Toward New Perspective of the Action Theory : Situational Model

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Social Theory on acts has been criticized to assume over-socialized person.'Interpretive paradigm'tried to compose alternative theory which conceptualize creativeness and spontaneousness to conquer the defeat. But this effort is not successful because spontaneousness can not be predicted by any rule by its definition and it is impossible to consider any theory without a rule. But the problem of over-socialized person is important for theorizing changing process of norms as well as for drawing more realistic relations between acts and norms. Establishing total spontaneousness and freedom of individuals is not necessary.What we need is to constitute a model which proves 2 hypotheses. (1) A norm does not define the act decisively. (2) Acts may change the norm.'Interpretive paradigm'is suggestive. It shows that we constitute the reality of the situation and define what norm exists in each situation by our each act, while'normative paradigm'assumes a given norm. Interpretive paradigm is a model which contains situation as a mediate factor between act and norm.But the'interpretive paradigm'has contradictions, too. First, it can not deny that the ultimate meta norm determines the acts selecting norms. Second, changes of norms in the situation does not mean changes of norms in the society. The paradigm does not make it clear those differences, neither shows how situational changes can be a universal one. However there is a way to solve these problems. Taking a viewpoint of actor instead of ultimate determinism, we can see the process of the rules coming out through reflections.Norms can be changed by these reflections. We have to think of the conditions on which they occur, studying how heterogeneous society appears through the interaction of the situation.