Marxism and Moral Objectivity

1981 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 19-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
Moral Consciousness ◽  
General Process ◽  
Moral Systems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
General Mode ◽  
Mode Of Production

Historical materialism tenders a sociological theory of morality. According to it, different types of society are characterized by different and distinctive moral codes, values, and norms, and these moral systems change as the societies with which they are linked evolve. Morality is not something immutable and eternal; rather, it is part of ‘the general process of social, political and intellectual life’ - part of the social consicousness - which is conditioned by the general mode of production of material life. It is no accident, but rather a functional requirement, that different forms of moral consciousness accompany different modes of production. Moreover, since all existing societies have been class societies, their moralities have been class moralities in the sense that they sustain and reflect the material relations that constitute the basis of the different forms of class rule.

scholarly journals Incorporación de los saberes ancestrales en la educación ordinaria.//Incorporation of ancestral knowledge in ordinary education.

Ciencia Unemi ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (30) ◽  
pp. 130-142
Author(s):  
Pablo Alfredo Suárez-Guerra
Keyword(s):  
Karl Marx ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Ancestral Knowledge ◽  
The Status ◽  
Enrique Dussel ◽  
Knowledge Object ◽  
General Mode ◽  
Mode Of Production

El presente trabajo discute esenciales fundamentos históricos, antropológicos, económicos e ideológicos del modo de producción de conocimiento a partir del modo de producción de vida general del ser humano, a fin de cuestionar las matrices de la hegemonía epistemológica racionalista de la modernidad capitalista, que ancla su razón de ser en una estructura económico-política dominante que destruye material e intelectualmente al Otro para construirlo como objeto dominado y de conocimiento, lo cual se traduce en el posicionamiento centenario de una dicotomía jerárquica conocimiento/”saberes ancestrales”, y realiza, finalmente, algunas sugerencias respecto de la incorporación de los denominados saberes ancestrales en la educación ordinaria. Con base en las premisas críticas del materialismo histórico de Karl Marx y la filosofía y la ética de la liberación de Enrique Dussel, entre otros, se apunta brevemente la necesidad de replantear el problema de la validación de todo saber o conocimiento en la vida, lo cual implica subvertir las bases epistemológicas de las diversas disciplinas con base en un diálogo teórico-práctico intercultural en equidad, y los fundamentos económicos, éticos, políticos e ideológicos que nutren tales bases y que destruyen, invisibilizan, discriminan e instrumentalizan las producciones materiales e intelectuales contrarias o contradictorias al statu quo del capital. AbstractThis paper discusses essential historical, anthropological, economic and ideological foundations of the mode of production of knowledge from the general mode of production of life of the human being, in order to question the matrices of the epistemological rationalist hegemony of capitalist modernity, which anchors its raison d'être in a dominant economic-political structure that materially and intellectually destroys the other in order to construct it as a dominated and knowledge object, which translates into the centenary positioning of a hierarchical knowledge/"ancestral knowledge" dichotomy, and finally makes some suggestions regarding the incorporation of so-called ancestral knowledge into ordinary education. Based on the critical premises of Karl Marx's historical materialism and Enrique Dussel's philosophy and ethics of liberation, among others, the need to rethink the problem of the validation of all knowledge or knowledge in life is briefly pointed out, which implies subverting the epistemological bases of the diverse disciplines based on an intercultural theoretical-practical dialogue in equity, and the economic, ethical, political and ideological foundations that nourish such bases and that destroy, invisibilize, discriminate and instrumentalize the material and intellectual productions contrary or contradictory to the status quo of capital.

scholarly journals “Nothing Human is Alien to Me”: Rethinking Historical Materialism and Socialism

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Coburn
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Ian Hacking ◽  
The Social ◽  
Inclusive Approach ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Mode Of Production

Historical materialism emphasizes antagonistic class relationships as the main characteristic of the social, hence historically contingent, capitalist mode of production. Socialism is a normative vision of a just society rooted in meeting needs and enabling unalienated human expression, within the ecological limits of the natural world. Both are useful, even critical ways of understanding the world and seeking to bring about a better one. However, both are radically inadequate. Indeed, some scholars charge that both are worse than useless. The most serious critique is that historical materialism and socialism collaborate in silencing other anti-oppressive theories and struggles, by insisting on exclusive “class-only” approaches. After describing three characteristic ways that many historical materialists do, in fact, collaborate to exclude many important anti-oppressive theories and struggles, I argue – following many others – that such exclusions are not tenable on analytical, empirical, moral and practical grounds. In fact, historical materialism and socialism have much to gain with a more inclusive approach, although that inclusiveness might take different forms. For instance, Indigenous, Black power and gay and lesbian movements are instances of anti-oppressive theories and struggles that offer critical insights into actually-existing capitalism; and the potential for transformative change within and even beyond capitalism. Class inequalities are inextricably bound up with other sources of oppression, rooted in race, gender, disability, sexuality and ongoing colonialism – which are not 'essential' inequalities but social, historically emerging and hence contingent oppressions. Put another way, understanding capitalism includes theorizing the ways that capitalist social relations create ecological 'niches', as Ian Hacking might say, for a range of interrelated unjust inequalities. Further, all oppressions must be fought in themselves, as part of socialist commitments, because they inhibit the free unalienated expression of each and all. The revised historical materialism and socialism that result from this are more modest because they do not aspire to attribute all “major” capitalist dynamics exclusively to class. But they are also more ambitious, because they are in a necessary, constant dialogue with other anti-oppressive theories and struggles.

scholarly journals THE ANTINOMIES OF HABERMAS'RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL MATERIALISM

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (24) ◽  
pp. 17-50
Author(s):  
Craig Browne
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Material Production ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Institution

There are few attempts to reformulate the historical perspective of classical sociological theory comparable to that of Jürgen Habermas’ reconstruction of historical materialism. Habermas considered historical materialism to be principally a theory of social evolution and he sought to revise its conception of historical development. In Habermas’ opinion, the logic of the development of normative structures, social identities and cultural understandings differs from that of material production and the organizational complexity of social systems. My analysis reveals how the major innovation of Habermas’ reconstruction of historical materialism is the ensuing conceptualizations of the social relations of production as forms of social integration and the function of systematically distorted communication in their historical institution. Despite the significant implications of this supplementation of the paradigm of production with a theory of communication, Habermas’ reconstruction of historical materialism is shown to be limited by its inflexible logic of development and disengagement from the conflicts internal to processes of material production. It is proposed that the historical perspective of other strands of contemporary social theory may rectify these limitations through their concern with social creativity, institutional variations and the dialectics of social struggle.

Logic, Paralogisms and Social Distinction

Theoria ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (155) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Michel Lallement
Keyword(s):  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Social World ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
Social Distinction ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Value Judgements

In La Barrière et le Niveau (1925), the French philosopher Edmond Goblot applied a logic of quality to the social world. The major thesis which Goblot defended at that time was: having no titles or property, the bourgeois class constructed itself superficially through value judgements, building upon commonly shared appreciations, however intrinsically contradictory they may be. If we accept this logical reading found in La Barrière et le Niveau, then two different types of paralogism, useful for sociological theory, merit consideration: paralogisms of criteria and paralogisms of judgement. When interpreted in this way, Goblot’s work presents a threefold theoretical interest: it associates logic and sociology in an original way; it illustrates the heuristic relevance of a social ontology approach, and it provides a grid of sociocultural analysis of the social classes which is still relevant today.

scholarly journals O IMPACTO DA ACELERAÇÃO TEMPO-ESPAÇO NAS RELAÇÕES DE PRODUÇÃO

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osterne Nonato Maia Filho ◽  
Hamilton Viana Chaves ◽  
Luis Távora Furtado Ribeiro ◽  
Natalia Dias de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Time Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
Identidad Cultural ◽  
Production Relations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mode Of Production

Tempo e espaço são categorias que se transformam no curso histórico da humanidade. Têm a ver comas transformações sociais decorrentes das modificações experimentadas nos diferentes modos de produção. Nacontemporaneidade, marcada pelas relações de produção erigidas e coordenadas pelo capital, como se dão asvivências temporais e espaciais nas relações sociais? Este artigo tem como objetivo fazer um estudo exploratóriosobre a evolução dos modos de produção e as implicações da aceleração tempo-espaço nas relações de produção.Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e analítico de cunho bibliográfico, baseado nos pressupostos do materialismohistórico e dialético. O fenômeno da aceleração tempo-espaço contribui para o enfraquecimento da identidadecultural, ou seja, no esmaecimento da identificação com o lugar em que se nasceu e se criou, pois o espaço nãopode ser mais definido como fixo e a mudança do tempo faz com que as pessoas tenham acesso a outros lugares.Palavras-chave: Modo de Produção. Aceleração Tempo-Espaço. Relações de Produção. THE IMPACT OF THE TIME-SPACE ACCELERATION IN THE RELATIONS OFPRODUCTIONAbstract: Time and space are categories that are transformed in the historical course of humanity. This is relatedto the social transformations caused by the changes experienced in different modes of production. In contemporaneity,marked by production relations constructed and coordinated by the capital, how are the temporal and spatialexperiences in social relationships? This article aims to make an exploratory study about the modes of productionevolution and the implications of the acceleration time-space in the relations of production. It is a descriptive andanalytical study of bibliographic nature, based on assumptions of dialectical and historical materialism. The phenomenonof the acceleration in time-space contributes to the weakening of cultural identity, which means the fading ofidentification with the place where one was born and raised, because space can no longer be defined as fixed, andthe shift of time makes people have access to other places.Keywords: Mode of production. Acceleration in time-space. Relations of production. EL IMPACTO DE LA ACELERACIÓN TIEMPO-ESPACIO EN LAS RELACIONESDE PRODUCCIÓNResumen: Tiempo y espacio son categorías que cambian en el curso de la historia de la humanidad. Están relacionadascon las transformaciones sociales que surgen de los cambios experimentados en los diferentes modosde producción. En la contemporaneidad, marcada por las relaciones de producción coordinadas por el capital,como son las experiencias temporales y espaciales en las relaciones sociales? Este trabajo de investigación tienecomo objetivo hacer un estudio exploratorio sobre la evolución de los modos de producción y las implicaciones deaceleración del espacio-tiempo en las relaciones de producción. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo y analítico decarácter bibliográfico, basado en fundamentos del materialismo dialéctico e histórico. El fenómeno de la aceleracióndel tiempo-espacio contribuye al debilitamiento de la identidad cultural, es decir, el desvanecimiento de la identificacióncon el lugar donde nació y se crió, ya que el espacio no puede ser definido como fijo, y el cambio de marcasde tiempo que la gente tenga acceso a otros lugares.Palabras clave: Mode of production. Acceleration in time-space. Relations of production.

The Compatibility of Freedom and Necessity in Marx’s Idea of Communist Society

2021 ◽  
pp. 162-191
Author(s):  
David James
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
Capitalist Mode ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Necessity ◽  
Historical Necessity ◽  
Mode Of Production

It is argued that the manner in which workers organize production and determine its goals explains how freedom and necessity are reconciled in Marx’s idea of communist society. Freedom and necessity are reconciled, moreover, in such a way that both self-realization and engagement in activities that possess some intrinsic value become possible, whereas this is not the case for workers in capitalist society. Communist society is explained in terms of a concept of freedom that incorporates three distinct types of freedom, whereas this concept of freedom is incompatible with the constraints generated by the capitalist mode of production and the social relations that emerge on its basis. The theme of how historical materialism is committed to the idea of historical necessity and seeks to explain this necessity in terms of practical necessity is then introduced.

Impact of the Locus of Causality and Internal Control on the Social Utility of Causal Explanations

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Perrin ◽  
Benoît Testé
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
External Control ◽  
Job Interview ◽  
Locus Of Causality ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Professional Success ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types

Research into the norm of internality ( Beauvois & Dubois, 1988 ) has shown that the expression of internal causal explanations is socially valued in social judgment. However, the value attributed to different types of internal explanations (e.g., efforts vs. traits) is far from homogeneous. This study used the Weiner (1979 ) tridimensional model to clarify the factors explaining the social utility attached to internal versus external explanations. Three dimensions were manipulated: locus of causality, controllability, and stability. Participants (N = 180 students) read the explanations expressed by appliants during a job interview. They then described the applicants on the French version of the revised causal dimension scale and rated their future professional success. Results indicated that internal-controllable explanations were the most valued. In addition, perceived internal and external control of explanations were significant predictors of judgments.

Speaker-Oriented Attitude Datives in Social Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef A. Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Rapport Management ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Levantine Arabic ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Social Acts

This chapter examines the social functions of speaker-oriented attitude datives in Levantine Arabic. It analyzes these datives as perspectivizers used by a speaker to instruct her hearer to view her as a form of authority in relation to him, to the content of her utterance, and to the activity they are both involved in. The nature of this authority depends on the sociocultural, situational, and co-textual context, including the speaker’s and hearer’s shared values and beliefs, their respective identities, and the social acts employed in interaction. The chapter analyzes specific instances of speaker-oriented attitude datives as used in different types of social acts (e.g., commands, complaints) and in different types of settings (e.g., family talk, gossip). It also examines how these datives interact with facework, politeness, and rapport management.

Conceptual foundations for the development of J.G.Turner’s general sociological theory: Metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and analytical scheme

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Reznik
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Analytical Scheme ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Social ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of the development of the general sociological theory of J.G.Turner. These foundations are metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and an analytical scheme. Turner began to develop a general sociological theory with a synthesis of metatheoretical ideas of social forces and social selection. He formulated a synthetic metatheoretical statement: social forces cause selection pressures on individuals and force them to change the patterns of their social organization and create new types of sociocultural formations to survive under these pressures. Turner systematized the basic concepts of his theorizing with the allocation of micro-, meso- and macro-levels of social reality. On this basis, he substantiated a simple conceptual scheme of social dynamics. According to this scheme, the forces of macrosocial dynamics of the population, production, distribution, regulation and reproduction cause social evolution. These forces force individual and corporate actors to structurally adapt their communities in altered circumstances. Such adaptation helps to overcome or avoid the disintegration consequences of these forces. The initial stage of Turner's general theorizing is a kind of audit, modification, modernization and systematization of the conceptual apparatus of sociology. The initial results obtained became the basis for the development of his conception of the dynamics of functional selection in the social world.

Value-driven issues throughout the development of sociological theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Gulbarshyn Chepurko ◽  
Valerii Pylypenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social System ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Levels

The paper examines and compares how the major sociological theories treat axiological issues. Value-driven topics are analysed in view of their relevance to society in times of crisis, when both societal life and the very structure of society undergo dramatic change. Nowadays, social scientists around the world are also witnessing such a change due to the emergence of alternative schools of sociological thought (non-classical, interpretive, postmodern, etc.) and, subsequently, the necessity to revise the paradigms that have been existed in sociology so far. Since the above-mentioned approaches are often used to address value-related issues, building a solid theoretical framework for these studies takes on considerable significance. Furthermore, the paradigm revision has been prompted by technological advances changing all areas of people’s lives, especially social interactions. The global human community, integral in nature, is being formed, and production of human values now matters more than production of things; hence the “expansion” of value-focused perspectives in contemporary sociology. The authors give special attention to collectivities which are higher-order units of the social system. These units are described as well-organised action systems where each individual performs his/her specific role. Just as the role of an individual is distinct from that of the collectivity (because the individual and the collectivity are different as units), so too a distinction is drawn between the value and the norm — because they represent different levels of social relationships. Values are the main connecting element between the society’s cultural system and the social sphere while norms, for the most part, belong to the social system. Values serve primarily to maintain the pattern according to which the society is functioning at a given time; norms are essential to social integration. Apart from being the means of regulating social processes and relationships, norms embody the “principles” that can be applied beyond a particular social system. The authors underline that it is important for Ukrainian sociology to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of axiology and make good use of those ideas because this is a prerequisite for its successful integration into the global sociological community.

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