bias, influence, and may even mask several aspects of truth. It might be the influence of work over four decades plus. Sitting down, or frequently finally getting out for a walk after several weeks of nudging, in a one-to-one therapeutic context. Or, ever since secondary school, that distant performed encounter with the Crucible. And, more recently as 'Ken', a Post Office subpostmaster and his wife (a brief 10-12 mins), and over the years a desire to write dialogue.

Reviews of Roger Lewin's Complexity, vary in their conclusions about the book's quality. No surprise there, but reading the book it was a revelation to see the method: a series of interviews and the resulting dialogues. 

'In this revision of his book originally published in 1992, Roger Lewin explains what the science of complexity is all about through interviews with some of its most important practitioners (and critics) organized around some of the central ideas. As such this is both a fine introduction to the subject and an interesting read. Lewin includes 16 pages of photos of the scientists he interviewed captioned with a significant quote from each. He has added an afterword on the application of complexity science to business, and an appendix about John Holland, whom he dubs, "Mr. Emergence."

"Everything works toward an ecology" is an old dictum of mine. I have the sense that I came up with that myself, but I probably read it somewhere years ago. At any rate, what is being said here is that complex systems work toward a state of equilibrium near a transition phase, near "the edge of chaos." This equilibrium can be an ecology (Darwin's "tangled web"); indeed it can be the entire planet, as in the concept of Gaia in which "the Earth's biological and physical systems are tightly coupled in a giant homeostatic system" (quoting Stuart Kauffman on page 109).'

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/384547.Complexity

There's nothing profound in this post, and yet this melange of interviews, playwriting, and clinical encounters gives me pause for breath.

Previously: 'Our broken sticks' c/o Roger Lewin "Complexity: life at the edge of chaos"

New Journal Alert - Philosophy and Urban Affairs

Dear Philosophers,

I'm pleased to announce that Philosophy and Urban Affairs is now operational. Below is a description.

Philosophy and Urban Affairs is a peer-reviewed journal that explores the ethical, political, epistemological, metaphysical, and social dimensions of cities. Articles may be theoretical, applied, or both, provided they illustrate how philosophical investigation can elucidate, critique, or inform city living.

Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Instead, the journal solicits submissions through public calls on emerging topics or through invitations to scholars working on specific themes. On occasion, a focus article will be published to prompt response papers and foster sustained scholarly dialogue.

Philosophy and Urban Affairs is fully open access and charges no fees of any kind.

Check out the first CFP, Philosophical Perspectives on Coastal and Island Cities. 

All the best - Shane

Shane Epting, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Missouri University of Science and Technology

New Book: Creating Future Cities: Technology, Ethics, and the Fight for the Good Life

Shane Epting, in Creating Future Cities, insightfully analyzes complex normative challenges in urban planning and design—from organizing urban residents' political power to building for resilience—and passionately argues that citizens of cities must fight for their cities and their futures. - Ronald R. Sundstrom, University of San Francisco, USA

My source:

Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/ Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Recent posts can also be read in a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosL/ Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos 

"Readers! Where exactly does this go?"

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

?	?
?	?

Frankfurt, H. G. (2025). On bullshit. Anniversary Edition. Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691276786/on-bullshit

🗣️Solving or Resolving Palestinian Human Rights Issues: Relationship "Normalization" | Mohamed ‘Arafa

🗣️ Solving or Resolving Palestinian Human Rights Issues: Relationship "Normalization" | Mohamed ‘Arafa

This session will be the first in the series of conferences “Jurisprudential Dialogues on Human Rights”, which is designed to promote exchanges on topical issues involving human rights and the role of the courts of justice.

 

The aim of this session is to reflect on the violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people — an enduring state of affairs that transcends political or religious lines of judgement. Over the decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been marking the international landscape, sparking divisions, human misery, and far-reaching geopolitical consequences.

 

This session will be led by Professor Mohamed ‘Arafa, Professor of Law at the University of Alexandria and Adjunct Professor of Law & the Clarke Initiative Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School. Joining in will be Professor Rita Ribeiro, from the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Minho, and Zaina Awartani, PhD researcher at the School of Law of the University of Minho and the School of Researchers of the Research Centre for Justice and Governance (JusGov). The event will be chaired by Sergio Ruiz Díaz Arce, Doctoral Integrated Researcher at JusGov.

 

💻 Zoom room: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/95090845748

📍June 13th, 2025 | 4.00 p.m. Online

Scientific Commission

Sergio Ruiz Díaz Arce

Joaquim Freitas da Rocha

Robert Junqueira

 

Organisation

JusGov (JusLab – DH)

School of Law of the University of Minho

 

Support

FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology

Yours respectfully,

Robert Junqueira Executive Coordinator | Research and Scientific Careers Bureau Research Centre for Justice and Governance School of Law of the University of Minho Gualtar Campus 4710-057 Braga - Portugal   T: (+351) 253 60 18 75 E: martinsjunqueira AT direito.uminho.pt

Still sorting books: "The holographic paradigm and other paradoxes"

There has been overlap in my subscription to the Laws of Form mail list and a (David) Bohm list. With the difference, I unsubscribed from the latter, in an effort to focus. The work of Bohm is still very much on the radar and book shelves (well, boxes currently). Continuing to clear books, I've been reading through some relevant sections and quote here at length from:

Wilber, K. (Ed.), (1982) The holographic paradigm and other paradoxes. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.

The Enfolding-Unfolding Universe: A conversation with David Bohm (pp.44-104)

"WEBER: You've spoken of clarity often today and in the past: therefore, isn't it necessary at this point to consider consciousness and the knower, the one who is or isn't clear?

BOHM: Yes, we could come to that. The point is that consciousness is confused. Confusion is nonclarity. And if you say, a person is not clear, you mean he's confused, although it is more polite to say he's not clear. And confusion means "melting together." Things that are different are seen as one and things that are one are seen as broken up into many. So confusion clearly causes chaos." p.61.

"BOHM: Well, yes, we can consider that maybe that is what is, but, at the same time we have to be very  careful to say that thought cannot grasp it, so at some stage thought has to put this question aside as to what is, you see. Thought cannot grasp that which is. And any attempt to grasp that which is engages us in serious self-deception which confuses everything. So that thought has to learn or somehow come to a state of discipline, or whatever you want to call it, spontaneous discipline, its own discipline. 

WEBER: Order?  

BOHM: Yes, order, in which it does not attempt to grasp the questions which are beyond it, such as the question of that which is. It can grasp any relative question which is conditioned, or in some way, conditional. So even the nonmanifest consciousness of the  nonmanifest matter, which is highly subtle, is still within the possible area of thought."  p.64.

"WEBER: Deeply. So you're saying that prior to this current awareness of the centrality of consciousness, what we've been trying to do is hopeless because we've addressed small social problems all in the wrong domain, so to speak. 

BOHM: Yes. Well, really not going to their source at all." p.80.

"WEBER: Which was the old Cartesian or dualistic model.  

BOHM: Right. It also leads to infinite regress, unless you end it by  God or somewhere.

Now I think we come to a point where we're raising a question which was similar to what was raised in  yesterday's discussion.  How long can we go on trying to talk about what is beyond thought by making an intellectual construction? You see, because when we  make such an intellectual construction we  have a content and we have implied that the one who is constructing it is also supposed to be beyond that content. So he evades the very thing we attempt to include him in and in that very attempt he gets out. And so it seems that there is some limit to how far you can go in that  process, in that approach. Therefore it's best to say that in this approach in which we attempt to make a map, or a sketch of some  kind of what reality is, that we are really dealing with something limited. Korzybski used to say: "Whatever we say it is, it isn't."

WEBER: The map is not the territory. . . .

BOHM: That's right. Yes. And therefore what we are doing is making maps, making sketches, making concepts. And see, that's why I said the other night that science, for example, theoretical  science, is not primarily concerned with observing things but with observing ideas. ..."  p.84

The Tao of Physics Revisited  (pp.215-248)

"CAPRA: Yes, they would look at genetics, individual parts and so on. 

WEBER: They have the Cartesian view, whereas you're saying that this is the new vision, emphasizing interdependence, interconnectedness, the dynamics of the whole. 

CAPRA: But I should say that both reductionism and holism are necessary. 

WEBER: I understand. You are not suggesting that we abolish the other. You are saying we should supplement one with the other. 

CAPRA: If you want to get the full story, then you need both views. Because either one gives you only half of the story. This is what I see as the future of science, and I see a future science as no longer distinguishing between disciplines. 

WEBER: That's a very radical view. 

CAPRA: Yes, and by the way Heinsenberg already said that years ago. In one of his books, The Part and the Whole, he ends with his view of future science, and I agree very much with that. I have come to believe that in the future we will apply a network of models, and we will use different languages to describe different phenomena at different levels. We will not worry any longer whether we are doing biology or psychology or physics or anthropology or whatever; we won't be worried about these classifications." p.241.

Reading of The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision is also ongoing (p.240 ... and a joy) with posts to follow.

See also:

https://kfoundation.org/krishnamurti-and-david-bohm/

ERCIM News No. 136 Special Theme "Large Language Models (LLMs)"

Dear ERCIM News reader,

A new ERCIM News issue (136) is online with a special theme on Large Language Models (LLMs). This issue features articles on diverse topics, such as LLMs in education and professional training, ethics and fairness in public sector use, knowledge management, information retrieval, software modeling, LLM capability assessment, and advancements like enhanced pre-training efficiency.

You can access the issue at https://ercim-news.ercim.eu/

This special theme was coordinated by our guest editors Diego Collarana Vargas (Fraunhofer FIT) and Nassos Katsamanis (Athena RC).
Thank you for reading ERCIM News! Please share this issue with anyone who might find it interesting. You can also support us on Twitter (@ercim_news) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ercim). Let's keep the conversation going and share the latest updates together!


Next issue:

No. 137, April 2024
Special Theme: "Extended Reality". Submissions are welcome! See call for contributions.

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All issues published to date are available online.

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------------------------------
*My source with thanks.

Of note:
Chatbots & Socrates: Dialogues in Learning. pp.18-20.
Towards AI-Assisted Data Storytelling. pp.28-29.

'Geography of Hope' & 'The Great Conversation'

c/o Resurgence & Ecologist

INDIVIDUAL
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     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

hope	geography
peoples - places	value / values

"... Stegner explained - we need such [wilderness] places because they remind us of a world beyond the human and also because they allow us to see ourselves as part of the 'environment of trees and rocks and soil ... part of the natural world and competent to belong to it". Taken together, he concluded, such places constitute a 'geography of hope'. ...

There are, as Stegner knew, certain thoughts and feelings that can had only in certain places: cognition is site-specific as well as motion-sensitive. It has long seemed to me that we might imagine landscapes as holding specific ideas and experiences just as they hold certain stones, minerals or species; that we might even talk of landscapes as growing ideas as they grow plants. And that, by extension, when we lose certain places - when they are destroyed incidentally, or deliberately - we lose not only the life that they held but also the thoughts that they enabled." p.38.

Mcfarlane, Robert., The Geography of Hope, Resurgence & Ecologist, Nov/Dec 2012, 275:pp.38-39.

https://www.20-20-vision.org/

Elia T. Ben-Ari, Defender of the Voiceless: Wallace Stegner's Conservation Legacy, BioScience, Volume 50, Issue 3, March 2000, Pages 253–257, https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0253:DOTVWS]2.3.CO;2

INDIVIDUAL
  |

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

intrinsic elements	PERIODIC table
we are elements too - part of nature	value / values "We have broken the great conversation."

"But does the natural world need our writing? Paul Evans, in his Country Diary in The Guardian, wrote of the importance of observing and describing the world with passion; that communicating 'the significance of ephemeral and overlooked things to a world which couldn't care less' is a political and spiritual act." p.41.

Reason, Peter., The Great Conversation, Resurgence & Ecologist, Nov/Dec 2012, 275:pp.40-41.

In the media and many Resurgence & Ecologist issues, there is a stress on our taking time to be slow. I'd written in the margin of Mcfarlane's article; "Relativistic care: The faster we run (travel) the more mass we consume". While by Reason's text I'd scribbled; "H2CM is a statement of intent, in idealised care. In practice it is an outcome."

Hodges' model - as 'a' philosophy c/o TPM

As much as I might like, or aspire to write, this is not a treatise on Hodges' model as a philosophy. Anyway: why limit ourselves to one 'philosophy', when several might apply, or at least be found?

Other TPM articles within the 50 new ideas issue point to Hodges' model (of course 😉).

Philosophy itself may benefit. Philosophy is "the love of wisdom". While there are dangers in siloed kowledge and the thought that put it there, what is classed as wise across the domains of Hodges' model in a given context? Contexts change, but how can philosophical reasoning help us 'keep our options open'? Or is the situation and context 'closed'? 

Again much as I might like, in response to Benatar's Forsaking wisdom (pp.23-24) I'm not trying to clever - even my sense of humour does not extend that far. We do want to apply Hodges' model  practically. Maybe disciplines exist in a perennial state of self-doubt? Peter Boghossian discusses Philosophy that matters (pp.29-30). Nursing is no exception being challenged still regards its professional and academic identity. In mental health nursing there are concerns about the field as a specialty being genericised. The nursing discipline for which identity and meaning is key finds its own identity challenged. Helen De Cruz writes of The Philosopher's rut (pp.41-42). A contributing factor is the tendency in philosophical debates to be dominated by two-well-outlined opposing positions. This framing can stifle exploration, and yet in Hodges' model with oppositions built-in the model as a whole provides conceptual escape; a series of conceptual spaces to explore. 

Hodges' model can help postpone what De Cruz refers to as cognitive closure, another reason for the philosopher's rut. We tend, psychologically to draw quick conclusions such that we are averse to ambiguity. This may be innate to a degree, as seen in 'black and white' thinking. Ironically, for me with Hodges' model is the counterposition of reflection as navel-gazing, resulting in too many options, and no decision at all.  

With the self, I, individual appearing to take a prime position in Hodges' model, Michael Cholbi reminds us of the philosophical significance and history of self-knowledge (pp.35-36). Student nurses need to acquire sufficient substantial self-knowledge to be safe, effective, competent, satisfied and lifelong learning practitioners. In another issue 98 4th Quarter 2022, Jonathan Matheson asks Why Think for Yourself (pp. 26-32), is there a rationale in intellectual autonomy and love of truth? You can exercise your intellectual autonomy and make it collaborative, by deciding on the port of entry to Hodges' model. This is a determinant in terms of the context, the situation that prompts you reach for the model in the first place. 

me - you INDIVIDUAL - the few
  |

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

others - GROUP - many

inherent philosophy in Hodges' model the mind - my mind Personal identity epistemology ontology - being - identity my - beliefs - (yours) abstraction logic - mathematics concept of opposition^ opposition of concepts^ representation of -isms ethics - moral reasoning values - value unconditional positive regard	physicality - materialism the brain - my brain - body Organic identity implicit binary structure superimposed relations vectors coding and classification language corpora reality as orientation: (e.g., what three things do we need to know?) personalised medicine ('up here') professional scope - curricula silos of knowledge scientific method/methodologies
language - semantics - meaning dialectics 'other minds' practical reasoning applied philosophy individual-collective debate: utilitarian principles social philosophy socialisation of learners (professions) conformance - group think	health in politics politics in health human rights the unborn - future humans protected human characteristics diametrical oppositions in Hodges' model (e.g., 1. my mental state - mental health law; 2. public understanding - of science; 3. my freedom - the law. 4. culture - (techno-culture!) - science...) power - freedom political philosophy

In John Corvino's Applied philosophy out of the closet (pp.39-40), I'm not sure if it was Martha Nussbaum who stressed the need for philosophy to be practical. Is this the same as applied? I note her work on capabilities. Hodges' model seeks to reduce the gap between the learning involved in (between - hence bridging) theory and practice - to achieve competencies. For the future of (Brian) Hodges' model this matters, as I understand that efforts are ongoing to apply category theory to the social sciences. It is a pragmatic conceptual structure. To return to identity, A M Ferner tackles (literally?) Organic identity (pp.49-50); while Kerrie Grain takes on what is next-door in Hodges' model - Personal identity (pp. 51-52). As I continue to sort papers, journals and books there is more to follow. 

The Philosopher's Magazine, "50 New Ideas", 1st Quarter 2016. Issue 72. pp.20-120.

TPM #72 cover image: https://ericthomasweber.org/correcting-political-correctness/

^Ack.

Needham, R. (1987). Counterpoints. Berkeley: University of California Press.

(Looking f/w - I think - to chapters 7-8. With specific post(s) to follow.)

Philosophy in Pubs - Liverpool Weds 25th Jan 7.30pm

Subscribed to Philosophy in Pubs for many years, I've posted to the list also in the distant past, but I've never attended a meeting. This past week I noticed a message about a new subgroup - Young Philosophers - in Liverpool from Mike (phone numbers removed). Below, I've posted some of the online chat:

On Saturday, 14 January 2023 at 14:38:50 GMT, <info AT philosophyinpubs.co.uk> wrote:

Hi everybody,

 

Its Mike from the Keith's PIP and the young philosophers group.
I am currently re-launching the latter as a new PIP group at
Thomas Rigby's in town (23-25 Dale St, Liverpool L2 2EZ)

 

The first meeting of the Philosophy group will be
Wednesday evening the 25th January at 7.30pm.

Please come along, all welcome, all ages.

 

If you need anymore  information, please email me (email below) or call me on ...

 

Thanks

Mike Green.

michaelljohngreen AT gmail.com 

This piqued my interest, given my love of Liverpool (born in Walton) and the question of at what age can younger people - children be introduced to Hodges' model?

I replied expressing interest in the possibility of contributing, once the group is established, or as a 'starter for 10', seeking critique as to what sense young philosophers would make of the model.

Responding with an introduction to Hodges' model, and expression of interest, Paul and Rob replied as per below, to which I've tried to add some clarification.

Rob's thoughts are very helpful. The upshot is, I'm looking f/w to a full day in Liverpool this Wednesday, meeting Mike, Paul, Rob and possibly others before the meeting starts at 7.30pm.

Paul's message (intended for me):

info AT philosophyinpubs.co.uk
Sunday, 15 January 2023 at 13:00:12 GMT
Subject: Re: New PIP group!

Hi Mike, Peter

Yes, you seem to be part of quite a sizeable group of people on our general members/mailing list that have not gotten round to attending one of the groups yet. But that's okay, absolutely no need for apologies, your interest is appreciated anyway.

I've had a quick glance at your attachments; found what I read very interesting and would like to know more. I don't think I've heard of the Hodges' model, or at least not in relation to what we generally practice (Community of Enquiry method).

It's great that you would like to contribute or provide a session regarding the Hodges' model, but I'm not sure if doing that would fit well with this particular opening meeting of a new PIP group. Having said that, I could be very mistaken, and an introduction in the manner you mention, might be a great way to get people thinking and herald a fruitful meeting. The meeting is due to start at 7.30pm - (meetings usually take one and a half to two hours), but if you like I could meet you there half an hour earlier. Let me know.

We have something called the Enquiry Development Series (EDS) running at the moment. It's a monthly Online event which is run for PIP members and others to learn/refresh their undertanding and practices. You would be most welcome to attend.

Best regards,

Paul ...

PS: I have cc'd some members of the EDS in with this reply.

From Rob:

On 2023-01-16 12:44, fappyhealing02 AT yahoo.co.uk wrote:

Hi Everyone,

From my very limited reading on Hodge's model. It seems to be concerned with very similar issues to those of PIPs and the CofE community, which is an expression of prior analysis, critique and reflection coming from people like Dewey, Postman, Freire, Lipman and so on. I have a basic grasp of the model as a conceptual framework and a means to better care and understanding across society. What I don't seem to have picked up so much is a more fully developed methodology rooted in practice and realisation of these ideas.

This leads me wonder whether this model/framework is mainly conceptual, with limited  methodological guidance towards how the ideas in the framework are to be expressed and realised. PIPs is at the stage where it has a very successful methodology which realises and expresses in practice the ideas that Hodge points to, along with the philosophy of education eluded to earlier and various other frameworks such as the Paul and Elder model of critical thinking.

So, we have the history and philosophical education from Socrates onwards, the comes a distillation of these ideas into a framework or model, which is where we find Piaget, Bloom, Paul and Elder, along with Hodge and others. These models then have to be cashed out in practice. At this point, we are now thinking about methodology, there is of course connection, influence and overlap with the history, philosophy and subsequent frameworks. Methodologies vary from being barely formed to being well formed and robust. I would say PIPs and CofE have a well formed and somewhat robust methodological practice. It has been well tested and critiqued for over 40 years in different countries, communities and contexts. It has stood the test of time with a good pedigree. Matt Lipman was a key figure in developing a methodology out of his research into philosophy of education and various frameworks/models. However the methodology he produced to deliver in practice was something of a prototype rather than the more fully formed, finished article. Through time and careful reflection people like R Sutcliffe and Karin Muris took Lipman's methods improved and polished them into the practice we see and use 40 years later. This is of course still developing along democratic and dialogic lines.

In the case of Edward De Bonno, Paul and Elder, Illich and Dewey we find some powerful insights, some partially formed models and some fully formed models but not that much guidance on how to implement these ideas. Yes, they provide some ideas and pointers on how to go about the realisation of these things in practice but methodology on the whole is pretty sparse. I guess it's a case of focussing on a specific group of concerns comes at the cost of other concerns, though, I don't want to take this too far and slip into zero-sum thinking. Anyway, based on limited understandings I'd provisionally put Hodge in this category of well formed model, limited methodology in terms of the nuts and bolts of how to best realise the model in practice.

Questions I'm left with:

Is the distinction between model and methodology a significant and useful one here - why? Yes/No, because...?

Given our current point of development and understanding, by doing what we do, are we already cashing out a good deal of the key ideas in Hodge's model?

Could we just clarify what Hodge's model is a model of?

Do I need some help in understanding Hodge better in terms of both 'model' and 'methodology'?

This isn't to say we should not draw inspiration and ideas or take time to explore and experiment with Hodge's model, just that I need to be clearer about what it is, what it's trying to do, how it is going to do it. Once more secure with this, I feel I'd be in a better position to make more competent judgements and recommendations about its uses and benefits.

Best wishes,

Rob

My reply:

Subject: Re: New PIP group!

Thanks for the messages - just caught up I think...

I wondered originally Mike - about your young philosopher's group and once established asking the group the questions that Rob has posed and responded to.

I'm seeking critique, not proposing that Hodges' model is adopted by PIP.

The questions posed by the model - might gainfully exercise younger minds, and provide me with some pointers - which I would make clear (from ethics / consent perspective).

I greatly appreciate Rob's thoughts*.

A question I have educationally is from what age (literacy level) which Hodges' model #h2cm might be taught (discovered?).

I'd be pleased to come through on the 25th Mike and Paul, arriving a bit earlier.

I'll get to Liverpool early a.m. train and make a day of it.

As per Rob, I'm still asking these questions of the model and enjoying the journey ... so, briefly in response:

There is no methodology associated with the model, it is 'agnostic' (whatever that means).

The model is situated - so clinically, the way the model is used is influenced by the patient, client, carer, student, manager ...

The model can provide a relational ontology - it incorporates several polarities, dichotomies, oppositions and instrumentally can facilitate dialectic engagement.

It can be applied (imho) for a variety of research and philosophical stances, standpoints - Qual , Quant, Mixed-methods ... all the -isms?

As you will no doubt appreciate, in education and health care (especially) we need *evidence-based* interventions.

In seeking possible theoretical underpinnings for #h2cm think (as Rob suggests) of the model as a giant conceptual corpus (drawing from Tim Berners-Lee's giant global graph).

The axes of the model represent the (conceptual) holistic bandwidth of the situation.

The model can wax and wane as per the context (scale, scope). In a reductive sense I see the four (care) knowledge domains as four 'conceptual spaces' (Gärdenfors).

h2cm can also find a 'home' in the semantic web and in education - the idea of 'threshold concepts' (Meyer and Land).

There is another tool, but this calls for a logician - if not a totally erroneous idea?

[ Note diametric oppositions in the model: e.g.

• public understanding of science;
• the extent of visualization in the humanities;
• mental health (the self) and the State (politics, law) current Psycho-Economic crisis. ]

*ROB - and all - I'd be pleased to post your thoughts / response on the blog, if this is appropriate with links and text on PIPs.

I hope this helps and look f/w to next week - thanks for your interest too.

Best to all.

Peter

====

Clearly not the last word. Look f/w to Wednesday and learning more.

World Suicide Prevention Day #WorldSuicidePreventionDay #WSPD2020

This #WorldSuicidePreventionDay, find out how you can help people who might be struggling, and learn the skills to be able to start conversations about suicide. The training from @Zer0Suicide only takes 20 minutes, and could help save a life. https://t.co/CiaGq5nWKk pic.twitter.com/UC9K4vpgKy

— NHS England and NHS Improvement (@NHSEngland) September 10, 2020

'Suicide' https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search/label/suicide 

'Activism' https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search/label/activism

5th Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities

We are happy to announce that the 5th edition of VIS4DH — the Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities — will take place on Sunday, October 25, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of the IEEE VIS2020 conference.

For 4 years now, the VIS4DH workshop has brought together researchers and practitioners from the fields of visualization and the humanities to discuss new research directions at the intersection of visualization and (digital) humanities research. The general aim is to foster productive collaborations that mutually advances all fields involved. Papers and invited talks from previous years can be found here.

Re-Thinking
Re-Defining
Re-Imagining Data

This year, we invite a dialogue on the topic and terminology around “data”, a contested term within and between a range of disciplines. There are varying perspectives on the meaning and use of data that impact how we engage and debate it. “Data” seems core to visualization! Or is it? We invite both theoretical and applied works at the intersection of visualization and (digital) humanities around these and other questions related to the workshop theme.

You can contribute and showcase your work through our paper track (just like in previous years) and/or through our provocations track (new for VIS4DH 2020!) – the official calls for papers and provocations can be found on the Call for Submissions page.

Check back here or follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

COVID-19: Is there a need to separate Science and Politics?

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

Individual accountability	"I’ve great respect for scientists who appear at the daily UK briefings but it’s unfair to ask them to appear with ministers."
The public understanding of science.	"After today’s charade we must separate science from politics & have scientists engage with science journalists." Martin McKee

The (re-)integration of truth?

My source:
https://twitter.com/martinmckee/status/1264675733395460096?s=20

i) A map as well as an app: A De Facto Map of Health

A consulting - interview room 


Patient:
This all seems quite complicated!

:Healthcare Practitioner

Yes, I can understand that. It is complex and complicated. You're having to take a lot of information in. And.., crucially make a decision that is right for you, as well informed as can be.

Has the app helped?

Patient:
Yes, sure. The app has helped - being in touch with other people - with similar experiences and yet different experiences and stages.

:Healthcare Practitioner

You don't sound fully convinced there..?

 Patient:
Well, someone with a relative - you know...? A health practitioner, erm.. Jo! Well, Jo argued that while the app is useful, for both the community and auto upload of tests... Jo made a joke too: "we need a map as well as an app".

:Healthcare Practitioner

A map - like on your phone? 

Patient:
Well no, not exactly. Jo said in medicine and healthcare there's long been talk and work on 'maps of medicine', atlases of various kinds and maps of where disease outbreaks are - I suppose.

:Healthcare Practitioner

Ah, yes of course. Maps are central in public [ mental ;-) ] health.
I'm not sure how a map can help here - beyond the app?

Patient:
When I said it's complicated - and yes complex too - we discussed how bizarre it is that with something so perplexing on so many levels there's no map! Not even a compass to get your bearings. 

:Healthcare Practitioner

A compass? How on Earth would that help?

 
Patient:
To center things. The whole cussed situation. To weigh up what needs to be thought about, discussed, given up and even grieved for.

:Healthcare Practitioner

I see.

Patient:
Yes, and that's an important point too - as a compass can help orientate us both. And ... are we focussed on your clinical priorities or my domestic and social circumstances. A compass and a map might help capture the context and 'my' health career insofar as what is happening to my life chances at present? ... Yes, I've been reading a bit...

:Healthcare Practitioner

This sounds quite an idea but I'm not sure where we'd begin. Perhaps we can pull some people together to discuss this? When you mentioned centering things in a way that would also help 'ground' things too. The small matters of money and politics that are sat with us already! 

What do you think?

Patient:
Well actually, I think we've got a starting point!

c/o BBC R4: The Listening Project

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

The Listening...	Project

BBC Radio 4: The Listening Project