scholarly journals Social Philosophy and Interdisciplinarity

Author(s):  
Alexander Pavlov

The present article considers the problematical nature of social philosophy’s interdisciplinary character. The author considers that we can discover its specification as an independent area of the humanities, with exarticulation of adjacent to social philosophy disciplines like political philosophy, historic sociology and social theory. If it will be done, we will be able as the scientists to prove that social philosophy, which if often considering as the synonymous of social theory, has right to exist. The author comes to conclusion that the most part of social theory supporters try to ignore valuative dimension in “theories” of thinkers they research (Georg Simmel, Hanna Arendt, Juergen Habermas, Zygmunt Bauman). In fact it is а duty of social philosophy which nature is valuative. In author’s point of view, such a trend in theoretical sociology as “cultural sociology,” which use not only explanatory and descriptive methods but also interpretations, reflects the differences between social theory and social philosophy because it emphasizes the cultural dimension of social processes. For example, cultural sociology deals with issues that are more relevant to philosophy than to sociology, in particular, it concerns the problem of evil.

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Gulnaz K. Gizatova ◽  
Olga G. Ivanova ◽  
Kirill N. Gedz

<p>The article is devoted to cosmopolitanism as a concept and a social phenomenon. The authors believe that cosmopolitan ideas and mentality are a necessary manifestation of modern globalization processes. Cosmopolitanism as a pattern of public consciousness reflects the essential features of modern social processes. At the same time, the very idea of cosmopolitanism is contradictory, multifaceted, and therefore it cannot be considered only within the framework of categorical opposition "local - global". That is why this research is carried out dialectically: from the point of view of the contradictory unity of the cosmopolitanism's objective manifestations and the diverse interpretations of this phenomenon. Considering a wide range of approaches in studies of the cosmopolitanism phenomenon prevailing in modern social theory, the authors emphasize the need for its comprehensive philosophical interpretation. In addition, referring to the historical overview of cosmopolitan ideas, the authors come to the conclusion that further studies of cosmopolitanism should be based on an interdisciplinary approach. Particular attention in this article is paid to a couple of "cosmopolitanism" and "patriotism" categories. The main conclusion of the article is that it is cultural cosmopolitanism as a concept and social phenomenon that can clarify the essential contradictions in modern social processes.</p>


2020 ◽  
pp. 25-34
Author(s):  
Andrej Makarov ◽  
◽  
Ilya Seleznev ◽  

The article presents an analysis of the social aspect of language based on the methodological ideas of E. Rosenstock-Huessy. The approach of the sophist to the analysis of social phenomena is based on the idea of an inextricable connection between the processes of thinking, speech, and communication, which are founded in language. Language is considered by the philosopher not only as a semantic structure, but also as a force that changes people and society. Such a speech approach to the analysis of society outlines some possible ways out of the social crisis in which modern European culture finds itself. Rosenstock-Huessy understands the power of language from a dialogical point of view as the power of speech, capable of establishing long-term and free relations between people. Embedded in the process of dialogical thought of the twentieth century, the philosophy of Rosenstock-Huessy seeks to overcome the language of Modern science, which reduced the human personality to an impersonal subject of knowledge. Criticizing the entire Western philosophical tradition for its monologue and striving for "pure" knowledge, Rosenstock-Huessy sees the goal of thinking in dialogic speech, transforming both the speaker and the listener. Rosenstock-Huessy introduces the original concept of the name into philosophical circulation. The name in his social theory is an intermediary between language and society, providing the processes of normal social communication. In this regard, the authors of the article consider it useful for social philosophy and sociology to introduce the concept of "nominative social practices": this concept makes it possible to clarify the role of imperative speech in the processes of socialization. As a result of studying the social philosophy of the thinker, the authors propose the concept of "nominative language" as a system of social names and nominative practices. The relevance of addressing the nominative language of society is determined, according to the authors, by its social problems, in particular, by the dysfunction of names in modern society.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 423-443
Author(s):  
Srdjan Prodanovic

This paper tries to critically analyse Jeffrey Alexander?s cultural sociology. In the first part of the paper I will examine Alexander?s conception of hermeneutical structuralism which argues that conventional systemic sociology and richness of experience found in everyday praxis can be reconciled. In the next section I will provide a critique of this kind of approach to social theory and maintain that Alexander?s sociology is, in principle, reductionist regarding everyday life. In addition, I will also point out some of the comparative advantages that pragmatically oriented theory has in the attempt of integrating theoretical and practical knowledge. In the final section of the paper, I will try to illustrate some of the major shortcomings of Alexander?s sociology on the concrete example of advances in computer technology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (08) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Hayat NAJI

The translation of religious texts has always been a perilous undertaking, especially when it concerns a sacred text. Indeed, seeing translation as an act of communication requires a knowledge of the communicative parameters that constitute it. The translator-speaker, who plays the role of intermediary, must create an interaction at the level of meaning and its semantic components. From this emerges the role of the addressee as the main protagonist and the only interpretative force of the message. Thus, the process of negotiation manages the translating activity, since the transfer of a message is not only reduced to a process of reformulation of the source text in another language, but, largely exceeds this compartmentalization. We will first discuss the challenges and stakes of the translation of religious texts, which we have chosen to illustrate with examples that make this aspect clear. Then, we will insist on the question of the translation as a semantic negotiation, considering that there is a confrontation between transmitter and receiver from the point of view of knowledge, historical and linguistic references. Indeed, this facet of the pyramid where the cultural dimension of translation and interpretation is played out remains unknown and implicit. It is quite easy to reveal what is related to the cultural, social and historical reality of a particular receiver. But that is not enough to communicate, it is also necessary to question the cultural references of this one, the representations conveyed by the language. Indeed, we have chosen to present examples of the Holy Qur'an translated by translators of different religions, and given that some translations have deviated from the noble mission of translation, in this case, the faithful transmission of the meaning, without any objectivity whatsoever, especially when it is a sacred text whose inimitability is not to be proven or tested. Thus, the difficulty in our choice stems, on the one hand, from the sacred character of the chosen writing, and on the other hand, from the nature of research in this field which is condemned to remain always relative. Since several elements control the translation of the sacred text, namely, the language, the tradition and the personal factors of the translator. Finally, the field of religious translation requires a great deal of precision and neutrality, and a constant rethinking of the fact that the slightest subjective or cultural interpretation could call into question our research work. Thus, when it comes to cultural transfer, the translator's task is to take into consideration the knowledge that already exists in the target culture about the source culture. Indeed, it is necessary to know how to relate the knowledge concerning the target culture to the knowledge via the source culture. The translator is the first receiver who receives and interprets the message; he will therefore try to understand the source culture with his own knowledge and value judgments. The translator is indeed a mediator because he assumes two roles, that of receiver and reader of the source message, however, the translator having a task of reader which must be different from that of the normal reader, since he must undoubtedly appropriate the competence of mediator in communication which crosses with the function of transmitter of the translated message. Moreover, this same message undergoes a second transfer; the target reader receives it and interprets it in turn according to his own ideological and cultural schemes. Thus, the process of the translated text is not limited to a single phase, but, it enchains back and forth during which the text acquires the imprint of the translator who makes the transfer. Without forgetting to negotiate the meaning by respecting all the circumstances of the original text. So, to what extent can this semantic negotiation communicate the said and the unsaid of the text? .


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-434
Author(s):  
Werner Euler

The task of this paper is the following: how should one explain and solve the theory-immanent tension in Honneth?s recent works, i.e. the tension that reflects the difference between the concept of social freedom (a concept grounded in Hegel?s social philosophy methodologically articulated through normative reconstruction) and the concept of ?affective recognition? (which has replaced the earlier normative concept) - in other words: is there a certain logically-factually grounded path from the question of subjective-individual recognition to the intersubjective recognition of free (legal) subjects in society? My thesis is the fol?lowing: this supposed tension is a pseudo-tension. It loosens up - without completely resolving itself - as soon as we combine the two logics of grounding critique that we find in Honneth. However, unrelated to my claim about the pseudo-nature of the mentioned tension, the psychoanalytic mode of grounding critique is erroneous, since one cannot directly arrive at collective components of society starting from the empirical constellation of individual consciousnesses. The relation between subjective individuality and objective (intersubjective) generality is an objective contradiction (as opposed to a purely theoretical tension). If we still decide to pursue this path of grounding critique, we inadvertently introduce a psychologistic approach into social theory. Such an approach can be found in Honneth?s theory of intersubjective (normative) recognition as well.


Author(s):  
Wolfgang Merkel ◽  
Raj Kollmorgen ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Wagener

Social institutions and governmental regimes are systems of action structured by values and norms. Within these systems, self-conscious actors communicate with each other using different material and symbolic resources. The systems develop and change in response to new knowledge, altered allocations of resources, and changes in values and institutions. ‘Transformation’ analyses radical systemic change from the intentional policy point of view while ‘transition’ describes the historical path along which such change is taking place. The pragmatic design of positive institutions, which is at the basis of the concept of transformation, is historically a rather recent phenomenon. Although these concepts gained prominence only with the great turnaround of 1989/90, they have a prehistory in social theory (Marx, Menger, Weber, Schumpeter, and Polanyi, for instance) and in historical development (the French and the Russian revolutions, Meiji Restoration, post-Civil War United States, for instance). Transformation research thus has at its disposal a wide field of cases and analytic levels.


Author(s):  
Peter E. Gordon

Dwelling, in the proper sense, is now impossible. —Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia This book is a meditation on a philosophical and religious theme. In it I explore the problem of secularization, not as a social process, but as a conceptual gesture that appears with some prominence in the writings of three key theorists: Walter Benjamin, Max Horkheimer, and Theodor W. Adorno. The fact that all three of these writers were affiliates of the Institute for Social Research, the so-called Frankfurt School of social philosophy and cultural criticism, may encourage the impression that they agreed upon a common doctrine, though in fact their differences were often profound. This is especially clear when we examine their distinctive views on secularization, a topic that surely ranks among the more controversial problems in modern social theory. Philosophers, political theorists, sociologists, and historians continue...


1969 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Appadorai

Gandhi (1869–1948) is known primarily as the leader who led the national movement for the freedom of India from British rule; he also has an important place in social theory. “The only nonofficial figure,” says Louis Fischer, “comparable to Gandhi in his effect on man's mind is Karl Marx.” His Collected Works, including his speeches, writings, and letters, have appeared in thirty volumes with some forty more scheduled for publication. The more important of his writings from the point of view of social theory are found in two weekly journals which he edited, Young India (1919–32) and Harijan (1933–48); his social and political ideas can also be gleaned from Hind Swaraj (1908) or Indian Home Rule, The Story of My Experiments With Truth (2 vols. 1927, 1929), Delhi Diary (1948), and Satyagraha in South Africa (1950).


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-155
Author(s):  
Adam Kożuchowski

This paper addresses the intersection of moral condemnation, national antagonism, and civilizational critique in the images of the Teutonic Order as presented in Polish historical discourse since the early nineteenth century, with references to their medieval and early modern origins. For more than 150 years, the Order played the role of the archenemy in the historical imagination of Poles. This image is typically considered an element of the anti-German sentiment, fueled by modern nationalism. In this paper I argue that the scale and nature of the demonization of the Teutonic Knights in Polish historiography is more complex, and should be interpreted in the contexts of pre-modern religious rhetoric on the one hand, and the critique of Western civilization from a peripheral or semi-colonial point of view on the other. The durability and flexibility of the black legend of the Order, born in the late Middle Ages, and adapted by Romantic, modern nationalist, and communist historians, makes it a unique phenomenon, surpassing the framework of modern nationalism. It is the modern anti-German stereotype that owes much to this legend, rather than the other way around.


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