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23 articles

Article

Open AccessPublished: 14 January 2026

The Paradoxes of the Modern Geistes: Critico-Comparative Introspect of the Previous Century

Alvin Servaña

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 81-91 · 10.55121/prr.v3i1.771

This essay investigates the existential and philosophical dilemmas of modernity, drawing on the prophetic insights of Friedrich Nietzsche and José Rizal as critical entry points. Though situated on opposite ends of the globe, both thinkers discerned a paradox at the heart of modernity: its promise of liberation entwined with new

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 19 November 2025

Guiding the Process of Construct Building: An Exploration Based on Heidegger’s Ontological Difference

Heribert Gierl

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 22-46 · 10.55121/prr.v3i1.815

Numerous academic disciplines are dedicated to the study of human behavior. Within these disciplines, a well-established standard governs the conduct of research, encompassing construct building, theory formulation, measurement development, and statistical analysis. While literature provides extensive criteria to ensure the qual

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 26 September 2025

Ubuntu as a Normative Ethic of Empowerment: A Philosophical Critique of Faith-Based Vocational Training in a Pentecostal Church

Revi  Zhakata, Rodwell Kumbirai Wuta

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 178–190 · 10.55121/prr.v2i1.620

This paper explores Ubuntu as a normative ethic to critically assess empowerment claims in a Pentecostal vocational training program in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. As Pentecostalism influences socio-economic development across Africa, it raises ethical questions about alignment with indigenous African values. Ubuntu, rooted in relati

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 22 August 2025

Things Fall Apart in the Well of Lost Plots... Stories... Clues... Signs… Symbols... Meanings: A Philosophical Formalist Hermeneutic on Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49”

Alvin Servaña

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 141–149 · 10.55121/prr.v2i1.467

Using Philosophical Formalism, I am executing a close textual examination of Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49” as a “postmodern” novel. By looking into the implications of genre and/into the supposed self-aware critico-novelistic vision of Pynchon, I cascaded this critique as follows: Part 1: the semiotic/semiological text

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 21 August 2025

Art, Sex and the State: a Reflection on Certain Encounters between Philosophical Thinking and the Real World

Robert Adlam

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 116–140 · 10.55121/prr.v2i1.529

This paper stems from the author’s practical experiences in relation to the provision of educational opportunities and the facilitation of organizational development in a number of very different institutions and real-world settings. Contrasts between the realm of philosophical inquiry and that of people in their more usual cont

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 13 June 2025

Rethinking Death: A Philosophical and Biomedical Model of Ontological Priority

La Shun L. Carroll

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 95–115 · 10.55121/prr.v2i1.501

This study introduces a new conceptual model of death that repositions it as an ontologically primary state—one that occurs before and initiates the biological processes traditionally associated with dying. Challenging the conventional linear sequence of life → dying → death, the paper argues that death should not be defined by

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 3 May 2025

Wahdat-al-Khayāl (Unity of Thought): A Psychologist’s Response to Wahdat-al-Wujūd (Unity of Being) and Wahdat-alShuhūd (Unity of Witnessing)

Waqar Husain

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 84–94 · 10.55121/prr.v2i1.511

The quest to comprehend the nature of reality and the essence of selfhood has long animated metaphysical inquiry across civilizations. The current discourse presents the concept of Wahdat-al-Khayāl (Unity of Thought) as the foundational ontology. By critically engaging with classical metaphysical frameworks of Wahdat-al-Wujūd (U

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 25 October 2024

Heidegger’s Philosophical Anthropology and its Application to the Police in the UK: A Realistic Reflection

Robert Adlam

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 55–69 · 10.55121/prr.v1i1.247

This paper is written from an ‘insider’ and decades-long practitioner-based set of experiences whilst the author was working as an academic director of studies at the UK Police College, Bramshill. It begins by briefly identifying and characterising the College as a particularly distinct cultural institution. It underlines the fa

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 19 October 2024

Thought-Shaping, Reflection and the Refractive Element

Otto Paans

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 39-54 · 10.55121/prr.v1i1.278

Is it possible to think beyond the structuring and directing influences of thought-shaping? Or, phrased differently, how can thought-shaping be genuinely free and creative? My response in this essay is that we must move beyond the idea of thought-shaping as mere awareness or critical reflection. As I show, the notion of reflecti

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Article

Open AccessPublished: 1 February 2026

Authenticity without Essence: A Buddhist-Cognitive Critique of the ‘True Self’ in Spiritual Identity

Heather Kempton

Philosophy and Realistic Reflection · 142-169 · 10.55121/prr.v3i1.889

The concept of a ‘true self’ remains central to many contemporary spiritual narratives, often serving as a benchmark for authenticity and personal growth. However, this notion typically rests on essentialist assumptions that are increasingly challenged by both Buddhist philosophy and cognitive science. Drawing on the Buddhist do

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