Suchergebnisse

Examines the capitalist system from an ethical perspective based on individual & collective concepts of the "good life" that conflict with traditional liberal concepts of completely autonomous life choices. It is shown how capitalism structurally limits these concepts, linking them to production & consumerism through advertising & constantly creating & replacing new desires, which elevate individual goods above collective goods. Areas of cultural research that explore the interplay of personal identities & background cultures, the embodiment of society's self-understanding in institutions, & the interaction of social needs for recognition & identity-creation are analyzed as possible explanations for this phenomenon. The postmodern concept of identity is seen as enabling capitalism to exploit romantic-expressivist tendencies. It is concluded that, to meet challenges posed by traditional authoritarianism & market paternalism, participatory models of society that return ethical considerations to the political arena must be pursued. T. Arnold

Draws on previous research on social criticism conducted by Charles Taylor (eg, see IRPS No. 50/89c01206), in which he posits that human beings are self-interpreting animals, & that this self-understanding requires a framework from which all thinking & action proceeds. It is argued that the task of a social philosopher is to study social actions in light of the moral framework on which they are based. As different cultures develop & bring to fruition different human capacities & potentials, it is only by coming to understand the frame of reference within which other cultures operate that social critics can recognize human potentials that have been previously unknown. It is concluded that the strength of the Taylorian system of analysis is its insistence on cultural pluralism without sacrificing a social criticism based on strong evaluation. 73 References. M. Wagner