B2. Format (paper) PRESENTATIONS

Title:

How do I lead a more meaningful, ontologically secured, sustainable, productive, gratifying, dignifying, fulfilling and contributing existence in, with and towards the world for myself? An Ethically-Laden Heuristic Approach to the Construction of an Ontological Living Theory of An Individual's Being/Becoming-In-The-World

Name:

Alon Serper

Brief biographical sketch:

The author is a humanistic psychologist who has transformed from Critical Psychology to Ontological, Autoethnographical Living Theory Action Research in the intention of constructing and introducing to the academic discourses a more humanistic, living, engaging, Gestaltian and embodied psychology and heuristics of human existence.  He is trying to have this innovative and challenging heuristic approach of his legitimated in the academy. And in turn to make the academy more attuned with the concrete, applied/applicable, real-world, real-life, situations and the meanings of being a real-life, embodied, living, emerging and transforming person, facing, dealing and coping as hard as he can with real-life, real-world situations.  At the moment, he is trying to have it legitimated as a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Bath; a Doctor of Philosophy being the most rigid and formal form of academic acceptance and legitimacy and therefore a true challenge of the type that is stimulating the author and making him feeling meaning in his life.

Complete description of content:

A challenging and constructively critical heuristic approach to the conceptualisation of the human subject and human existence, in general, and to constructing Ontological living theory accounts, in particular, is described and exemplified in real life action and action-reflection.

Incorporation of conference theme and relevance to identified track:

It is a heuristic approach that endeavours to push Ontology, Action Research and the Pragmatist conceptualisation of and the analysis of the self into ethics and ethical understandings. This is within practical, concrete, ostensive, living, emerging, embodied and transforming situations in the real-world.

Application of content to practice:

I am presenting a living autoethnographical account that both discusses and exemplifies how I act out and implement this above propositional claim that I have just made and rationalises it within a critical re-evaluation of the current situation in the field of which I am critical, to which I sincerely should like to contribute and of which I should like to complement, push forwards and develop.

Description of how you intend to engage and involve the audience:

Evoke them in my embodied passion.  This work is my life's project to which I am very much committed.  The passion is well-evident and is flowing from me when I talk about it.

Description of handouts:
N-A

Explanation of what participants will learn by attending the session:

They will learn that there is another way to heuristically conceptualise the human subject and human existence in the academic world than the wholly propositional traditional heuristic tools in social science (Whitehead and McNiff, 2006).  They will learn the power of the self as a concrete, passionate, embodied and living ethical and reflective/reflexive being.

C. Session Classification:

A half an hour paper presentation of a theoretician/ethician.

D. Session Requirements:

 

I shall need:

LCD projector
Table podium with microphone