Theory Today Research Articles

Bildung and the Moral Topography of the Self

Abstract The ideal of authenticity that developed in the Romantic era emphasized that both individuals and places find their own authentic process for cultivating their identity and humanity, a notion that has become controversial in modern philosophy. This paper will explore the concepts of authenticity and place and discuss their relevance for Bildung theory today. Based on the works of Charles Taylor, we will argue that Bildung can be seen as constituted by and constitutive of language and moral spaces that go beyond the self and its individuality. In this view, Bildung can be understood as a ‘moral topography of the self’ with both substantial and procedural aspects. However, language and moral spaces (i.e. communities) can both enable and constrict our Bildung processes. Drawing on Rahel Jaeggi, we thus argue that alienation is an equally important concept to understand the complex and dialectical relationship between individuals and communities in our current moment.

Ecogothic Interpretations of the Anthropocene

The so-called nonhuman turn has a great role to play in theoretical elaborations of the Anthropocene. This broad tendency of thought incorporates contemporary non-anthropocentric schools of thought such as Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) and posthumanism. These various sociological and philosophical directions have one thing in common: the rejection and transcendence of anthropocentrism, as well as a new sensitivity to the heterogeneous, irreducible and multiple nature of reality. Openness to post-anthropocentrism is a general characteristic of authors who work in Anthropocene theory today. However, posthumanist philosophy, while it decenters and deconstructs the human, is also committed to an aesthetic of uncertainty, fear, and even horror. Simon C. Estok, in his highly important article “Theorising the EcoGothic,” shows that during the ecological crisis philosophical thought must traverse unknown terrain, while also emphasizing the darker aspects of sociocultural constructs. Posthumanism must, by its very nature, prepare for the unthinkable in a quite literal sense according to Stefan Herbrechter. The Anthropocene constitutes an opening to what Nick Land calls “Outsideness”. A future condition “after” the human can be understood as a condition that opens onto a dark, monstrous, threatening or, in a word, hybrid future beyond any anthropic measure.

Beyond the Novel: Satire in Eastern Europe and Volodymyr Rafeyenko’s Mondegreen (2019)

ABSTRACT This essay’s theoretical goal is to examine the possibilities of conceptualizing literary cultures of Eastern Europe as a world-literary region in its own right. This region, formerly part of the so-called “Second World,” has virtually disappeared from the comparative literary scene after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. At the same time, the end of the Cold War coincided with the renewal of the debates about “world literature,” where the old opposition between “West” and “East” has been redrawn along the lines of “North” and “South.” This article focuses on a particular case in-between – Eastern Europe – as it takes on the double issue of “internal Orientalism” within Europe and the homogenizing effects of the privileged status of the novel in world-literary theory today. I draw on contemporary Ukrainian fiction to critique what I term a homogeneric vision of the contemporary world-literary field.

From legitimate boundaries to legitimate boundary-making: towards a theory of post-sovereign membership politics

ABSTRACT Questions of political membership belong to the most controversial issues in political theory today. Most of the contributions to these debates, however, leave aside the procedural question of how and by whom membership boundaries can be legitimately redrawn. In this article, I argue that membership theory should move from dealing with legitimate boundaries to legitimate boundary-making. Highlighting the limits of two normative models – sovereign and cosmopolitan membership politics – and building on a new interpretation of Seyla Benhabib’s concept of ‘democratic iterations’, I develop an alternative approach, which I describe as post-sovereign membership politics. Post-sovereign membership politics envisages differentiated participatory entitlements for members and non-members in boundary-making and aims to realize both members’ and non-members’ autonomy in decisions on controversial issues such as citizenship tests, prisoner disenfranchisement, or the selling of passports.

Communication Techniques in Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling in the Context of the Cognitive-Behavioral Approach

The article reveals the importance of psychological counseling - competent assistance of a psychologist to one or more clients in finding solutions to problems, taking into account the peculiarities of the psyche and ways of professional or personal improvement. Important in counseling behavioral and cognitive approaches. In the early stages of development, human and cognitive approaches develop separately from each other, but already in the first theories of human knowledge it is possible to explore motives for organizing knowledge: indeed, the use of cognitive processes is necessary to change behavior - this view is already heard in Tolman's concept of "cognitive maps". Note that psychologists also focus on the need for action at a higher level. Today's theories deal with cognitive and behavioral processes, so they often emphasize a unified cognitive-bihevioral approach rather than on two separate parts. The article provides concepts and describes the principles of the cognitive-bihevioral approach; defines the tasks of psychotherapy and counseling according to the humanistic approach; presents categories of irrationality of opinions in the context of the cognitive-bihevioral approach of counseling; offers communication techniques in psychological and pedagogical counseling in the context of the cognitive-bihevioral approach.

Knowing Gender in Kim de l'Horizon's Blutbuch

AbstractThis article reads Kim de l'Horizon's award‐winning novel Blutbuch (2022) as a contribution to the epistemology of gender. Amid philosophical debates about internality and externality in the construction of gender, about the feasibility of gender identity as a coherent concept, about gender feels and gender as process, de l'Horizon's novel offers something else: it shows the foolishness of attempting an etiology of gender and the compulsion to attempt one anyway. Instead of setting the ultimate knowability of gender aside, the typical move of today's gender theory, Blutbuch dwells within this impasse. In the novel, I argue, gender appears simultaneously as an empty signifier and an essential aspect of the self.

PEMIKIRAN IBNU SINA TENTANG PENDIDIKAN DAN RELEVANSINYA DENGAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM KONTEMPORER

Islamic education theory today cannot be separated from the theories developed by philosophers, scholars and previous Islamic figures. One of the figures who made an important contribution to Islamic education was Ibn Sina. The aim of this research is to investigate Ibn Sina's educational ideas and their application to contemporary Islamic education. This type of research is library research using secondary sources in the form of books and scientific journals and documentation study data collection methods and using content analysis data analysis methods. The findings of this research show that Ibn Sina's thoughts about the concept of education include educational goals, curriculum, methods and educational concepts. Ibn Sina's thoughts on education have relevance to contemporary Islamic education.

Autonomiaa vai kontrollia?

Autonomy or control? A case study in an organization striving to increase self-management In many organizations increasing self-management is a new way of working. The case organization of this study is a Finnish financial services organization with about 100 employees. We use qualitative interview data to explore the commonalities and contradictions in the interpretations of employees and management in an organization that is in a process of adopting a more self-managed way of working. We also examine the implementation of the basic assumptions of Self-Determination Theory in today's organizational environment. We approach the issue from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Our analysis shows that self-management in the target organization is initiated and controlled by management, which sets strict limits but allows only a certain amount of freedom. Our case study provides both theoretical and practical insights into the discussion of the process of increasing self-management.

Everything Can Also Be Different: From Clinical Observation to Lifelong Motif

ABSTRACT: Adler frequently said, “Everything can also be different,” and it seems to have been a theme that permeated his life and is also relevant to anyone who follows his theory today. Adler saw movement from a “felt minus” to a “perceived plus” as an inherent part of his life view as well as his theory. He emphasized the importance of the individual’s creative response to life’s challenges rather than the influence of any type of determinism. Following his service as a physician in the trenches of World War I, he developed the concept of Gemeinschaftsgefühl , or social interest or community feeling, as a mark of mental health and a fictional goal toward which all can strive.

Narrating Constitutional Dis/Order in Post-1994 South Africa: A Critical Response to Theunis Roux

This comment takes up the invitation to critically engage Theunis Roux’s paper “Grand Narratives of Transition and the Quest for Democratic Constitutionalism in India and South Africa”, focusing only on the latter of his two subject countries. Like Roux, I am interested in examining the impending collapse or fading of liberal constitutionalism as an emancipatory horizon for postcolonial futurity and regard this predicament as one of the major questions for legal, political and social theory today. As both the promises and premises of the South African constitution sustain deep fractures under the pressure of the intractable afterlife of colonial-apartheid and growing dissent against the founding myths of the post-apartheid legal order, we enter a problem-space that demands reckoning. Roux’s approach to this question is to stage an interlocution between what he regards as the two prominent competing grand narratives of postcolonial transition and democratic constitutionalism, which he respectively names the “liberal progressive” (mainstream) narrative (“LPN”) and the “culturalist” or “decolonial” (critical) narrative (“CGN”).

Working through our differences: Limits of ontology in the ordinary lives of critical geographical theory

You won’t get far in geographical theory today without bumping into one ontology or another. Metaphysical assertions about key spatial concepts – ‘space is open’, ‘community is exclusionary’, ‘the political is agonistic’ – guide empirical analysis. In this mode of theorising, the vocation of critical geography is to correct conceptual misunderstandings and thereby direct political action. Curiously perhaps, the geographer becomes one who – in the name of emancipatory projects – points people to their proper place. An alternative approach to critical theory might consider instead how people place themselves. Just such a concern animates the varied enterprises operating under the name of ordinary language philosophy. This article examines how philosophies of ordinary language might contribute to new avenues of geographical research by examining the relationship between Stanley Cavell's writings on the human voice as a site of embodied and passionate response and Clive Barnett's call for an action-theoretic approach to social inquiry as an alternative to ontological critique. Taken together, their work recommends a programme of inquiry into ordinary critical geographies: how people circumstantiate the meaning, worth and wisdom of their actions, and, in doing so, work to place themselves in the world.

Alderfer’s Erg and Mcclelland’s Acquired Needs Theories - Relevance in Today’s Organization

Many scholars have been interested in the evolution of management theories, principles, and concepts and their application. This study looked into the utility of the Alderfer's ERG and the McClelland Acquired Need theories in today's workplace. A narrative and desk review methodology were used to thoroughly review and document the works of other scholars. Before narrowing it down to the immediate environment, references were made to the application of the theories in global space. The study's findings revealed that the two theories are deeply rooted in today's management approaches, but they are not static. As society changes, so do the dynamics of management. The study showed that no single theory is applicable in every organisation, but rather a combination of two or more theories. Because the application of management theories has evolved over time to meet changing internal and external requirements of firms, they are influenced by the current business environment. Colonialism, culture, technological advancement, and socio-economic theories have all had impact on Nigerian management theory and practise. In a nutshell, management theory is progressing rather than coming to an end.

The Cornerstone of Class Theory Today: Marx’s Class Theory and Its Modern Applicability

马克思的阶级理论以历史唯物主史唯物主义为基础，强调经济和社会关系在塑造社系在塑造社系在塑造社会结构中的至关重要作用。它对社会学产生了深远影响，为了解社会不平等和社会变革提供了见解。这一理论在阶级和分层分析中仍然是一分析中仍然是一个基石，基石，为后续研究提供了持久的究提供了持久的究提供了持久的研究途径。

Sebastian Prixner (1771‒1855) as a Music Theory Teacher

Till present day only very few writings are existing on Sebastian OSB Prixner (actually Peter Prixner). In 1789 a teaching book by Prixner was published, which is entitled Kann man nicht in zwei, oder drei Monaten die Orgel gut, und regelmäßig schlagen lernen? Mit Ja beantwortet und dargethan vermittelst einer Einleitung zum Generalbasse. This relatively comprehensive writing with probably one of the most enthusiastic and promising titles in the history of music theory is of some interest, as it contains several rules and graphic depictions that are specially designed for beginners in figured bass, for example tables of all dissonances both in major and minor mode, a table which explains and summarizes the intervals not usually indicated in figured bass signatures, or an abstract graph of the rule of the octave without any notes, but only with figured bass indications. The author calls the rule of the octave “Oktavsystem” and traces it back to the theories of Jean-Philipp Rameau (1683–1764) and François Campion (1686–1747).
 Even though it might be questionable, if the book ever reached its aim and taught playing the organ to musical beginners in only maximum twelve weeks, it bears some potential for a practical oriented and historically informed education in music theory today, especially in the context of the raising discipline of applied piano praxis. In the article is shown this potential by mainly concentrating on the third part of the book, a main section of Prixner’s writing that deals with explanations about how to improvise—that means: how to invent free fantasies as well as how to prelude—on the organ. Both the author’s partially inventive ways of explaining complex interrelationships to beginners and his refreshing, at times humorous writing style might still be motivating for present day students.

Teoría Social Hoy. Una Conversación con Hartmut Rosa

Teoría Social Hoy. Una Conversación con Hartmut Rosa

Challenging the Hegemony of the Grand Paradigm of Social Movement Studies: A Review of Paradigmatic Weaknesses

The study of social movements today is dominated by three grand paradigms (grand theory) in the 1980s, and even in Indonesia since the 70s. The three major paradigms of study are the "structural tension paradigm", the "resource mobilization paradigm", and the "identity-oriented paradigm", all of which have become the main sources of reference in various studies that have been developed. Through the literature review method, the critical analysis in this article aims to map, classify and categorize the grand theory and its influence on various social movement studies in Indonesia. The findings of this article show that the "structural tension" paradigm fails to consider how individuals experience dispossession as embedded in broader social structures. The "resource mobilization" paradigm places too much emphasis on collective action, which tends to be squeezed into market theory and consumerism. Placing the target achieved is only a political target, oriented towards the "economic man" (socios economiculus), which merely calculates a deterministic hedonistic calculus. While the "identity-oriented" paradigm fails when positioning the identity of new collective actors is recognized, then by themselves their expressive actions can be transformed into instrumental actions whose names can be seen clearly as a case of institutionalizing collective mobility. In conclusion, in many cases today's theorists have synthesized the insights of earlier older schools while adding dimensions that they overlooked. The overall trend, which one would like to focus on, is the clustering of large structures in favor of a concern with the micro-foundations of social and political action.

Evolutionary trends and goal directedness.

The conventional wisdom declares that evolution is not goal directed, that teleological considerations play no part in our understanding of evolutionary trends. Here I argue that, to the contrary, under a current view of teleology, field theory, most evolutionary trends would have to be considered goal directed to some degree. Further, this view is consistent with a modern scientific outlook, and more particularly with evolutionary theory today. Field theory argues that goal directedness is produced by higher-level fields that direct entities contained within them to behave persistently and plastically, that is, returning them to a goal-directed trajectory following perturbations (persistence) and directing them to a goal-directed trajectory from a large range of alternative starting points (plasticity). The behavior of a bacterium climbing a chemical food gradient is persistent and plastic, with guidance provided by the external "food field," the chemical gradient. Likewise, an evolutionary trend that is produced by natural selection is a lineage behaving persistently and plastically under the direction of its local ecology, an "ecological field." Trends directed by selection-generated boundaries, thermodynamic gradients, and certain internal constraints, would also count as goal directed. In other words, most of the causes of evolutionary trends that have been proposed imply goal directedness. However, under field theory, not all trends are goal directed. Examples are discussed. Importantly, nothing in this view suggests that evolution is guided by intentionality, at least none at the level of animal intentionality. Finally, possible implications for our thinking about evolutionary directionality in the history of life are discussed.

Automatic Systems after Marx

ABSTRACT This article foregrounds the relevance of Marx’s analysis of machines beyond 19th century industrial technology. Can a Marxian analysis shed light on the historical implications of contemporary digital technology and automation? The article proposes that “automatic systems,” an expression from volume 1 of Capital, could serve as the guiding conceptual tool for envisaging possible answers to this question. A close reading of mainly volume 1 of Capital, in addition to Marx’s preparatory notes for Capital, is presented in the second and main section of this article. The overarching argument is that contrary to claims otherwise, the foundation laid out in Capital provides us with a structural analysis that neither is technologically determinist nor denies the social significance of technological shifts as the material condition for class struggle. This argument will be preceded by a detailed and critical discussion of an ongoing debate in Marxist theory today, notably literature inspired by authors such as A. Negri and P. Virno. The article concludes with the relationship between knowledge and capital.

The Psychological Effects of Political Talk Shows on Youth

Examining the determinants of cultivation theory in today's society on the political attitudes of viewers is the foremost consideration of this research. Scholarly journals' investigations indicate that political talk shows have the influence to cultivate political knowledge among the viewers. This article studied consumption patterns and the psychological effects of political talk shows on males and females. It investigated how the political discourse of media cultivates political behaviour. For the purpose of the investigation, a survey method technique was employed to take the responses from 200 respondents, 100 from each segment males and females. Results revealed consumption patterns of political talk shows that cultivate negative psychological effects on viewers.

Systematic Objectification of Eastern Women in Western Society: A Case Study of ‘The Optimist’ by Bina Shah

Patriarchy is deeply rooted in all societies of the world and many sociological, political and religious reasons are behind this ideology. This was not highlighted by western writers in the past but it exists in the western modern world is also as presented by Loius Tyson (2006). He has claimed that women are kept oppressed economically, politically, socially and psychologically by patriarchy, moreover, women are considered as the ‘other’, therefore objectified and marginalized. The writings of eastern writers like the short story ‘The Optimist’ written by Bina Shah verifies the claims of Tyson. The narrated story proves that oppression of women is not the issue of eastern western society but it is a universal problem that has strong roots in the societies of the men dominating societies. Pakistani writers have always tried to expose such ideologies through their writings, which allegedly justify the dominance of men over women. Human relations are reciprocal and cannot be directed from one side. The approach employed is qualitative with techniques of textual and thematic analysis keeping claims in mind, presented by Lois Tyson in his book Critical Theory Today. It was found, through the analysis of the story, that women are oppressed economically, politically, socially, and psychologically and they are treated as the ‘other’: objectified and marginalized, by men not only in the east but all over the world. However, the element of ‘revolt against biased ideologies’ is also very significant through the rebellious behavior of the character and emphasizes bringing change in the societies.