Marx, Lukács and the Groundwork of Critical Social Ontology

2019 ◽  
pp. 419-455 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Ontology ◽  
Critical Social

scholarly journals On the ontology of social pathologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onni Hirvonen
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Pathological State ◽  
Social Pathology ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Short Presentation ◽  
Critical Social

The recent years have seen a rehabilitation of the concept of social pathology in the critical social theory. However, several pertinent questions about how to understand social pathologies remain. One of the big issues is, who is actually ill when a society is ill? Is it certain individuals, a large proportion of the population, groups, institutions, or the society as a whole? And what does it mean for these entities to be in a pathological state?This short presentation introduces four conceptions of social pathology that can be divided into roughly two camps. The “thin sense” of social pathology is more metaphorical and focuses on the socially caused and pervasive suffering of individuals while the “thick sense” of social pathology takes seriously the medical connotations of the word pathology and aims to apply them on the social or collective level. The aim in here is to highlight how the social-ontological commitments of the theories of social pathologies vary greatly. While it becomes clear that critical social theory can be achieved almost any combination of social ontological positions, the short analysis finishes with tentative desiderata for critical social ontology. 

scholarly journals Critical Social Ontology as a Foundation for Ethics: Marx, Lukács and Critical Judgment

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 8-26
Author(s):  
Michael J. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
Georg Lukacs ◽  
Georg Lukács ◽  
Critical Social

In this paper, I outline a theory of critical social ontology derived from the fundamental ideas of Marx and the later work on the ontology of social being by Georg Lukács. I argue that we can discern categories of social being that can aid in the project of diagnostic social critique, but also that these categories can be used to formulate an ethical theory that we can ground in this critical social ontology. I therefore defend the thesis, against postmetaphysical thinkers that have argued to the contrary, that a satisfactory and critical theory of ethics can and indeed must be rooted in a theory of ontology. I end with some reflections on how critical social ontology can help combat the problem of reification and help us think through issues of ethical or normative concern.

scholarly journals Grounding social criticism: from understanding to suffering and back

Digithum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onni Hirvonen
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Social Criticism ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Social Suffering ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
Critical Social

This paper critically examines John Dewey’s and Axel Honneth’s critical social philosophies in order to highlight two different normative sources of social struggle: scientific understanding and social suffering. The paper discusses the relations of these sources with each other and aims to show to what extent the normative sources of Dewey’s and Honneth’s critical social theories are compatible. The comparison between Dewey and Honneth is used in order to argue for a desiderata for critical social ontology. The argument is that we want to consistently include both elements – suffering and understanding – in a critical theory as only by having both will critical theory grant a clear enough direction and good enough motivational normative core for a social struggle.

Critical Social Thinking Training: A Framework for Design and Delivery

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Thayer ◽  
Rebecca Grossman ◽  
Marissa L. Shuffler ◽  
Shawn Burke ◽  
Eduardo Salas
Keyword(s):  
Social Thinking ◽  
Critical Social

Identifying the best practices for critical social thinking and metacognitive thinking training

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H. Lazzara ◽  
Marissa Shuffler ◽  
Michael Rosen ◽  
Luiz Xavier ◽  
Samuel Wooten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Social Thinking ◽  
Critical Social

Social Explanation: Structures, Stories, and Ontology. A Reply to Díaz León, Saul, and Sterken

Disputatio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (50) ◽  
pp. 245-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Haslanger
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Social Agency ◽  
Metaphysical Explanation ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Social Explanation ◽  
Critical Social

Abstract In response to commentaries by Esa Díaz León, Jennifer Saul, and Ra- chel Sterken, I develop more fully my views on the role of structure in social and metaphysical explanation. Although I believe that social agency, quite generally, occurs within practices and structures, the relevance of structure depends on the sort of questions we are asking and what interventions we are considering. The emphasis on questions is also relevant in considering metaphysical and meta-metaphysical is- sues about realism with respect to gender and race. I aim to demon- strate that tools we develop in the context of critical social theory can change the questions we ask, what forms of explanation are called for, and how we do philosophy.

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