Ontology of the False State

On the Relation Between Critical Theory, Social Philosophy, and Social Ontology

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2436441
AutoresItalo Testa (0000-0001-5232-6254, University of Parma, autor correspondente)
Ano2015
Volume1
Fascículo2
Páginas271-300
Data de publicação2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Social Ontology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2196-9663 • E-ISSN: 2196-9655
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jso-2014-0025
OpenAlexW2303180909
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas13

In this paper I will argue that critical theory needs to make its socio-ontological commitments explicit, whilst on the other hand I will posit that contemporary social ontology needs to amend its formalistic approach by embodying a critical theory perspective. In the first part of my paper I will discuss how the question was posed in Horkheimer's essays of the 1930s, which leave open two options: (1) a constructive inclusion of social ontology within social philosophy, or else (2) a program of social philosophy that excludes social ontology. Option (2) corresponds to Adorno's position, which I argue is forced to recur to a hidden social ontology. Following option (1), I first develop a meta-critical analysis of Searle, arguing that his social ontology presupposes a notion of 'recognition' which it cannot account for. Furthermore, by means of a critical reading of Honneth, I argue that critical theory could incorporate a socio-ontological approach, giving value to the constitutive socio-ontological role of recognition and to the socio-ontological role of objectification. I will finish with a proposal for a socio-ontological characterization of reification which involves that the basic occurrence of recognition is to be grasped at the level of background practices

Constructive · Critical theory · Epistemology · Objectification · Ontology · Political science · Reification (Marxism · Social ontology · Sociology · Computer Science · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics