This article focuses on the problems and contradictions of sociological theories of action. It investigates critically the development of the theory of action after the Parsonian synthesis, drawing attention to the limitations of articulating the concept of action systematically within a presuppositional framework of analytical theory. Having exposed Parsons general theory of action and some interpretations and criticisms, the paper addresses the so-called “return of grand theory”, spearheaded in the early 1980s by authors such as Alexander, Habermas, Giddens and Luhmann. The article analyses the conceptual innovations introduced by their theories according to Parsons own definition of theoretical work, which - as he said - consists in reconstruction and transformation of categories in the moments of their failure. While it is argued that sociological theory cannot do away with general concepts, it is also argued that these need not have the form of a synthetic theory of action of the kind outlined by Parsons and the Post-Parsonians. and Jan Balon.
This article critically examines the arguments against mechanistic neo-Darwinism offered by Thomas Nagel in his recent book Mind and Cosmos. The author argues, in particular, that Nagel’s recognition of teleology in the evolutionary process should make him less sceptical towards a panpsychist understanding of nature., James Hill., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
This text discusses the notion of rationality with respect to economics. First, it states the essential meanings of this notion and then goes on to the possibilities of rationality, which is a synonym for the effectiveness of human action. It distinguishes three types that may correspond to this meaning, where each type is unique and independent of the other two. In the end, it relates the presented typology to the work of Ludwig von Mises. His radical ap¬proach provides for good instruction of the sides of economic thought that I want to call attention to. Economics as a deductive science is interested in very strong assumptions about human action, and ambiguities about the notion of rationality provide for rhetorical tactics that can justify it. Elucidation of the notion and the presented typology of the meanings and assumptions of rationality should contribute to the revelation of these tactics. and Vít Horák.
The paper argues that serious museal restoration and exhibition of technological objects is competing with private collecting and company museums which have better access to funding. The social construction of artefacts as historic sources and as historic communication media is not exclusive and is seriously challenged by other public approaches to the history of technology. and Kurt Möser.
Diagrams have been rightly acknowledged to license inferences in Euclid’s geometric practice. However, if on one hand purely visual proofs are to be found nowhere in the Elements, on the other, fully fledged proofs of diagrammatically evident statements are offered, as in El. I. 20: “In any triangle the sum of two sides is greater than the third.” In this paper I will explain, taking as a starting point Kenneth Manders’ analysis of Euclidean diagram, how exact and co-exact claims enter proposition I. 20. Then, I will ultimately argue that this proposition serves broader explanatory purposes, enhancing control on diagram appearance. and Davide Crippa.