The starting point for the research project pointed out in this article is the assumption that not only ideas, religion and ideologies but also technical connoted consumer goods could be characterized by socio-cultural qualities. The term “socio-cultural” implies cultural potential in the understanding of contextualization in a world of meaning on the one hand and the social potential of integration in posttraditional communities, i. e. small lifeworlds on the other hand. The article argues from a sociological perspective (highly influenced by Erving Goffman’s dramatological approach) viewing not firstly from the society point of view but consequently from that an individual, characterized by natural artificiality (Helmuth Plessner). and Michaela Pfadenhauer.
Nostalgia is a characteristic of our time, and it extends more and more also to technology. Rapid technological change is as well a cause of modernisation and related social developments as a cause of reluctance to new technologies and nostalgic longing for the past. Good examples for this phenomenon are media technologies. As media are part of the world of our everyday life they are also object of personal memories. Changing and developing in the flux of time, they are no more what they used to be in a former stage of our life. Therefore they form part of an expanding culture of memory, with aspects of musealization and nostalgia. This nostalgia of the media does not only extend to the material remains (media archives, personal collections etc.) but also to their specific way of appearance and representation, the way they let us see the world generated by them. Media do increasingly devote themselves to this nostalgia of the media, which means that they rely to different historic versions of themselves or of other media. Therefore nostalgia of the media in the media is a way of self-reference of the media, because media refer to themselves as subject to historic development, remembrance, oblivion, destruction etc. But nevertheless a nostalgic attitude towards media technologies, as in the case of other technologies as well, does not exclude openness for new technological developments, but may also very well coexist with the latter. and Andreas Böhn.
Zpráva z koference / Conference report: Tělesnost a autonomie: bioetika v občanské společnosti Workshop Filosofického ústavu AV ČR, Praha, 9. prosince 2011. and Jana Dlouhá.
Článek pojednává o koncepci geneze novověku, kterou Hans Blumenberg představil ve svém díle Legitimita novověku (1966) a kterou dál rozpracovával a doplňoval v dalších dílech. Článek je rozdělen do pěti oddílů. První velice stručně představuje obecné rysy Blumenbergovy filosofie, zejména jeho pojem ulehčení od absolutna. Druhý oddíl představuje Blumenbergovo pojetí gnoze a křesťanskou reakce na gnozi. Blumenberg je totiž přesvědčen, že novověk vznikl jako druhé překonání gnoze, které bylo úspěšnější než první překonání provedené křesťanstvím. Třetí oddíl vysvětluje Blumenbergovu myšlenku návratu gnostického skrytého Boha v pozdně středověkém nominalismu. Čtvrtý oddíl ukazuje způsoby, jimiž se podle Blumenberga ustanovil novověk jako druhé a úspěšné překonání gnoze – především za pomoci masivního rozvoje vědy a techniky. Pátý oddíl obsahuje kritické výhrady vůči Blumenbergově koncepci a rovněž ocenění aktuálnosti jeho filosofie pro dnešní diskuse o povaze raně novověké filosofie., This paper deals with the concept of the genesis of the modern age as introduced by Hans Blumenberg in his book The Legitimacy of the Modern Age (1966) which he elaborated on and complemented in his later writings. The paper is divided into five sections. The first very briefly presents the general features of Blumenberg’s philosophy, especially his notion of “relief from the absolute”. The second section introduces Blumenberg’s concept of gnosis and of the Christian responses to gnosis. Blumenberg was convinced that the modern times emerged as the second overcoming of gnosis which was more successful than its first overcoming by Christianity. The third section introduces Blumenberg’s idea of the recurrence of the hidden gnostic God in late medieval nominalism. The fourth section presents ways in which the modern age, according to Blumenberg, emerged as the successful overcoming of gnosis – especially with the help of the amazing development of science and technology in the early-modern period. The fifth section contains some critical reservations about Blumenberg’s theory. Nevertheless it also appreciates the relevance of Blumenberg’s philosophy for today’s discussion about both the nature and the history of early modern philosophy., and Špelda Daniel.
In this study we concentrate on the reasons for the focus on the therapeutical potential of philosophy in the current period. Among the key causes of the renewed and growing interest in the therapeutical perception of philosophy we give special weight to opportunities stemming from the development of interdisciplinarity and the ever-closer relations of philosophy with certain therapeutical approaches, as well as the confrontation of philosophy with socio-economic and utilitarian pressures in society and the problematising of the task and justification of philosophy in the context of other scientific enterprises. In the study we attempt to indicate some therapeutical aspects of philosophy and philosophising (such as the satisfying function of knowledge, the satisfying aspect of caring about and sharing problems with others, together with the need for the practical application of the findings and the practical aspect of wisdom), which predispose philosophy to the development of its therapeutical potential of philosophy as therapy by thought., Andrej Démuth., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
The aim of this article is to sketch a certain method of indirect reconstruction of the process by which mathematics as a deductive discipline emerged in ancient Greece. We try out this method in a reconstruction of Thales' mathematics, but the main aim for which this method has been developed is the work of Pythagoras. We consider the process of the emergence of mathematics as a process of the constitution of a new language in the framework of which one can carry out deductive proofs. Therefore we base the method of indirect reconstruction of the emergence of mathematics on the theoretical findings in the book L. Kvasz: Vedecká revolúcia ako lingvistická událosť (The Scientific Revolution as a linguistic event, Prague, Filosofia 2013)., Ladislav Kvasz., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
The aim of this paper is to show how the theory of an active society by Amitai Etzioni can provide a theoretical framework for the study of innovation processes - in particular social innovation, which is generally defined here as the implementation of a new social practice aimed at solving social problems and/or meeting social needs. An active society is a society in which collectivities (social groups) have the potential to articulate values and needs, to participate in consensus building processes and decision processes, to develop organisational structures and to realise values through collective social action. This paper discusses the general differentiation and interrelation between culture, structure and agency which is the fundament of the theory of an active society and additionally presents a systematisation which combines these domains with the “elements” (consciousness, commitment, knowledge, power) and “processes” (consensus building, mobilisation, decision making, control/guidance) that Etzioni perceives as the main dimensions of the active orientation. This systematisation can be seen as an adaptation of Etzioni’s theory which tries to make the interrelation between different theoretical dimensions more explicit. and Alexander Kesselring.
Tato studie se zaměřuje na způsoby, jakými se standardně vytváří sociální teorie, a to především z hlediska proměn stylu psaní textu. Tvrdí se zde, že celkově vzato způsoby psaní využívané v rámci sociální teorie jsou navzdory proklamacím spíše cvičením v systematickém uchopování zkoumaných jevu než akademicky vyzrálou činností usilující o řešení problému. Na několika vybraných historických příkladech „psaní“ sociální teorie je ukázáno, že neexistuje žádná standardní forma vytváření sociální teorie, jež by překračovala stádium "komentáře“. Na rozdíl od jiných stylů akademického psaní sociální teorie nepoužívá "komentář“ jako součást rozvíjení určité argumentace, nýbrž jako standardní a rutinní způsob vznášení poznávacích nároku. Komentář přitom není výchozí metodou pouze v současných z velké části edukačních a instruktážních podobách sociální teorie, zakládá také způsob práce vůdčích představitelů této oblasti, jejichž příspěvky jsou současnými sociálními teoretiky považovány za originální a hodné důkladné interpretace. Zde rozpracovaná argumentace naznačuje, že neschopnost dospět ke standardní podobě "vytváření“ sociální teorie je důsledkem skutečnosti, že je inspirace pro individuální, autentické, originální či kreativní myšlení čerpána ze zdrojů, jež jsou prostoupeny nepůvodností a často také velmi chaotickou a úpornou snahou prokázat koherenci myšlení, jež se určitým způsobem vztahuje k sociálnímu světu., This article analyzes the practice of making social theory in terms of the changing styles manifested in writing social theory texts. It is claimed that, taken generally, “writing” social theory has not moved beyond its most widespread form of being an exercise in the systematic treatment of the phenomena under study rather than being a genuine problem-solving activity. As demonstrated on selected historical examples of “writing” social theory, it seems evident that there is no standard form or style of “making” social theory apart from commentary. And that social theory, unlike related styles of academic writing, uses “commentary” not as a part of the argument being elaborated, but as a standard and routine way of making knowledge claims. It is argued here that commentary is not the basic method only in the contemporary and largely educational and instructive forms of social theory, but also in the supposedly original achievements of the field’s leading figures. The argument elaborated here suggests that the inability to arrive at a standard form of “making” social theory may be a consequence of individual, authentic, original, creative thinking drawing its inspiration from sources that are heavily derivative and sometimes permeated by very chaotic and strenuous efforts to demonstrate the coherence of the thinking that it some way refers to the social world., and Jan Balon.