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User:Nicola.georgiou/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar group 7/ Power

Power
Power within disciplines comes from the authority it holds. Truth, evidence and history can all affect the power of a discipline and affect people's behaviours and attitudes towards them.

There are four significant forms of power:

 * Power as Direct Coercion : when power can be directly utilised to control someone's behaviour (e.g. the police). Power, in this case, is a possession that allows one to cause actions.
 * Power as Indirect Coercion : when power is institutionalised (e.g., institutional racism or patriarchy) or unconscious biases (e.g. glass ceiling for women in a workplace)
 * Power as Strategy/Language : the power of diction (e.g. association of "childcare" with "women")
 * Power as Multiple Strategies : when multiple forms of power interact and have an impact on multiple levels (individual and societal) like gender, race or class.

Approaches to "Power" in International Relations
The concept of “power” plays one of the central roles in the sphere of IR, as the question of how should this notion be conceptualised great controversy.

Realism
Even though multiple approaches to power exist, traditionally, the discipline of International Relations views "power" through the realist lens. This perception implies that power is put at the core of the way nation-states view everything around them. Thus, it is widely agreed among realists that power is the principal factor of international relations. However, even within the realist paradigm, there is a split in the approaches to power analysis. Some scholars lean towards “elements of the national power approach”, others incorporate “relational power approach”. The former implies that the state’s power lies in its resources, whereas the latter depicts power as a status in an interstate relationship.

"Power Cycle" theory
Under the framework of “power cycle”, what constitutes the “power” of a state is determined by the government officials and diplomats, usually referring to indicators such as GDP, size of the military, spending on armed forces, population size, and the extent of development in the technological innovations. All these variables together are the power cycle of a state – factors that enable governments to pursue their foreign agenda. More importantly, this theory introduces the concept of “relative” power cycle. Here, countries compete for a relative share of the whole power in the system, implying the fact that at different times in history, states have different indicators and levels of growth.

Nye’s notion of power
Joseph Nye viewed “power” as an ability to influence the actions of others to produce the result one desires. Theoretic approaches outline three main approaches to conceptualise power under the framework of international relations: soft power, hard power and smart power.

Soft power
This paradigm implies the use of peaceful methods such as of persuasion and attraction as means to shape the preferences, opinions or behaviour of others to produce a certain outcome, and stresses the importance of the power legitimacy. States exercise soft power through their culture, ideology, political relations and values.

Hard power
Hard power recognises the use of coercion and force to achieve one’s goals. Under this framework, state’s power is determined by its size of population and territory, geography, natural resources as well as military and economic capacity.

Smart power
Smart power is a more holistic approach, combining both hard and soft power strategies. In other words, this approach recognises the use and necessity of military force, however, at the same time, emphasises the importance of power legitimacy by supporting the establishment of new international coalitions, partnerships and institutions.

Power in Journalism
Historically, Journalism has struggled to be recognised as a discipline. Yet, it is also present as a part of all other disciplines and holds great authority and power. With the ability and authority to affect people’s behaviour and culture itself, the power of journalism stems from its perceived objectiveness

Journalism can affect people’s perception of the world itself because it enables the spread of information and ensures people’s rights to knowledge and democracy, and thus holds power directly. The discipline has widespread influence because it can draw attention to where needed and stir up public discussion, which may lead to a change in society or culture. Some may even view journalism as reflecting “truth” due to how the media poses itself as “objective”. However, even though journalism tries to be neutral as much as possible, the media can still be biased whether intentionally (e.g. propaganda) or unintentionally (e.g. implicit bias), especially when it comes to political news. This can be a problem when it comes to power in the form of strategy and language that journalism holds — because journalism relies heavily on the use language to convey ideas and knowledge posed as facts, the diction used in journalism may sway public opinion (from affecting the emotions of readers to even associating things like terrorism with certain ethnic groups ); and the language used can also be affected by social factors surrounding the author. Furthermore, journalism has the power to gatekeep — which is a form of power as multiple strategies (or intersectionality). Minorities may struggle to be represented by or to work in journalism and thus, be “othered” by society, which reflects the indirect authority of journalism.

The Medicalization of Society and The Power of Medicine
As Zola points out, our daily life is filled with activities that present, to a certain extent, a risk to our wellbeing and that our health care is mainly dealt by the medical field. Whether it be for a diagnosis or a treatment, our welfare resides at the end of a minority. For that matter, it is undeniable that this certain group, as well as the discipline as a whole, exert great control in many ways. The concept of power in medicine thus takes many forms. We find first and foremost an indirect form of power, as it is hidden through subconscious bias. Indeed, there is a tendency that any proposal, when coming from medical science, is considered superior. As a result, the medical profession is often seen as one the most prestigious profession and yields for that matter of a higher authority. If we take the simple example of a doctor consultation, one would hardly contradict the practitioner as the patient is usually less educated in that matter. Subconsciously, we look up to that institution and place our trust in it. Moreover, there exists another phenomenon called the ‘medicalising of society’ from which medicine holds great power. Medicalisation is the process of defining nonmedical disorders as medical problems and then provide treatment accordingly. This process shows how medical language can have substantial impacts on society. Newman illustrates this concept by describing how medicine bounds us to follow a certain behaviour by simply labelling what is healthy or not. But the impact is even greater as it can intersect at different levels. For instance, studies have shown that the simple labelling of alcoholism as a disease would not only impact alcoholics by decreasing their guilt but also reduce arrest rates by police officers. This phenomenon has an impact on a wide range of societal debates, such as homosexuality, abortion and even the degree of freedom one has over its body (i.e. sex modification). As having the authority to define most of the human behaviours, the medical field holds great power and social control.

Power in Education: How school can shape an entire generation's mind
Teaching presupposes power because it is about getting the students to learn what they would not otherwise have learned (not as well or as quickly at least). The teacher, seen by his students as an expert in the discipline, often carries an aura of authority and power. Power in education depends on the compliance of those who are its ‘subjects’, that’s why the younger students are, the more likely their minds are to be moldable and more the persons in charge of their education (as their teacher or their parents) are inclined to instil in them an ideology. The basic form of power in education is the ideological power that can make learnings, ideas and values seem reasonable to the students and transform those ideas and values into accepted and institutionalized truths. Ideological power is a matter of what seems reasonable and legitimate to people who, as teachers, students or parents, are involved in education. And those people, through this involvement, control a source of power.

The power of education is indirect coercion. Thereby, the persons in charge of education have this particular and singular power. Through its role of the shaper of patterns, of belief, conduct, and ways of thinking, the public school is in the unique social position of gathering almost all the nation’s young together for an extended common experience, and this allows to shape an entire generation’s mind. If schools exhibit democratic characteristics and learn to nurture personal thinking development, it would entertain an even more democratic society’s movement. Conversely, an authoritarian experience in school such as never thinking by yourself but always being told what to learn without asking a question may develop broader cultural authoritarianism, which would contribute to a further advance of authoritarianism.

Too often, the focus of education has been knowledge acquisition. The main question the student should ask its self is not: ‘what to learn?’, rather, ‘how to learn?’.

COVID-19 and the empowerment of destructive collective forces
Criminal groups hold great power, especially where the government struggles to assert its authority and is often corrupted. This feeling of insecurity from the population is a form of indirect coercion, but the armed groups also use -direct- coercion through violence onto the population to reinforce their power. Organised Crime groups have developed a form of non-state governance as a soft power strategy: filling the state’s gaps in providing essential goods and services in the poorest parts of their country and prisons, that way demonstrating the legitimacy of their power. By keeping the monopoly on the "legitimate" use of violence, criminal groups have the capacity to influence the norms and expectations of the society and sometimes they even have the power to organise criminal tribunals.

The pandemic showed how those groups establish their power through multiple strategies: violence and governance. In Brazil, for example, criminal groups saw in the lockdown an opportunity to increase their power by showing how adaptive they can be during the lockdown. In April 2020 a spike in homicides in the poorest parts of Fortaleza showed that the pandemic didn’t deter Brazilian gangs from violence. To show their growing power, criminal groups forced the lockdown onto the population, distribute -sometimes stolen - equipment and repurposed chemicals used for drug production to make hand sanitiser. They also negotiated with the health minister to make the entrance of the favelas more accessible and safe for health personnel while closing the doors to outsiders, showing their legitimacy as the government needed them. Apart from this, the criminal groups showed stability when continuing their "usual" extortion and drug trafficking.

Using violence, fear and terror but also governance, help the role of providers and criminal groups gain power. An interdisciplinary approach to power has thus been demonstrated as it operates in different fields and uses multiple strategies.

Gender and Ethnic Power Imbalances in Physics
Physics as a discipline involves large amounts of research into the traditional, explicit use of the word ‘power’ in natural sciences; for example, Scottish physician, inventor and engineer, James Watt, invented the steam engine in 1765 and was the first to introduce the term horsepower, which lead to vast developments in experiments into electricity and the powering of machinery. However, there is also implicit power involved in the discipline, such as the large gender and ethnic divides. Only 13% of people publishing in the field of physics are women, with this figure only increasing by 0.1% a year, and meaning that it would take over 250 years for there to be within a 5% parity of genders if progress does not increase, making physics one of the least diverse disciplines. This means that there is a severe power imbalance within physics, with men holding almost all of the most senior, influential positions, and women having little representation. This is not due to women being unable to do the jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), or a lack of women interested in it, but rather, studies have found that its because ‘assumptions and stereotypes about gender operate in personal interactions, evaluative processes and departmental cultures that systematically impede women’s career advancement in academic medicine, science and engineering’. Ethnic minorities are also under-represented in physics, with only 7% of physics postgraduates being from ethnic minorities, and over 75% being white men. This again affects the power within the discipline, as white male voices crowd out minority groups, which affects how far the field can progress as many capable physicists are not given the opportunities to develop their ideas.

Power in Psychology: Gender Inequality within Mental Illness Diagnosis
Gender imbalance is pervasive within psychological academia, with 46% of all male psychology faculty being professors in 2013/14, compared to just 28% of female psychology faculty according to the American Psychological Association. There is debate over the reasons for this disparity, with evidence to suggest at least partial responsibility from women's choice, as seemingly women are more likely to pursue clinical work over research positions. Yet research has also shown consistent subtle forms of sexism towards women's research in psychological academia, with them winning less research funding and research covering topics deemed to be 'more female' (sexual violence, reproductive experiences) being evaluated more harshly in peer review processes. However, there is no debate over the fact that this imbalance creates a reality in which mental illness in women is often misdiagnosed or goes completely undetected, due to the overwhelmingly male perspective in diagnostic research, particularly in personality and developmental disorders. Therefore, women are subjected to indirect coercion via an institutionalised bias towards men within mental illness diagnosis.

Using autism as an example, historically it was thought that the disorder affected more men than women as early researchers were all male and disregarded the female experience- this lead to underrepresentation and systematic exclusion of women in studies causing a distinct lack of information and an inability to diagnose women on the autistic spectrum. More recent, inclusive research has shown characteristics of autism in women as differing to the classic characteristics in men, for example, more neurotypical special interests (e.g. boybands rather than bus timetables) and less conspicuous repetitive behaviour. These differences ensure that women have to present characteristics of much higher severity than men to be diagnosed, placing unfair requirements on women's symptoms and often preventing them from getting the help they need.

Power in Marketing
Power in marketing is multifaceted; the subject focuses on both the individual and organisational levels of power, it relies on a particular strategic use of language and imagery, and an indirect but effective ‘institutionalised’ position in society.

A defining feature of power in marketing is in advertising itself; functioning strategically, advertising exerts immense power in its contribution to society’s perception of itself and others. A prime example of this – in a harmful form– is the representation of men and women in the media, propagating gender stereotypes. Evidence of this is exemplified by the depiction of women in domestic roles/settings or their sexualisation and objectification. The presence of these stereotypes in the media is in part what keeps them alive. That said, this power works both ways meaning that changes in societal thinking prompted by movements like the feminist movement have also contributed to both the way advertising (in this case, about women) is perceived and subsequently, how marketing adapts its strategy to best ‘reflect’ society.

Ultimately marketing is also about selling a product, and the power it uses to find and rope in its consumers is one that targets a human emotional response to provoke a feeling of desire for the product or idea being promoted. This targeting is facilitated nowadays through many means including general media, advertisement and product placement in movies and TV shows, sports, etc. This unofficially institutionalised presence of marketing all plays into the power of subliminal messaging which is used to evoke psychological effects like the "mere exposure effect" which explains the effective use of product placement in media/entertainment to elicit a positive subliminal reaction to a brand. Power is thus evident in marketing in the resulting actions of the consumer and society as a whole.

Panopticon: Power as Surveillance

When in the 18th century Jeremy Bentham invented the panopticon—a round-shaped prison with an inspection house in the centre from which a sentinel could observe prisoners unaware they were being watched—he also gave birth to the conceptual theory of the power of surveillance. “Bentham reasoned that if the prisoners of the panopticon could be seen but never knew when they were watched, the prisoners would need to follow the rules” and that such idea could be exported to a factory, a hospital, a school, society or any institution that could be controlled. The French philosopher Michel Foucault elaborated this theory and applied it to the modern world with the idea of the power of control. With Foucault, the idea of the panopticon became a disciplinary and organizing principle of power actually assuring the automatic functioning of power. The concept of traditional power located at the apex of a pyramid was changed into a circular form in which one who can surveil the others from a centre to a periphery. Foucault’s ideas have influenced the modern world in a variety of disciplines (from architecture to philosophy) so much so that we can speak of panopticism, panoptic vision, panoptical narration investing the concept with the allure of a super concept.

Power In Law
Law can be defined as the “the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.”. Law is a form of power, as it allows the governments to sanction one’s actions and behavior in the name of justice. Ideally, the legal system exists to maintain justice and allow for the well-functioning of society. However, in some instances, the law can participate in the reinforcement of inequalities and racists ideologies.

The 13th Amendment in the United States is believed to have abolished slavery. Slavery was abolished “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”. This exception is one of the causes of the mass incarceration of Black people in the US. Currently, Black people make up for 38.5% of the total prison population while they only represent 13.4% of the total US population.

After the enactment of the 13th Amendment, prisons were built in the Southern States to re-enslave Black workers, and make them work to rebuild the cities destroyed by the Civil War. Also, Black codes were introduced. They sanctioned originally legal activities for Black people, like walking in the night. This led to a massive increase in the number of African American inmates, and for the first time, they surpassed the white population imprisoned. In this way, the economic advantage of slavery was maintained.

The “War on Drugs” under the Nixon administration also led to mass incarceration of African Americans. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established “mandatory minimum” prisons sentences for different drugs. However, there was a huge discrepancy between the amount of crack (five grams) and powder cocaine (five hundred grams) required for the equivalent minimum sentence (five years sentence). It can be argued that this policy was racist, “80% of crack users were African American, mandatory minimums led to an unequal increase of incarceration rates for nonviolent Black drug offenders”


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User:Nicola.georgiou/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar group 13/ History

Seminar Group 13 History Contributions = Introduction = This article addresses history in various disciplines. The focus remains on markers of a beginning of a discipline, and an end, if there is one, as well as paradigm shifts. Such markers include the creation and propagation of learned societies, academic publications, a form of teacher/student collaboration in the form of the establishment of a degree programme in university. Social values significantly influence the development of a discipline, even in disciplines that are deeply rooted in empirical methods, such as physics and mathematics. That is because certain individuals and groups hold power over the publication of knowledge, and not all members of society have the opportunity to be educated.

=History of Disciplines =

Archeology
Archeology is a scientific discipline which aims to study material remains of the past to try and gather historical information. Its chronological field extends from artifacts from the Stone Age to more recent objects. Archeological research could be done anywhere to discover all sorts of remains from buildings to human-made objects.

We could place the first archeological findings back to Mesopotamia and Egypt. One of the first known archeological text goes back to more than twenty-five centuries, those searches were led by the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, reigning from 556 to 539 BC. He led excavations, restored temples but his most important work was the reconstruction of the temple built by Naram-Sin located in Harran. He was the first to take on archeological work.

Across the years some people kept taking interest in finding out about past cultures but until years later, with the antiquarianism movement it was not very common. Even then, it was still mostly a movement among wealthy and educated people that traveled a lot such as the scientist Shen Kuo (1031-1095) or the scholar Cyriacus of Ancona (1391-1455). Antiquarians collected artifacts to display in cabinets and analyse them to understand their past.

It was only later that archeology became a national initiative going from cabinets to museums with improved methods to date and preserve the remains. In the 1960’s the field expanded with universities creating more programs, giving funds for research… The teaching field was not the only one to be improved, the procedures and the scientific instruments (aerial photography, carbon-14 dating…) gained in precision. In the most recent years, the work done only gained in precision due to a desire to have a complete understanding of the past. Interpretation of the remains is based on a thorough process with the help of documentation, photographs, and scientific dating techniques.

Anthropology
Different orientations and methods in the history of anthropology

Anthropology, since its early ages, had the aim to be a discipline that studied humankind as a whole. However a duality between the social and life sciences can be observed throughout the history of anthropology. Indeed the Bartholins who were the first scholars to define it, described it in 1567 as a science which studies the humankind as a whole but separates the body (studied in Anatomy) from the soul (studied in Psychology).

Throughout history, a curiosity of discovering new peoples and civilizations existed. The literature of new discoveries, especially in the 15th and 16th century shows that humans have developed an interest in the study of other social groups.

The first anthropologists used to study human fist via an evolutionist approach; as many in most fields viewed progress as the aim of society. During the 19th century, this vision was of course reinforced by Darwin’s theory of evolution. At the same time the second branch of anthropology developed itself, starting earlier in Germany and in parallel with sociology. New approaches were explored, with the aim of distinguishing themselves from the natural sciences; showing how the uniqueness of humankind could be studied.

The establishment of the Society of Anthropology of Paris in 1859 by the French physician and anatomist Paul Broca could be considered as the beginning of anthropology as a discipline. It could indeed be the first time that the study of anthropology included all of its branches. Since then, some could say that anthropology has continued to develop to be a more inclusive discipline as most university nowadays offer to study its different fields together. Today, as Franz Boas observes it, the main focus of anthropologist seems to be the mental and physical health of human beings.

Chemistry
Chemistry is the study of the properties, compositions and structure of substances, their interactions, and associated chemical processes. Humans have always utilised chemical processes to their advantage, but the ever-increasing degree to which we understand these activities marks the progression of Chemistry as a field, and is what allows us to exploit and enhance such processes. Humans across all ages have participated in ‘chemistry:’ Indeed, fermenting food to make alcohol and fertilising soil to increase crop yield are merely two examples of how Chemistry contributed to the development of new practices that persist today.

Disciplinary Establishment
Yet the establishment of chemistry as a discipline began in the 17th century. Robert Boyle’s The Sceptical Chymist (1661) is an important marker in the development of the discipline, as it signals both a formalisation of the study of chemistry and the movement away from alchemy. Alchemy is a precursor to chemistry. The common goals of alchemists was to transmute common metals into silver and gold, and discover the elixir of life. Whilst these goals have not been fulfilled, the efforts made to reach them resulted in significant contributions to today’s understanding of chemistry.

Scientific Revolution
The scientific revolution encompasses a period between the 16th and 18th centuries defined by the emergence of modern science. Academic cooperation began increasing in the form of learned societies, experimental methods were improving, and papers were being published (like aforementioned The Sceptical Chymist, Boyle). The establishment of the the British Royal Society in 1660 is an important marker on the timeline of the growth of chemistry as a discipline. It is indicative of the growth of cooperation within the scientific community, and has served as a means of publishing scientific works. The establishment of a chemistry lab at the University of Oxford in 1860 is another marker of chemistry becoming a distinguished discipline, rather than a sub branch of physics, further legitimising it as a field of study.Later on we can also find the formalization of the study of Chemistry as a academic discipline that is taught at a university level in 1865, as professor Cyrus Warren leads the first class of organic chemistry at MIT.

Economics
The origins of the economic discipline in the western world can be found in ancient Greece. Great philosophers, most famously Aristotle, examined the acquisition and ownership of wealth and whether property should be owned privately or by the state.

Economics Today
The study of economics as we know it today, more specifically, our notion of the political economy, came into being during the 18th and 19th century with thinkers such as David Ricardo, Adam Smith, William Pitt the younger, Karl Marx, to name but a few, responding to the explosion of wealth and economic growth following the industrial revolution. Their respective publications, although often contradictory, provided frameworks for formalised economic analysis. More importantly, these works caused a paradigm shift: economics was no longer a subset of the more abstract discipline of philosophy, rather, it became the focus of policy makers and considered instrumental in understanding the behaviour and mechanics of society. This Classical economic era still plays a large role in the teaching of the discipline today, characterised by rational market theory, the free market economy and an emphasis on supply. Two major transitions in economic thought have occurred since: first, from the incumbent, laissez-faire paradigm to the post-war consensus, with the Keynesian doctrine rising to dominance. Second came the shift to neoliberalism. The inception and expansion of the neoliberalist movement can be attributed in part to the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS). Founded in 1947, the small group of academics led by Friedrich Hayek sought to critique and provide an alternate economic standard to the mainstream post-war model. They explicitly emphasised need for an interdisciplinary approach to economics, drawing on concepts from the philosophical, historical, political disciplines and natural sciences. Only after the oil and currency shocks of the 1970s and 80s was the shift to neoliberal orthodoxy cemented as economists reverted to supporting reduced state intervention and lower barriers to trade.

Movements towards a new paradigm in Economics
The economic shocks, crises and resulting social divergences stemming from the mismanagement of neoliberalist economies have caused many to predict an imminent shift in the politico-economic paradigm. There is some evidence to support these predictions: staunch opponents of neoliberalism, economists like Mariana Mazzucato and Dani Rodrik, are gaining prominence in the public sphere; the work of academics awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in recent years has been distinctly outside neoliberal orthodoxy. There is no guarantee that this transition will occur but there is certainly pressure for major reform to take place within economics, both as an academic discipline and as it exists in civil society.

Eugenics
Eugenics – 'the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable' – established pseudo-scientific, racist, handicap-intolerant hierarchies of human beings, and then studied ways of efficiently eliminating so-called negative eugenics (Greek for "bad stock"). The aim was to cleanse 'the more suitable races' by such means as forced sterilisation and prohibition of mixed marriages. Advocates insisted eugenics was consistent with Darwin’s theory of natural selection, adopting the term “social Darwinism”.

Birth of the Discipline
The term was coined by British scientist Sir Francis Galton in 1883, and the first department was founded in 1904 with money bequeathed by Galton to UCL. Eugenics was rapidly embraced and put in practice by western academics and governments, nowhere more enthusiastically than in the still-segregated United States. In 1925, American biologist Charles Davenport founded the International Federation of Eugenics Organizations (IFEO). The practice of eugenics was applied with the full force of the state in Nazi Germany. Nazi scientist Karl Brandt theorised the existence of human sub-races threatening the “purity of the Aryan race”.

Deletion of the Discipline
After the horrors of WWII, eugenics as a discipline was banished from mainstream science, and gave way to new international norms such as universal human rights. But many of its advocates were folded into biology and anthropology programmes, and the concept – now more ideology than science – persisted.

Transformation and Resurgence of the Discipline?: the case of Genetic Engineering
New tools in genetic medicine and reproductive technology – such as CRISPR-cas9, a gene editing tool – have raised ethical questions that echo old debates around eugenics. The goal of fixing heritable genes to avoid disease or disability, for example, bleeds easily into arguments for enhanced human traits. The very possibility of identifying ‘defective' genes raises the spectre of what some scientist call "new eugenics" . One could also argue that discredited ideas from eugenics still influence attitudes towards race, and fuel discrimination.

Film Studies
Film studies is the academic discipline dedicated to the study theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to films. As a discipline, the study of film includes the analysis and exploration of the history of film, film genres, national cinemas, film criticism and analysis, and film theory. Furthermore, specifically in a academia film studies focus on the critical approaches for the analysis of production, theoretical framework, context, and creation of films. A form of plagiarism from the first sentence of the wikipedia article on film studies could be observed here. The combination of all these scholarly approaches within the discipline create what we know as Film theory, which is taught and studied often, especially in regards to the conflict between textual analysis of screenplay and Hollywood’s visual aesthetics. Film studies has less of a focus on filmmaking and is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than it is with exploring the narrative, artistic, cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.

Origins
Film studies as a academic discipline first began to appear after the birth of the medium itself and the creation of film technology in the late 18th century. However, film studies as a discipline only came into existence due to the creation of film theory and the writing of film historiography. This study of the discipline is not te be confused with the study of technical elements of film production. In the first two decades of motion pictures, a wide range of discussion about the medium had developed, at many levels of appreciation and analysis—newspaper reviews, professional trade periodicals, books on production technique, fan magazines, and gossip columns, among others. However, in the reality the fixation of film studies as an academic discipline came with the establishment of the Moscow Film School in 1919 with Russian filmmakers including Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Lev Kuleshov serving as faculty to disseminate their very distinct viewpoints on the purpose of film. Later on we see the apparition of many othe schools focusing on film, such as the United States the USC School of Cinematic Arts, created in agreement with Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In these early years, the discipline had the objective to develop and advance a rigorous theoretical and critical consideration of the forms, styles and themes found in cinema with particular focus on Hollywood cinema. As it originally derived from English Literature, the original teachings were characterized by a preoccupation with the text, the film, and with closer reading of its style and structure. Noteless, the difference between abstract theory and the practical approach to filmmaking was not implemented in cinema related curriculums at universities, as for example USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1932 was the first to offer a major in film in general.

Later on in the 1940s the French filmogie movement pushed forward the study of film, leading up to the intentions in 1950s to call the field “cinematology”. By the 1970s, film studies had become the most commonly used name for the discipline.

Genetics
The monk Gregor Mendel is considered to be the first geneticist, and as such the start of the discipline is attributed to the mid 19th century, around the time of his work. Mendel’s 1865 paper “Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden” detailed his experiments on Pisum plants and inheritance. Mendelian genetics was popular among horticulturalists, leading to an international conference in 1899 where speakers exchanged scientific papers and ideas. The term ‘genetics’ was first suggested by William Bateson in 1906 at the third international conference. Bateson recognised the importance of genetics not only in regards to plant breeding, but also human health, reflecting today’s modern approach to genetics.

History
History, as an academic discipline, is characterised by the use of narrative to critically describe, analyse and evaluate chronological sequences of past events.

Early History
The compilation of annals as chronological records of past events in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia is the first evidence of keeping historical records. Some consider these annals early histories; however, general consensus regards Herodutos, dubbed the “father of history” by Cicero, the first historian. Histories, from which the modern interpretation of the word ‘history’ is derived, is composed of nine books surveying the origins, causes and execution of the Greco-Persian wars (500-450 BCE). Herodutos’ pioneering proto-scientific approach– collecting materials and presenting them chronologically, was consolidated by his contemporary Thucydides, who aimed to establish a diagnostic science of history. Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War takes on a more rigid analytical approach, viewing the chronology of history as being casual and analysing the origins of events, constituting an early historical study.

Historiography
The “father of historiography” Ibn Kalhdun ’s Muqaddimah (1377) was a seminal work emphasising comparing and evaluating different historical accounts to not only record history but examine the world’s environments. His method incorporated criticism and observation to obtain greater historical accuracy, and stressed the importance of context. His philosophies marked the beginning of historiography, the study of the writing of history, which fundamentally underlies modern historical methods, governing a more critical and comprehensive study of historical sources.

Academic Study
The academic disciplinary formalisation of history only occurred in 18th century Germany. Notably, the study of history was pioneered in 1759 by Johann Christoph Gatterer, chairing history at the University at Göttingen. His project, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, created an edition of sources for studying Germany history, and he established a Historical Institute, an early form of seminar. Leopold von Ranke then became the first scholar to formally teach a historical seminar. During his 37 year term at the University of Berlin he established widely accepted critical methods of historical scholarship.

Rhetoric
The word Rhetoric is usually used to designate the art of successfully persuading or influencing a target audience with a spoken or written work, through the use of stylistic figures or figures of speech.

Origins
Some of the earliest examples of the use of rhetoric can be found in Akkadian literature, as early as the 22nd century BC, however, it is only around the 5th century BC that the first teachers of rhetoric, Protagoras (485-411 BC), Gorgias (Sicily, 485-375 BC) and Isocrates (436-338 BC) appeared in Athens.

Evolution from ancient Greece to the beginning of the 20th century
In ancient Greece, rhetoric was mainly used in political discourse, however, during the Middle Ages, rhetoric was predominantly used in a religious context. Preachers of the Church, such as St. Augustine, sought to use rhetoric in order to convert non-believers and believers of other religions in a more efficient way. From the Renaissance up until the beginning of the 20th century, rhetoric experienced a rebirth and rejuvenation as previous texts were studied anew and works dating from ancient Rome and Greece, such as Quintilian's De Inventione were used as textbooks in European Universities. When democratic ideals started spreading across the world, the main focus of rhetoric was brought back to the domain of politics, and in 19th century, universities started opening departments focused solely on the study of rhetoric.

Theology
Theology can be defined as the study of religion and religious belief. As an academic discipline theology was developed as early as the 11th century: in the later years of the century Anselm of Laon taught in Paris alongside William of Champeaux. He went on to found the cathedral school of Laon which attracted many pupils. Later on, theology became one of the first subject areas, along with the arts, law and medicine to be taught in higher education, as universities sprung up throughout Europe. By the late 13th century, the corpus for theology students in Oxford University had been elaborated and comprised of two main works: the Bible and the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Obtaining a doctorate in theology was a long process which often took over ten years: Duns Scotus, a prominent theologian and philosopher was awarded his from Oxford University in 1305. Subsequently, universities built architectural structures as a tribute to the growing importance of the discipline: in Oxford University, the Divinity School was built between 1427 and 1488.

Reformation
During the Reformation, the approach to theology underwent a considerable change: the arrival of nomalist thought encouraged the separation of the religious from the intellectual. This allowed the discipline to go beyond understanding and developing Christian teaching, that is to say, drawing emphasis to the theological meaning, and further encouraged scholars to interpret and draw new conclusions from their research. Indeed, they became more critical of texts and studied the historical context, hoping to ensure they attributed texts to their authentic authors. The study of theology has persisted throughout history and is a course offered in a myriad of universities across the world.

Where Theology and Law meet
Law is commonly defined as “the system of rules of a particular country, group or area of activity”. Concretely, it is what determines what is socially acceptable or not as it is explained in “How the Law works” by Gary Slapper and what allows social instances to maintain order by punishing any breach of the law. As condemning wrong actions is a spontaneous human behaviour, law in a way has always existed in human societies and the reference codes and rules were often found in religious texts such as Sharia or the Christian Canon law. In this perspective, Theology, discussed in the previous section, obviously covers how religious institutions and beliefs can rule societies and their “legal” systems. However, if these systems were close to the notion of law they should not be confused with the actual discipline of law.

How did law become an actual discipline ?
The Roman empire is commonly known as the first legal defined system including courts and orators (roughly the equivalent of lawyers) like Cicero(106-43 BC). However, an orator’s competence was only determined by their mastery of rhetoric(presented two sections above) and not any law degree. Law was not yet a discipline and it took a series of events for it to become one. The first school to teach law was the University of Bologna in the 12th century and it inspired most of European medieval societies to do the same. Over time, different legal professions emerged such as advocates or notaries. In the 13th century, British law practitioners who were disposed to teach gathered into the first legal society : the Inns of Court. One of its members was judge William Blackstone who was also the first man to obtain a law professorship at the University of Oxford in 1758. Since then, just like any discipline, law has morphed, specializing in different fields, which led to various types and scales of law (public, private, national, international law…), and tending to be the fairest and most objective possible. Social changes and the evolutions of mindsets have made ethics shape our legal systems according to trends towards gender equality or anti-rascism for instance. But as law has to take into account the current social context, it raises the question of the extent to which it can be objective considering each and everyone of its players are more or less involved in each cause.

Western Philosophy
“Philosophy, (from Greek, by way of Latin, philosophia, “love of wisdom”) the rational, abstract, and methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence and experience. Philosophical inquiry is a central element in the intellectual history of many civilisations.”

The Ancient era
The origin of western philosophy as a simple notion is often dated to Thales, a pre-Socratic philosopher who can be dated as a result of his prediction of an eclipse in the year 585 B.C. However as a discipline Western Philosophy originates within the Athenian school of philosophy with the academic study most prominent in Plato’s Academy and later within Aristotle’s Peripatetic school. This founding school of philosophical thought would go on to have lasting impact on the field and in particular on the formation of early Christian doctrine, "the safest general characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

The Medieval era
Founded in this ancient Greek origin the discipline has been maintained through different forms, its most notable periods being divisible into the ancient, medieval and modern eras. During the medieval era, western philosophy adopted and was co-opted by the Judeo-Christian theological tradition, which through the development of the western world's first universities would develop the field and evolve toward a tradition of Scholasticism. Some of the more prominent philosophers from this period include: St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Laon.

The Modern era
The last full period within western philosophy is modern philosophy, beginning with relevant figures such as Thomas Hobbes and René Descartes, this period is characterised heavily by the ideological process of the Enlightenment, which constituted a dramatic shift in philosophical thought, redirecting the established philosophical canon away from a theological perspective and toward schools such as existentialism, utilitarianism, pragmatism and phenomenology. As a discipline modern philosophy came to a head in Germany, as it was first country to affirm philosophy as a PhD subject during the 17th century and most notably appointed the philosopher Hegel to the position of Professor of the State in 1817.

The Contemporary era
Lastly there exists the present period, known as contemporary philosophy, which is distinguishable for building on the ideas prominent in modern philosophy while simultaneously developing a culture of professionalisation within the academic field.

=Paradigm Shifts in the History of Different Disciplines=

A Potential Paradigm Shift in Genetics
The late 20th century saw a shift in the discipline towards medical genetics due to developments in experimental and computer technology. The discovery of DNA structure by Watson and Crick in 1953, and later the polymerase chain reaction and sequencing techniques, were at the forefront of the shift from Mendelian genetics to molecular genetics. This could be considered the beginnings of a paradigm shift in the discipline, as some Mendelian ideas were replaced. For example, both qualitative and quantitative genetic traits are now equally considered, which caused a shift in considerations of genetic diseases. However, it is debated whether this is truly a paradigm shift or simply the field’s natural advancement as societal pressure for medical advancement increases.

Paradigm Shifts in Film Studies
The first most drastic change we see is with the court case between the U.S and Paramount, also known as the in 1948. This case brought to an end the vertical integration of the film industry giving rise to independent film makers. This causes the downfall of the studio systems moving away from the Hollywood productions and to a more artistic independent cinema, the trademark of the 1950s. However, this shift specifically affected the discipline of film studies as it presented a new forms of approaching films, this new perspective called auteur theory, which asserted film as the director's vision and art. This led to the full worldwide acceptance of film studies as an academic discipline in 1960s.

Later in the 1970’s we see a formation of a New Hollywood due to new wave of film-school-educated directors such Spielberg, Coppola, Bogdanovich etc. Furthermore we see the rise of larger budgets and special FX. To this we also add the global commercialization of the movie business due to the rise of the Homevideo market with the mainstream production of videotapes and later on DVD’s. All of these changes created an added interest in the field and with stable enrolment and proper budgets numerous universities contained the ability to offer distinct film studies programs. Finally this success of the first half of the twentieth century led to many important figures in the film industry investing in the same industry, as did George Lucas' by donating 175 million dollars to the USC School of Cinematic Artsin 2006.

Paradigm shift of the 20th century in Rhetoric
The Rhetoric discipline underwent a major shift in the 20th century, as film photography and television had become new powerful tools that could be used for persuasion. Consequently, in order to adapt to the societal progress caused by the emergence of new technologies, rhetoricians have sought to enlighten themselves on visual arts as much as they did on spoken and written language.

The Keynesian Revolution in Economics
Economics is a complex discipline, covering a very vast societal scope. Indeed, economics is a social science meant to study the production, distribution and consumption of wealth in our society. Throughout its history, economics as a discipline has changed and evolved a great number of times. However, the « Keynesian Revolution », as it was first referred to by Lawrence R. Klein in 1947, represents one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the history of the discipline.

The Keynesian revolution started in 1936, with the publications of British economist John Maynard Keynes’ « General Theory of Employment » and « Interest and Money ». These would bring about a massive shift in macro-economics. Keynes’ theory represented a clear separation with that time’s dominant economic paradigm, otherwise known as neo-classical economics.

At the time, economics would base their study on Say’s Law, which argued that it was needless for the government to intervene to help provide full employment. Instead, the free market itself would supply balanced general employment as long as workers would work for wages less important than their final production output. Keynes went against this framework, arguing that demand was actually the driving factor determining levels of employment, thus advocating for more government intervention to prevent severe unemployment. This shift in thought would not only work towards the refutation of Say's law, but also formed a criticism of all traditional economics, and in particular economic liberalism and invisible hand theories of Adam Smith, a key philosopher and economist of the enlightenment

Keynes’ theories were quickly integrated and became a strong basis in economics with the help of economist John Hicks. The Keynesian revolution quickly had a very significant impact on not only academic economics but also the organisation of the world. Indeed, the practical dimension of Keynes’ theories can be studied in very important policy decision making later on, such as the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 or even the New Deal policies under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the United States.

= Relationship Between History and Different Disciplines =

History and International Relations
International Relations is, arguably, an interdisciplinary discipline. It draws knowledge from and makes connections between multiple subject areas including history, economics, political science, and geography. History in particular has allowed scholars of the discipline to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. For instance, the culture and structure of countries can be better understood through the study of their histories. It is easier to grasp how today’s international systems function when viewed from the perspective of world history. In addition, scholars are able to identify the causes of political events as well as explain how they came to be when they are equipped with this historical context. This in turn aids the development of theory in international relations. Also, an understanding of the amplification versus silencing of various groups in history is necessary to truly grasp the factors that shape current events. It is important to consider who is able to voice their narrative to try and avoid (as much as possible) confirming biases and ignoring minorities.

The knowledge gained from studying international relations through a historical lens has many applications. Policy makers have the capacity to make more reasonable and perceptive decisions due to a more comprehensive understanding of an event. For scholars, it means they are less quick to judge political figures as they can appreciate and acknowledge the sacrifices, obstacles and other complexities that these individuals face. Historian Kim Salomon highlights that by studying the past and gaining a deeper understanding of current issues, the potential for a better future is enabled by evaluating the different approaches to tackling similar issues.

History in international relations is not only about understanding historical context, it is also about the approach to viewing history. Lawson and Hobson examined the four modes of history in international relations: history without historicism, historicist historical sociology, radical historicism, and traditional history. These modes vary in generality and the way they view history. As a result, the way one understands international relations is heavily influenced by the mode of history employed.

The Importance of History to Genetics
The study of history within genetics is highly important in order to prevent the rise of ideologies such as eugenics and the abuse of genetic ideas such as during the Nazi regime. In order to understand the circumstances in which such cases arise and prevent future occurrences, genetic history must be considered in a modern context. Some ‘eugenic’ ideas may still remain in medical genetics today ; this shows the impact of history on the discipline and further highlights the need for its study. Considering the history of genetics is important for setting ethical guidelines in future genetic work, this is a major societal concern.

= Conclusion = In this article phenomenon of history has been discussed through the analysis of different disciplines and how these originated as an academic field of study where knowledge in that field is taught and researched. Disciplines, we have concluded are a product of society and thus are determined and changed due to social interaction with the subject matter. Thus the discussion had by the collective of intellectuals form what we know as the knowledge framework for each discipline. However, as has been clearly shown in many examples mentioned in this article, this knowledge framework isn’t fixed, but forms a fluid mosaic that can loose parts and gain new information, as well as modify itself, it even has the ability divide and split to form new knowledge frameworks creating categories within the disciplines or even completely new disciplines. In line with this idea of fluidity, a clear issue that has been exposed with the history of disciplines is in the idea of paradigm shift. We can conclude that this idea of paradigm shift is essential and needed for the advancement of history and the forward evolution of knowledge in all of the disciplines. We can also find that the new emerging paradigm causing the shift of focus in subject matter is a part of the history of each discipline that has effects in other issues, regarding the evidence, truth and power in that discipline.

Simultaneously, we can see how the formalization of disciplines that is described multiple times for each specific discipline allows for the discussion of history as a more tangible concept, and thus as has been made clear through the discussion, allows for better understanding of the disciplines and how they interacts between them. It also allows for comparison between them, which is yet another important factor that an interdisciplinary perspective allows and in some way requires. .

= References =

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User:Nicola.georgiou/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar group 13/ Truth

Seminar Group 13 Truth Contributions

=Introduction= "All men by nature desire to know." . In making this claim, Aristotle states that people do not simply wish to know anything, they wish to know the truth of what surrounds them. Many individuals may have distinct understandings of what faithfully reflects the truth, does this mean truth is subjective, or does there exist a single objective truth? How then, do human beings come to find that singular truth? By looking at truth in different disciplines, it is made apparent that our understanding of truth is permanently evolving, that different factors have an influence on how truth is socially understood.

We find truth in many different forms, ranging from a more objective and evidence-based approach, where truth is seen as globally accepted facts. Then we also find truth in the from of a more subjective and abstract philosophical thought based on abstract theories. Thus we see how truth forms a spectrum and can be categorised in multiple different ways. Specific categorisations include:

 * Positivist truth: This classification places truth as a measurable and quantifiable fact that is objective and that can be proven through empirical data . Traditionally tied to the sciences.

 * Interpretive truth: This classification is based on human experience and is based on the consciousness and perspective of individuals, form a more subjective interpretation of truth. Traditionally tied to the humanities and arts.

 * Constructivist truth: This classification argues that truth is a human and social construction, meaning that we can reach truth through a community of knowers . Traditionally tied to the social sciences.

= Censorship =

Queer Erasure
Queer erasure is a heteronormative tendency which, whether purposefully or merely through a process of cultural drift, seeks to diminish the presence of non-heterosexual and cis individuals, removing their identity from them or simply removing them from the historical record. This concept continues to gain traction in modern day academic discussion, having stemmed from queer theory “queer theory is a call to transgress conventional understandings of gender and sexuality and to disrupt the boundary that separates heterosexuality from homosexuality." and was first utilised by experts such as Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Diana Fuss, and Judith Butler for example.

Erasure as law in the modern day
Modern history includes various examples of the use of censorship and legal coercion to promote an anti-queer ideology, and thus control a portion of a society's truth. One example of these processes is known in British politics as section 28, which stated that an authority “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.”. This enactment which at the time forced the closer of student and staff ran support groups across Britain out of fear of legal reprisals, would go on to deprive a generation of queer youth from an education both regarding their history but also as regards sex education. However most importantly thruth regarding the wide spectrum of sexuality and the reality of the existence of homosexuals was erased from this entire generation, in a way deceiving them into believing another more archaic truth with underlying homophobic notions. Section 28 was passed as part of the Local Government Act of 1988, a date which is particularly relevant because of the first reports of HIV/Aids appearing during the 1980’s a fact that has been highlighted as a possible motive for the sudden stigmatisation of queer groups and which makes the sudden lack of formal sex education among the youth a policy that placed the lives of the youth at risk. This example also comes to show how ones perception of truth is social and supports the idea of a constructivist truth.

Erasure as representation
Representation in media refers to the use of or presence of certain groups, collectives or ideologies within the media consumed by the general public. In this context it refers to the absence or at time removal of queer figures from the mainstream. The most prominent method by which this is achieved is referred to colloquially as ‘straight-washing’ “Straightwashing is the assimilation of someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual asexual or other to fit heterosexual cultural norms. Put simply, it’s the practice of portraying non-straight people or characters as straight.”. A concept akin to that of “whitewashing”. This idea of "straightwashing" really comes to show how the concepts of truth is much more flexible and fluid than the objective and rigid idea we have in our minds as we see how truth can be modifed by external sources and that truth's that we sometimes accept as ultimate and universal is actually a subjective construction. Thus we need to start questioning truth and really be observant with the origins of many different truths that surround us on the daily.

= Correspondence Theory of Truth = Correspondence theory is one of the most famous visions of truth as a philosophical and metaphysical concept. It states that a statement can only be proven true or false depending on how it relates to the world. In other words, truth corresponds to reality. This perspective being so vast, it allowed a string of different sub-theories to emerge under it throughout time. These other strands of the theory can exist thanks to the vast terminologies and terms concerning truth in general, leading to a multiplicity of versions and reformulations of the theory. Correspondent theorist analyse the relation between between what is and what they want to determine is true or not. However, the different types of relations are quite numerous (eg. coherence, congruence, accordance, copying, …) and so are the relevant portions of what exists (eg. facts, states of affairs, conditions, situations, events…).

History
The roots of correspondence theory dates back to Ancient Greek philosophy, especially with thinkers such as Plato or Aristotle. Aristotle’s definition of truth evidences is an early example of correspondence theory: « To say that that which is, is not, and that which is not, is, is a falsehood; therefore, to say that which is, is, and that which is not, is not, is true ». However, these first definitions of correspondence theory were very vague and offered little clarifications on the concept of truth. Aristotle and Plato are more clear in their respective works, Categories and Cratylus. Nonetheless, greek philosophers weren’t the only one to be interested in correspondence theory. On the contrary, this theory continued to evolve throughout time. Thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Locke or even Karl Marx have at some point defined, interpreted or defended the correspondence theory of truth.

Correspondence theory holds the majority when it comes to the other perspectives of truth (namely deflationary or epistemic). This is mostly due to the fact that this theory is one whose direct obviousness makes easier to understand. However, correspondence theory of truth faces criticism as well. Some perceive correspondence theory as too narrow, as in only applicable to sciences and not to morality or logic as no objective facts exist in these domains. They are also seen by some as too obvious and trivial, as the process of correspondence theorists’ thinking is one that can appear very simplistic and evident from afar.

= Language and Truth = Language began as a tool for human beings to communicate with each other. In this regard, the epistemology of language can be said to be social constructivism. As social beings, humans designed language in order to fulfil their need for communication and its use and complexities wax or wane depending on the communicative needs of social groups .The field of linguistic studies analyses language and its influences on human beings. Linguistic determinism is one of its theories that explores the way in which language affects human behaviour. It argues that language can restrict our world view specifically through categorisation, memory, perception, and how we think. An example of this is colour discrimination between Russian and English speakers. In Russian there is no umbrella term for all shades of blue like in English, instead they have separate words for lighter blues (“goluboy”) and darker blues (“siniy”). Research has demonstrated that Russian speakers were able to discriminate between light blue and dark blue more easily than English speakers as a result of these linguistic differences thus demonstrating how different social groups have different social truths.

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche supported the theory of linguistic determinism claiming that there is no universal “truth”. Language does not shape our worldview, rather language is our world view because our understanding and knowledge is confined by our language. Therefore, as written by Le Quyen Pham, “there is no single ‘true’ truth, but only an illusion of one, and a multiplicity of truths presented in languages.” Following this argument it can be said that language creates a unique subjective truth for each individual seeing as all human beings have varying linguistic capabilities ranging from the size of their vocabulary to the number of languages they can speak.

= Logical Truth = Truth in logic, and as it is viewed by some in mathematics, can be seen to differ from truth in other disciplines because statements in a formal, logical language can be deemed true or false regardless of semantics, as posed by Frege in his Basic Laws of Arithmetic. Carnap defended this thesis in Logical Syntax of Language, arguing that Mathematics and logic are analytic hence without semantic content. Thus, given a logical truth, being analytic, it is true under all possible interpretations of its logical components, as opposed to facts or synthetic truths whose truth is based on the world as represented around us. . However, this idea that truth within logic depends on its analytic nature has been challenged: Quine questioned ‘how claiming logical truth to be analytic differs from merely claiming them to be obviously and universally correct’ i.e. whether there is actually any epistemological substance to these truths at all. Gödel used his Incompleteness theorems to formulate an argument in opposition to Carnap’s philosophy of mathematics, namely that of logical positivism, since they can be applied to demonstrate that the modelling of basic arithmetic using a formal logical system is non-analytic. Taken further, Gödel’s Incompleteness theorems have been applied to show the existence of synthetic truths in number theory, causing a shift in the discipline’s approach to truth: appreciating that mathematical knowledge is corrigible which, in turn, condones the need for empirical, or at least -quasi empirical, methods.

= Truth in the Arts =

Truth in Photography
| Photography as a discipline does produce physical objects that adhere to the idea of subjective truth being a truth-based off a person's perspective, feelings, or opinions. Everything we know is based on our input - our senses, our perception. However, a photograph as an accurate and realistic depiction of reality causes us to look at photographs and derive some notion of truth about the world from what we see in the picture. Thus the question arises, is there objective truth within photography?

When we speak about a photographer, we need to realize that compared to a painter, the reality they are capturing is not artificial, but is in some way or form capturing the truth of the reality we exist in. The problem is that pieces of | fine art are artefacts, and in some cases photographs are too, as they are the artistic construction of the photographer. However, a photograph to the external viewer will most of the time look like the objective truthful depiction of what was in front of and captured by the camera lens.

We thus need to create a distinction, between what we consider as truth for the world, what we as humans can universally see and experience which is captured by the camera, of what is truth for the photographer, what the photographer wants us to see. This requires a repositions of the question of photography, as we move from a concern with the truth content of the photographic image to one delimited by the existence of the photographic image. With this new distinction, we can look at photograph as not objective measures of reality but also as a clearly biased and manipulated version of truth. Be it the truth of time or the truth of memory photography is deemed to stand in stark opposition to another and more insistent sense of the real. It is as though photography is condemned to efface the truth.

Therefore, we can see how through the discipline of photography we find the clear paradox that the idea of truth presents. We can observe it as continuously fluctuating and changing, ultimately being somewhat of a spectrum where on one hand we have the objective truth based empirical evidence and on the other the subjective ideas and perspectives that come from individual perspectives and ideas. Nonetheless, as opposed to other disciplines in photography there is no such distinction, as the very objective evidence of the photograph itself is always influenced by subjective biases of the photographer. Put in other words photography takes from the world but it is not the world.

Thus, now the issue is not that there is no such thing as a objective photograph, but the idea that photographs can tell us about both our truth and the photographers truth. Quite special in the field of photography is the fact that it allows for a analysis of unconscious biases and truths that we take for granted as photographers don’t show us the truth, but a truth. Sometimes photographs can be sometimes it is a mode of storytelling that incorporates ideas of truth, reality, cultural value systems, and perception. With digital manipulation, for instance, photographs can be seamlessly altered to reflect whatever the photographers or editors wish to show. When the O.J. Simpson murder case was the biggest news story of the day, the picture of | Simpson on Time’s cover had noticeably darker skin than the same mug shot picture featured on Newsweek or on other prominent news magazines. Another example can be found in photography of people in the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the United States we think of the iconic picture of | Dorothea Lange titles “Mother and baby of family on the road”  in  Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California. 1939. The photograph seems to show a homeless mother and child who only have they car and clothes, living in the desperate reality of the worst economic catastrophe of the twentieth century. But in the same collection of pictures we see many other photos Dorothea Lange took of this mother and child with the child’s face freshly cleaned and them both laughing together. This second image almost feels false and untruthful.

= Truth in the Humanities =

Truth in History
The study of history is more than a collection of names, dates and statistics. It is the analysis of the paradigms that shape significant events, as well as the consideration of who has had a voice to speak their truth throughout history, generally speaking: successful, white men.

Uncovering historical truth is dependent on obtaining and analysing primary sources, relating to the fields of archaeology, literature and anthropology. But evidence can be contradictory, and humans struggle to fully eradicate bias and prejudice. The use of secondary sources means that errors in such sources are repeated and possibly amplified, distorting truth. Secondary sources can contain biases, mistakes, or can emit relevant information, hence truth in history relies on primary sources. Dates and facts can be checked and confirmed, but any event is more than just a date, yet all the motivations and consequences are so complex that it is impossible to truly glean a single truth. Hence caution is exercised when making historical assertions.

Objectivity is both unattainable and vital in historical truth. Whilst it can be acknowledged that is nearly impossible for humans to be completely objective, it is state that historians work towards. The factors that shape historically significant events; emotions, motivations and ambitions of individuals can only be estimated. Truth in history is seen sometimes to be constructed - evidence can framed in such a way that suits the agenda of the historian.

Truth in Literature
Literature is composed of “written artistic works, especially those with a high and lasting artistic value”. As they are described as artistic, literature pieces should be entertaining for readers and arouse their interest. This raises the question of truth in literature : could people obtain what they are looking for with perfectly truthful novels that relate to their experiences or do they need readings that are completely distinct from what they live or could live ? The best way to describe literature’s purpose is probably by understanding the writers’ very own approaches.

Different approaches to truth within written artistic works
On the one hand, truth and accuracy have often been considered the right approach to literature. Indeed, Aristotle claimed the most important feature of it should be to describe reality in the most plausible way. According to him, “events which are impossible but plausible should be preferred to those which are possible but implausible”. This conception was the very basis of a whole literary movement of the 19th century,Realism. The French novelist Guy de Maupassant describes it claiming that talented realistic writers would better be called “Illusionists” as their goal should be to create the impression of reality even when describing facts and events that are untrue. . Stendhal, another novelist from this wave, had an even more straightforward approach. He stated “a novel is a mirror carried along a high road” meaning that it should reflect the exact reality as good or as hard as it can be. These two approaches show how important it may be to present truth and real things in literature.

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that a consistent part of literature works is all about fiction. Plato indeed stated that “a poetic imitator uses words and phrases to paint coloured pictures of each of the crafts” : writers write to impress readers, not to offer them a description of their reality. This is what Jules Verne did with Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea published in 1869, taking part in the science-fiction genre and describing a fictional concept that Plato had elaborated, the Atlantis. Until the end of the 20th century, Jules Verne was the most traduced novelist in the world, proving how successful fictional literature is and that it may be what readers are looking for. In addition, there is another way in which fiction might be the right approach in literature. Charles Perrault and the Grimm brothers, respectively in the 17th and 19th centuries, aimed at making children aware of how dangerous trusting strangers was with Little Red Riding Hood. In this way, fiction in literature can serve an educational purpose and might be more efficient than pure truth.

To conclude, opinions have always differed about the place truth should have in literature and it appears authors can reach their goals with or without it. Nevertheless, it is to be noted that the most sold books today are part of the fantasy genre, with, for instance, the Harry Potter saga by J.K. Rowling. This gives proof of a tendency towards fiction more than truth in literature and possibly reflects a need to forget about reality through reading, especially in such hard times as today’s.

= Truth in Theology - Buddhism =

Two Truths Doctrine
Dvisatya, or the Doctrine of Two Truths, refers to the differentiation, in Buddhist discourse, of two levels of truth (Sanskrit: satya) - saṁvṛiti-satya, defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha as the conventional truth, and paramārtha-satya, an ultimate truth. This duality expounds the Buddhist theological interpretation of the notions of empirical and absolute truths.

The saṁvṛiti-satya, roughly translated as the conventional, relative or empirical truth, represents the common reality of ordinary people’s lived experiences. It is an epistemological term representing an everyday comprehension of the world as constructed by the mind and projected onto a greater ultimate reality. However, this conception is dualistic as it is prone to misperception.

In contrast to relative truth, paramārtha-satya is nondualist, representing an absolute reality, which may be considered as experience without conceptionalisation. This reality is devoid of inherent characteristics or objects, and is linked to the Buddhist notion of Śūnyatā – emptiness, or an interdependent existence.

Madhyamaka school
One of the most influential and complete articulations of the two truth doctrine was expounded within the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism. The founder of the Madhyamaka school, Nāgārjuna, first expressed the two truth schema in its modern form in his work Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, or Fundamental Verses in the Middle Way.

In articulating the two conceptions of truth, Nāgārjuna suggested that while relative truth may only be designated verbally, ultimate truth is purely intuitive. His conclusion however, suggests that verbal designations do not correspond to states of substantial independence, and thus a realist school of thought asserting this existence should be considered untrue. This conception of truth fundamentally underpins the Buddhist notion of Śūnyavāda, or emptiness. The verbal designation of emptiness is a relative conception which thus suggests that it is in itself empty. Thereby, the theory of emptiness may be considered itself a conceptualisation, so to reach a comprehension of the nature of things, all concepts must be abandoned.

=Truth in the Media=

The media is all the means of communication such as television, newspapers, the internet and the radio that reach large numbers of people. It is the source of all our information and is supposed to provide us with quality information. Medias are pillar of democracy as they are a way for people to gain awareness, form an opinion of their own and be able to express themselves. It is supposed to be an instrument of truth but as we have seen increasingly in recent years, breaches and scandals put trust in the media into perspective.

This issue is amplified when some media outlets allow a lack of truth on their platform. Facebook authorizes politicians to buy advertisement space and create political adverts. In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg, during a hearing in front of the House of Representatives, was asked about those ads and if Facebook would take down untrue ads, a question that the CEO did not answer clearly. Moreover, according to a 2020 study by the Reuters institute, 52% of people would prefer news media to report false statements from politicians rather than emphasize them. If social media platforms as influential as Facebook continue to allow politicians to advertise untrue facts, people will begin to debate whether the media is truly reliable.

In an interconnected world were news travels in the matter of minutes or even seconds, we count on the media to relay accurate information. According to the same study, 38% of people said they trust most news most of the time. This number shows that the majority of people asked are aware that the media does not necessarily reflect the truth. And more than half of the sample said they were concerned about what is true or false on the internet when it comes to news. Even if the media can be manipulated and carries fake news, it is also the job of the reader to find trustworthy sources they can take their information from. Indeed, some journals or news channels do not hide that they are oriented politically, it is then up to people to find unbiased news. Moreover, in democracies the press has the freedom of speech and technically can say anything they want. Even if medias should not present false information, they often present biased information. Someone reading or watching any media should be aware of the bias risk and therefore take it upon themselves to find the more neutral information depending on what they are looking for.

Power of the Media

The media hold enormous power over the public opinion, and thus are able to impart the version of truth that most suits their interests. They are more powerful than any one person as they can choose how to frame public images of people, which is crucial to those peoples public standing.

=Truth in the Natural Sciences=

How changes in theories of physics occur
Physics is the discipline which focuses on "the scientific study of matter and energy and the effect that they have on each other." Central to that discipline is the notion of "truth." Indeed, it is a discipline which perpetually renews itself, with old theories being replaced by new ones and this occurs only when the latter theory comes to be accepted by a wide number of a people as the objective truth. For example, early physicists such as Ptolemy and Aristotle agreed upon the geocentric theory, the view that the Earth is the centre of the universe, and from that consensus arose a truth which was generally adhered to. Later, this view was challenged, primarily by Nicolaus Copernicus who had done research, which he believed provided evidence of a different truth: the sun is located in the centre of the universe. It is through the development of comprehensive models of the heliocentric theory, through the demonstration that previous models do not fit a truthful representation of the world, that scientists are eventually able to make this new truth widespread. Indeed, in order for new truths in physics to be accepted, evidence must be provided by multiple academics who all find research pointing to the same truth. This, combined with demonstration of previous discrepancies between models and reality eventually convinces a wider public to adhere to a new truth. The Copernican Method which places Copernicus' own discoveries side by side with Ptolomy's theory is an example of this process.

What does this mean for truth ?
With truth we associate the way the world objectively is. However, the changes in physics demonstrate that the truths we know and accept evolve with time? Does that suggest the world has changed or our understanding of it as changed? Truth seems to be limited by its necessity to be supported by a majority of people, meaning the majority is left to determine the truth. Perhaps, the example of Copernicus, illustrates that although the truth can be a minority at one point in time, through sufficient evidence and research the truth will eventually prevail, and become widely accepted.

= Truth in the Social Sciences =

Truth in Anthropology
Anthropology is a complex discipline, grounded in both the social and biological sciences; it has even begun to be viewed as interdisciplinary due to such social biological interactions. As such, there is a clear interaction between both objectivity and subjectivity in the discipline.

Truth and privilege in anthropology
Discussion around whether a constructivist approach towards anthropology and posing social questions has lead to a disregard for marginalised people is common. Would it therefore be preferable to treat everyone based on an objective truth?

Universities are one of the places where a lot of research is carried out, but also where certain privileges of the researchers may lead to inequalities and misrepresentation of data, and therefore the perceived truth of the discipline. Cultural context in Anthropology is of great importance, yet in one area of the field, namely evolutionary psychology (and human psychology in general), it has been found that many samples are described to be WEIRD; western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic. This means that current anthropological truths, based on data from WEIRD samples, will not reflect reality. Furthermore, the ethical principle of cultural realism, where human cultures are studied as separate to each other, is attributed to abstract principles usually found in Western society, and so these principles can not be seen as a universal truth for the whole of society.

Differing truths of anthropology
There exist differing views on which knowledge theories anthropologists subscribe to the most. One view is that anthropologists are naturalists, due to their direct study of subjects and such subjects’ interaction with their environment, in this case representing human behaviour and way of life. Naturalism is considered part of the scientific method, where truths reflect reality. As such, Anthropology is considered to be based on rationalism and objective truths here. The Vienna Circle definition of positivism is “knowledge based on experience and logic” and so here Anthropology is considered positivist, as logic is used to reach conclusions in research. On the other hand, it is also stated that facts are found due to an individual’s interest in research, and furthermore that they are interpreted differently by each person. Therefore, truth can not truly be objective in regards to societies and humanity, which anthropology studies. This split between subjective and objective truths may be because of the two streams of anthropology: biological and social. It can be seen that all anthropologists need a solid understanding in all knowledge theories that form truth in the discipline, and be able to discuss the inferences between them, in order to prevent issues with truth arising in anthropology.

Truth in Politics
Politics could be defined as « the activities of the government, members of law-making organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is governed ».

Politics in social constructionism
Politics epistemology seems to be social constructionism. Truth in politics can be sought through quantitative and qualitative methods: to construct data (from interviews for instance) or to understand social behaviors (from focus groups for instance).

A telephone survey of voters during the 2012 US presidential campaign has shown how partisanship information enhances self-efficacy theory. Random North Carolina voters were asked several questions about how they have been and are informed about the election. It shown that most of them sought for partisan information online; rather than simply reading or watching mainstream media. This confirms Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. Following this argument, one can argue that individuals have the ability to find truth in politics on their own.

However, one might argue the opposite. Given the amount of fake news shared during a US presidential election, some say that people don’t behave in a way that enhances truth. A psychological study done by the Pro-Truth Pledge has tried to interfere in this process by giving 12 types of behaviors to signees of the research to adopt. After this, they were much more inclined than before for a seeking of truth. The study included random citizens as well as public figures. Therefore, truth isn't empirical. There are certain behaviours to adopt to find it.

These studies show how truth can be found in different ways; through qualitative as well as quantitative methods which are both related to the constructivist epistemology.

Truth and power
Finally, there is a strong debate on wether truth should be dissociated or not from politics. For Theresa Man Ling Lee, truth is today what is fought in wars. She takes the example of the Cold War which was in her opinion a dual between Marxism and Liberalism. But the issue here is that on both political sides the center of power retains the center of truth. Theresa Man Ling Lee puts forward Czech statesman Vaclav Havel argument that in politics the center of power cannot be the center of truth. Instead of deciding between Marxism or Liberalism, Theresa Man Ling Lee proposes the theory of post-modernism which enhances to have truth in politics as considered as subjective or contextual; not as centered and irremovable.

Truth in Psychology - The Illusory Truth Effect
The Illusory Truth Effect is defined as the tendency human beings have to believe or find truthful information that they have been repeatedly exposed to throughout their lives. The Illusory Truth Effect is a cognitive bias identified in 1977 in a study at Villanova University and Temple University and it suggests that people in general tend to rely on information that is familiar to them or in line with their already established beliefs. In other words, repeating a certain statement a significant amount of times makes it seem more plausible to the audience.

This effect has been used on many occasions by cults and extremist groups, but is also being used daily in political propaganda, news media, electoral campaigns and advertising. Although this principle has only been identified as of recently, it has been used for centuries: Politicians of Ancient Rome, such as Cato, had used repetition to convince the population of the need to destroy Carthage, and during the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte emphasized the power repetition can have on the people. This effect has also been used in Shakespeare's Julius Cesar.

No matter how strong the illusory truth effect may be, it is difficult to nullify the ability of rational thinking. In any such situation, even if the familiarity of the subject inclines the individual to believe it, they can still debate whether the said statement is truthful or false. However, psychologists have found that that familiarity can, in fact overpower rationality in extreme cases. The Illusory truth effect in psychology adheres to the constructivist idea of truth, as it shows that truth may be constructed by social processes, such as the influence news media websites and presidential speeches may have on the human population.

Truth in Science Studies: a Social Constructivist Approach to Scientific Knowledge
=== Classical Approach to Knowledge in Science === Traditional conception of Truth within Sciences rests on a positivist view. This approach argues that scientific knowledge is obtained through gathering of empirical evidence (verified data) and interpretation by logic and reason. It is believed that the natural world functions according to general laws ‘awaiting’ to be discovered by scientists then translated into knowledge that is deemed objective, rational and universal. Knowledge offers a mere depiction of the real world.

A challenging reaction: a case for Science Studies
Sciences Studies is a recent interdisciplinary field of research. It uses historical, philosophical, sociological, anthropological, economical lenses to study the production of scientific knowledge. Its birth is linked to the emergence of the « social constructivist » conception of knowledge. The social construct concept of reality and knowledge was popularized by the sociological treatise The Social Construction of Reality by Berger and Luckmann (1967): the authors state that knowledge (what we take reality to be) is subjective and produced by humans. . The theory found its first echo in social sciences. It later integrated sociology/ philosophy of science in response to the realist approach to scientific knowledge.

Constructivist Understanding of Sciences
The constructivist argues that 'the ‘facts’ [of science] are determined by scientist’s choices, not objective reality'. According to this thesis, scientific knowledge is socially constructed and deprived of its absolute value (positivism).

The two degrees of constructivism : Two scales of constructivism’s argumentation:
 * 1) very strong constructivism: all facts are constructed : there is no independent reality
 * 2) strong constructivism: facts that we come to process are constructed

Scientific knowledge is a product of a particular historical and political context. They are social and institutional factors in the establishment of scientific knowledge : 'explanatory concepts such as interests, conventions, traditions, and socialization' should be taken into account when analyzing it. For example, Foucault argues against the idea of mental illness and treatment in XIX century was an objective scientific discovery. His thesis depicts a conventional bourgeois morality trying to control and suppress identities (labelled as insanity) that didn’t fit its narrative by institutionalizing the "sick". 'The institutions of science produce knowledge which is required by those in power. Disciplines, networks of scientific knowledge and hierarchical regimes of truth in science are mediums of disciplinary power, which flows via science to users of scientific knowledge.'. In other terms, Truth and Power are indissociable according to Foucault and thereby Truth is always socially constructed.
 * 1) One can look at the social forces constructing knowledge at the scale of a society:
 * 1) One can also look at the construction of knowledge at the scale of the scientist : Facts’ are dependent to human activity. The artificiality of the laboratory and of the scientist’s work were thoroughly questioned by epistemologists. Latour and Woolgar (1979) describe the lab activities — inscription and transcription, transformation and calculation through devices — as means to the construction  of the discovery. They use as an example the « institutionalization » of the peptide TRF. The « hard fact » of the peptide structure exists only within certain 'networks', within certain contexts, those in which it is useful. In certain fields and sub-fields TRF is a 'unremarkable white powder'. To recognize TFR as a constructed fact allows a reflexion on how and why is was created, on the purpose it serves (note : TRF structure was discovered). Barnes also states that scientific judgment is determined by professional interests.

A Case against Constructivism: the Danger of Relativism
During the Science Wars of the 1990s, a discourse opposing realist scientists and postmodern thinkers, the social constructivist approach was branded as a relativist approach denying the scientific reality of the world. Although this rhetoric was criticized, it highlights an important path social constructivism could lead to: relativism. If one looks at the example of climate change, it is clear different scientific measurements and analysis were brought together to describe and conceptualize the very notion of climate change. It is a phenomenon which doesn’t exist as an entity in the natural world; it is a concept constructed by humans. However, by this, one could be tempted to state the urgency claimed by scientists is subjective and draw conclusions that global warming is not an existential crisis and threat to humanity. Latour said in the climate crisis era:  'Dangerous extremists [climate skeptics] are using the very same argument of social construction to destroy hard-won evidence that could save our lives'

Why is the constructivist approach important in Sciences?: a Nietzschean Wisdom
Although Nietzsche’s intellectual relationship to sciences is the utmost complex, one can retain at least one idea pertinent to this subject. He identified all truths to be illusions, beliefs — especially religion — that dominate the world and construct what we take to be reality. Even though he first defines science as 'a self-defense against the truth', he poses the 'the problem of science' as scientific knowledge engaging with the same absolute prospect, of science becoming an ideology of some sorts, becoming a new "dogmatic religion". Social constructivism forces us to deal with sciences in non-scientific terms and therefore compels us to challenge science epistemological-wise.

= Conclusion = In this article, we have discussed the various theories of knowledge and forms of truth, and how truth is represented in various different disciplines. The relationship between subjective and objective truth has been explored, and it is discussed whether instead of truth being split into separate theories for each discipline, that it instead is more fluid as a concept and can evolve over time. In addition, we have also explored some applications of truth in society, such as in media, and whether the generally accepted ‘truth’ today is truly representative of humanity as a whole.

= References =