science

Reflective disclosure

Reflective disclosure is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reflective disclosure rather than just read about it. In short: Reflective disclosure is a model of social criticism proposed and developed by philosopher Nikolas Kompridis. It is partly based on Martin Heidegger's insights into the phenomenon of world disclosure, which Kompridis applies to the field of political and social philosophy.

Key takeaways

Reflective disclosure belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reflective disclosure to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reflective disclosure from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reflective disclosure is a model of social criticism proposed and developed by philosopher Nikolas Kompridis. It is partly based on Martin Heidegger's insights into the phenomenon of world disclosure, which Kompridis applies to the field of political and social philosophy. The term refers to practices through which we can imagine and articulate meaningful alternatives to current social and political conditions, by acting back on their conditions of intelligibility. This could uncover possibilities that were previously suppressed or untried, or make us insightfully aware of a problem in a way that allows us to go on differently with our institutions, traditions and ideals.

Overview In his book Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Future, Kompridis describes a set of heterogeneous social practices he believes can be a source of significant ethical, political, and cultural transformation. Highlighting the work of theorists such as Hannah Arendt, Charles Taylor, Michel Foucault and others, Kompridis calls such practices examples of "reflective disclosure" after Martin Heidegger's insights into the phenomenon of world disclosure. He also argues that social criticism or critique, and in particular critical theory, ought to incorporate Heidegger's insights about this phenomenon and reorient itself around practices of reflective disclosure if it is, as he puts it, "to have a future worthy of its past". These practices, according to Kompridis, constitute what Charles Taylor calls a "new department" of reason which is distinct from instrumental reason, from reason understood merely as the slave of the passions (Hume), and from the idea of reason as public justification (Rawls). In contrast to theories of social and political change that emphasize socio-historical contradictions (i.e., Marxist and neo-Marxist), theories of recognition and self-realization, and theories that try to make sense of change in terms of processes that are outside the scope of human agency, Kompridis' paradigm for critical theory, with reflective disclosure at the centre, is to help reopen the future by disclosing alternative possibilities for speech and action, self-critically expanding what he calls the normative and logical "space of possibility". Kompridis contrasts his own vision of critical theory with a Habermasian emphasis on the procedures by which we can reach agreement in modern democratic societies. He claims the latter has ignored the utopian concerns that previously animated critical theory, and narrowed its scope in a way that brings it closer to liberal and neo-Kantian theories of justice.

See also Critical theory Frankfurt School Immanent critique Nikolas Kompridis Receptivity World disclosure "World disclosing" arguments Quietism

Notes

References Dallmayr, Fred (6 February 2009). "Nikolas Kompridis: Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Future". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved 8 April 2017. Kompridis, Nikolas (2005). "Disclosing possibility: The past and future of critical theory". International Journal of Philosophical Studies. 13 (3): 325–351. doi:10.1080/09672550500169125. S2CID 145403575. Kompridis, Nikolas (2006). Critique and disclosure: Critical theory between past and future. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262112994. Retrieved 8 April 2017. Taylor, Charles (1995). Philosophical arguments. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reflective disclosure

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reflective disclosure claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reflective disclosure before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reflective disclosure ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reflective disclosure

In research: Reflective disclosure appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reflective disclosure in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reflective disclosure is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Critical theory, Reasoning, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reflective disclosure outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reflective disclosure in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reflective disclosure means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reflective disclosure out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reflective disclosure in simple terms?

Why does Reflective disclosure matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reflective disclosure?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reflective disclosure.