Reviving Methods of Speculative Philosophy

Abstract

Traditionally, philosophy has utilized three methods: analysis, synopsis, and synthesis. The exclusion of synoptic and synthetic thinking from organization and management studies can leave us without the means to fully develop the discipline. Deployment of metaphors deriving from ecology, without recourse to speculative philosophy, has reinforced the prevailing Cartesian dualism that treats experiencing subjects as outside nature and nature as devoid of subjectivity. This has led to the development of mechanistic formulations of systems theory and legitimated the quest for central managerial control of organizations. Utilizing synopsis and synthesis and developing the tradition of the Radical Enlightenment to bring together a range of disparate disciplines, a more comprehensive and coherent account of organized human action is offered, one that grants a central place to human experience as an emergent component of a self-organizing nature. It is shown how this conception of human action might be applied to develop new perspectives on managing organizations that can improve our relations to ourselves, to each other and, most importantly, to our environment, offering new approaches to meeting global environmental challenges such as global warming.KeywordsAnalysisManagementModerate EnlightenmentOrganizationsOrganizingRadical EnlightenmentSpeculative philosophySynopsisSynthesis