Introduction: Subjects and Systems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Moral Criticism ◽  
Meso Level ◽  
Black Boxes ◽  
Private Corporations ◽  
Moral Questions

The Introduction sets out the problem this book addresses: organizations, in which individuals seem to be nothing but ‘cogs’, have become extremely powerful, while being apparently immune to moral criticism. Organizations—from public bureaucracies to universities, police departments, and private corporations—have specific features that they share qua organizations. They need to be opened up for normative theorizing, rather than treated as ‘black boxes’ or as elements of a ‘system’ in which moral questions have no place. The Introduction describes ‘social philosophy’ as an approach that addresses questions at the meso-level of social life, and situates it in relation to several strands of literature in moral and political philosophy. It concludes by providing a preview of the chapters of the book.

Paternalism to Partnership: The Administration of Indian Affairs, 1786–2021

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Dejong
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Indian Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Biographical Sketch ◽  
Early American ◽  
Indian Affairs ◽  
Secretary Of War

Paternalism to Partnership provides a biographical sketch of each head of Indian affairs between 1786 and 2021 in context with each commissioner’s political philosophy. These administrators have been responsible for enforcing an Indian policy as directed by the president and/or the Congress but also influenced by their own political and social philosophy. From 1786-1848, authority was delegated to a superintendent of Indian affairs, a superintendent of the Indian trading houses, a superintendent of the Office of Indian Trade, a chief clerk, and a commissioner of Indian affairs, all of whom reported to the secretary of War. Since 1849, the commissioner of Indian affairs, and after 1977, the assistant secretary for Indian affairs have reported to the secretary of the Interior.   Today, the BIA is administered by the assistant secretary for Indian affairs—all of whom have been Native Americans. Previous studies focused on the commissioners, completely overlooking the superintendents that preceded them and the colonial and early American antecedents. David DeJong’s documentary edition is the first to provide an understanding of the political philosophy of each head of the Indian bureau through the emphasis of policy.

Cultural Action and Rural Development

1976 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Benito
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Organizational Changes ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Level Of Consciousness ◽  
Ultimate Objective

Widespread rural poverty and a tendency of food production to stagnate are phenomena common to many Third World countries. The meager results of the development efforts of the last quarter century demand the search for new alternatives'. This essay addresses these problems under the premises of a holistic social philosophy which is found useful for understanding the causes of underdevelopment which are not regarded as a heritage of ‘traditions’ but of the interplay between them and a contemporaneous world process of production, and for finding a path of liberating development. It briefly investigates the nature and dynamic of a socioeconomic process based on unequal development between nations, between agricultural and industrial sectors, and between the peasantry and other agrarian groups. It also investigates the performance of land reforms and modernization projects as a means to overcome the conflicts that this process generates in rural areas. Basing itself on a social philosophy affirming the integral unfolding of each real man as the ultimate objective of social life, it proposes a rural way of development, geared to the construction of a socially and sectorally articulated economy. The key elements in this are intermediate organizations, intermediate technologies, integral consciousness, and, finally, cultural action (modernization with conscientization), because a change at the level of consciousness is necessary to subordinate technical and organizational changes to the needs of humankind.

scholarly journals Locke’s ‘Liberal’ Natural Law

KÜLÖNBSÉG ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
János Lehr
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Human Understanding ◽  
Innate Ideas ◽  
Essay Concerning Human Understanding ◽  
Civil Government

Since the middle of the twentieth century interpretations of Locke’s political philosophy have aimed at finding out whether there is a connection between his “An essay concerning human understanding” and his two “Treatise(s) of Civil Government.” When his tenets about natural law are analysed, the two different interpretations are usually expanded by a need to choose between intellectualism and voluntarism. Both approaches investigate how man learns and obeys natural law that governs human behaviour and social life. The first part of the paper introduces the connection between natural law and the negation of innate ideas, the second part surveys types of natural law and their specific actual variations. Finally, internal ambiguities of previous interpretive approaches are revealed.

scholarly journals Machiavelli and the relativism of value criticism

KÜLÖNBSÉG ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
József Simon
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Moral Criticism ◽  
Objective Value ◽  
Rhetorical Space ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
General Aspects ◽  
Rhetorical Debate

Machiavelli’s reception is deeply divided. He has been both criticized as the evil executioner of state interests and celebrated as the representative of genuine Republicanism, the only person with an efficient and humane answer to challenges of historical determinism. These readings would suggest that his work belongs to the area of political philosophy, yet his philosophy cannot be surveyed without considering general aspects of value and the metaphysics of history. Machiavelli critiques the idea of objective value without a historical context: he basically maintains that the ontology of values is historical and that history has ontological relevance. He practically starts out with a project in ideology criticism, and this lays the foundation of his model of the historical event as a rhetorical space in which virtue (virtừ) manifests itself. His model of the historical event not only discredits any given theory of value but also projects a possibility of agency and innovation in history against historical determinism. In his model historical contents appear as elements of a rhetorical debate for keeping or acquiring power. Of course, throughout his work there is always a danger for regressing into an ahistorical model or axiology of history. The paper claims that the accusation of “Machiavellian immorality” cannot be validated according to its vulgar sense but is rather the characteristic of a moral criticism that would like to secure the preconditions of history. The paper reads The Prince not as a reference letter to monarchic power but rather as a systematization of history. It is not a series of loosely linked historical event and anecdotes but a rhetorical analysis of the formal structures of history. In this sense, The Prince can be compared to Nietzsche’s debated ideas on value and history.

scholarly journals KONSEP KEADILAN (IUSTITIA) PERSPEKTIF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS DAN RELEVANSINYA BAGI PEMAKNAAN SILA V PANCASILA

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Giovanni Aditya Arum
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Cardinal Virtues ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Times

In principle justice touches the human nature as social animal. The discourse of justice has become an important theme in social and political philosophy all the times. St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the philosophers who pays much attention on this theme. In Summa Theologiae, he spent a lot of pages to explain justice as one of the cardinal virtues. Inspired by Aristotle, he defined justice as “a habit whereby a man renders to each one his due by a constant and perpetual will.” This essay wants to explain the discourse of justice according to St. Thomas Aquinas and to compare it with the concept of justice in fifth principle of Pancasila. The writter uses the relevancy study to get the convergency idea between two different ideas of justice. This essay will explore both concept of justice by St. Thomas Aquinas and Pancasila perspective. There are at least some convergency ideas between those two. But the pressure point is the concept of bonum commune. Pancasila as the Philosophische Grondslag of Indonesia as like as St. Thomas Aquinas’ idea of justice emphasizes the common good (bonum commune) as the very end of Indonesia nation. Reflecting on these convergency ideas, we can find some relevant discourses concerning justice in socio-political life of Indonesian people, i.e: law, politic, and religion.  In the end of this essay, the writer gives a critical thought to the tendency of the liberalism pathology in social life

scholarly journals From the Sustainable Development to the Sustainable Community: the World Council of Churches’ Contribution to the Concept of Sustainability

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 293-304
Author(s):  
Piotr Kopiec
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council

At the turn of 20th and 21st century political activities are being inspired by two main ideas: the concept of ‘civil society’ and ‘sustainable development’. The latter has recently become a background of the United Nations strategy to support international cooperation regarding social and ecological problems, in particular to eradicate poverty. The UN’s ac- tivity is reviewed by the World Council of Churches, the biggest ecumenical organization. The WCC, when declaring its support to all initiatives striving to eradicate poverty and to foster peaceful political relations, suggests its own concept of ‘sustanaible community’ and the concept of ‘economy of life’. In this sense the ecumenical movement distinguishes itself from activities of secular political actors and imposes on Christians a task to promote new ideas and models of social life, inspired by the biblical teachings. This article defines the notion of sustainable development and discusses the main stages of its unfolding. Furthermore, the paper highlights the World Council of Churches’ criticism of the concept of sustainable development and scrutinizes a contribution of the WCC to the global debate on new political and social philosophy

scholarly journals Institutional issues in the mirror of social philosophy. A review of current research

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-128
Author(s):  
N.N. Ravochkin ◽  
◽  
V.N. Bobrikov ◽  
V.P. Shchennikov ◽  
D.V. Rakhinsky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Philosophical Analysis ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Methodological Basis ◽  
Institutional Issues

Socio-philosophical analysis is considered as a method of cognition of social practices. The authors use a content analysis of publications, apply a qualitative approach to the generalization of definitions of the method of socio-philosophical analysis in modern research. Directions of research are classified according to the spheres of social life, the functions of institutions as cultural phenomena, the methodological significance of socio-philosophical analysis of these phenomena is specified. In conclusion, the authors note the lack of a theoretical and methodological basis for the philosophical comprehension of institutional problems, for the study of global, universal processes, the regularities of the development of modern social institutions.

scholarly journals Four conceptions of social pathology

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arto Laitinen ◽  
Arvi Särkelä
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Social Pathology ◽  
Cluster Concept ◽  
The Third ◽  
Diagnosis And Therapy ◽  
Family Resemblances

This article starts with the idea that the task of social philosophy can be defined as the diagnosis and therapy of social pathologies. It discusses four conceptions of social pathology. The first two conceptions are ‘normativist’ and hold that something is a social pathology if it is socially wrong. On the first view, there is no encompassing characterization of social pathologies available: it is a cluster concept of family resemblances. On the second view, social pathologies share a structure (e.g. second-order disorder). The last two conceptions are ‘naturalist’ and hold that something is wrong because it is pathological. The third view takes it that society is the kind of substance that can fall ill – an organism. The fourth view operates with the notion of a social life that can degenerate. The four conceptions are compared along six criteria: (1) is the view plausible?; (2) is it informative (if true)?; (3) does it help define the task of social philosophy?; (4) does it take naturalistic vocabulary seriously?; (5) does it hold that pathologies share a structure?; and (6) how does it see the primacy of being wrong and being pathological?

Rethinking Religious Reasons in Public Justification

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW F. MARCH
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Public Justification ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
Religious Reasons ◽  
Moral Questions

This article intervenes in the debate on the place of religious arguments in public reason. I advance the debate not by asking whether something called “religious reasons” ought to be invoked in the justification of coercive laws, but by creating a typology of (a) different kinds and forms of religious arguments and, more importantly, (b) different areas of political and social life which coercive laws regulate or about which human political communities deliberate. Religious arguments are of many different kinds, are offered to others in a variety of ways, and the spheres of life about which communities deliberate pose distinct moral questions. Turning back to the public reason debate, I argue then that political liberals ought to be concerned primarily about the invocation of a certain subset of religious reasons in a certain subset of areas of human activity, but also that inclusivist arguments on behalf of religious contributions to public deliberation fail to justify the use of religious arguments in all areas of public deliberation.

Idea of Totality Ideology in Modern Social Philosophy

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-33
Author(s):  
O. A. Moiseeva ◽  
M. Yu. Chernavskiy
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Symbolic System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Human Social Life

The article analyzes the trend towards the totality of ideology in modern socio-philo sophical thought. The totality of ideology is expressed in the spread of this phenomenon to number of aspects of human social life. Philosophers methodologically appeal to the understanding of ideology as discursive knowledge (M. Foucault), state-determined symbolic system of describing the world (P. Bourdieu), connotation (R. Barth), simula crum and simulation (J. Baudrillard), the desire of the subject (S. Zizek).

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