EducationHistorians of our age will certainly emphasize the recent unprecedented efflorescence of thought in the philosophy of science. The development of this thought can be divided into two distinct phases. The first phase centred on the refutation of the foundationalist claims of the logical positivists and was grounded in analyses of the nature of thought, language and scientific practice (especially: Polanyi 1958;Feyerabend 1962;Kuhn 1962; and Toulmin 1972). The second and continuing phase centres on the development of alternatives to the logical positivist model of science and includes the serious reconsideration of methodological pluralism in the scientific explanation and prediction of at least some aspects of human behaviour. One of the most radical and ambitious alternatives is that proposed by von Wright (1971Wright ( , 1976a. In direct contrast to the positivist position, von Wright has outlined an explanatory model for history and the social sciences which stresses such concepts as choice, action, intentionality, teleology, meaning, and practical reasoning. The general purpose of this paper is to extend the development of that model. The core of von Wright's position may be briefly summarized as follows. Following in the general tradition of action theory, von Wright sees man as a powerful generative mechanism, an organism which is able to act, to do things. He therefore recognizes a fundamental division of human behaviour into at least two polar categories. Movements are habitual, unreflected, conditioned and therefore essentially reactive behaviours, governed by nomic necessity and thus most amenable to lawful explanation. Actions are intentional, reflected (or at least conscious), planned and therefore essentially purposive behaviours, governed by practical reasoning and (at least on some occasions) practical necessity, and thus most amenable to teleological or intentionalist explanations.More specifically, actions are conceived as having both an inner and an outer aspect. The inner aspect consists of the agent's intention; the outer aspect is complex, consisting of as many as three types of phases '.
Beginning in 1992, news organizations adopted a more assertive posture in covering presidential elections in order to raise the level of campaign discourse. This article assesses the impact of this change in professional norms by comparing network television news coverage of the 1996 Republican presidential primaries with the speeches and paid advertisements of the candidates. A content analysis is applied to both the media and candidate messages with regard to such characteristics as the topics and issues that were addressed, the context in which policy issues were framed, and the evaluative tone of the campaign debate. We conclude that rather than raising the tone of public discourse, the media coverage contributed to the negativism and lack of substance for which the campaign was criticized. These findings raise questions about the effectiveness of reporting practices that were intended to benefit voters by assigning the media a more active role in the campaign process.
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