Western Civilization and Its Problems: A Dialogue between Weber, Elias and Habermas
2013; International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations; Issue: 68 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0733-4540
Autores Tópico(s)Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
ResumoKit-Man Li, Western Civilization and its Problems: A Dialogue Between Weber, Elias and Habermas. Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1999.During the first phases of the rise of philosophy two opposite lines of thought developed. They diverged as to the point of view of the origin of human knowledge. For the rational line, the production of ideas is a creation of the mind (Plato), while for the sensory line, the beginning of knowledge lies in the empirical experience of the world, through the senses, (Aristotle). In its evolution philosophy shifted to the view of an integration of both rationality and sensibility (Kant) in the production of knowledge. It was followed by the idea that knowledge is continuously transformed in a dialectic way, inside the movement of history (Hegel's dialectic).Later, the inseparable integration of subject and object was stated (Marx and historical materialism). The Marxian theory, connected to historical materialism, defines the economic level of social life as a deterministic level. At each historical phase it is covered by one or another level that appears as the dominant level. The dominant level of each moment defines the conjuncture presented at this moment.In the case of religion, its origins were linked philosophically to rational ideas, about supernatural rational powers. (In the case of the Bible, however, there are references to sensory experiences, as it tells about conversations between God and chosen personalities.) The idea of God appears in a transcendent manner which means that He transcends nature, or in an immanent manner, which means a power rising from nature (Spinoza). In the case of the sciences, their historical development is linked to the increase of instruments connected to the senses.Although sensory arguments have been introduced into theology since the Medieval Age (Saint Dominic), religion remained linked to the rational line, while, even though some scientists maintain religious beliefs, the progress of science cannot be separated from life experience.In other words, the old philosophical debate between rationalists and empiricists moved to a higher level by questioning about a supernatural power or about nature only as an explanation for the origin of the world - a question that still remains open for each individual. In philosophical terms, one calls Idealists the believers in God as a rational power preceding nature. Agnostic is the name applied to people in doubt about the existence of a supernatural power or God. Atheist labels the nonbeliever in God. Materialists are those who see nature at the origin of the world and of knowledge. Historic materialists, Marxian-based, consider the real, the perceived world, as an object of knowledge, what means built and rebuilt by the inseparable integration of rationality and sensory experience along human history.During these historical developments, covering 2,600 years, the integration of rationality and sensibility took many forms. This can be seen, for instance, in the idea that information received by the senses has to be rationally and methodically analyzed, or in the tendency to use rationality, methodically, in all social practice. In this way, rationality has acquired different meanings, as an ideology, as a method, or as a form of behaving. The true meaning of the sentence is that man is a rational being.The observations here presented may serve as an introduction to the following review of the book by Kit-Man Li, Western Civilization and its Problems: A Dialogue Between Weber, Elias and Habermas. Each of the authors commented on in Kit-Man Li's book, Weber, Elias and Habermas, was influenced, in a particular manner, by the philosophical lines and principles presented above. One can find in the emphases of their statements, reproduced in the book, the role of their different ideological affiliations. Kit-Men Li actually gives some information about the philosophical affiliations of his subjects, but he does not go deeply into the matter. …
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