Social Philosophy Religion O

Semyon Ludvigovich Frank (1877-1950) wrote major works on epistemology, ontology, philosophy of religion, and social philosophy. As a youthful Marxist, he was arrested and banned from major Russian cities for his radical activities. Becoming dissatisfied with Marxism, he soon turned to idealism and then to religious philosophy. Professor of Philosophy at Moscow University until 1922, when he was expelled to the West, Frank worked in exile until his death in London in 1950. The Spiritual Foundations of Society is Frank's attempt to examine society as a type of spiritual being, to develop an ontology of society. Two ideas are central to his vision of future social thought. The first of these, sobornost' (from the Russian sobirat': to gather), is the living, inner, organic unity of all human societies. Its primary form is the family unit. Opposed to sobornost' is obshchestvnnost' (obshchyi: general or common), the mechanical aspect of society in which the separate parts act to mutually limit and constrain one another. The second idea is the principle of service as the most general expression of the ontological essence of man and therefore the highest normative principle of social life. According to Frank, all human right are grounded in one innte right -- the right to fulfill obligations, the opportunity to serve. Thus, Frank reconciles the principles of solidarity and individual freedom through common subordination to the principle of service. Though writing in the late twenties, Frank addresses fundamental concepts of the ground of social life applicable to all periods of history. His introduction of concepts from the Russian tradition enables us to see problems in a new light, and his approach -- focused on concepts of community and service -- challenges the now dominant materialistic and naturalistic theories of the nature of social life.

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Heinrich Meier’s guiding insight in Political Philosophy and the Challenge of Revealed Religion is that philosophy must prove its right and its necessity in the face of the claim to truth and demand obedience of its most powerful opponent, revealed religion. Philosophy must rationally justify and politically defend its free and unreserved questioning, and, in doing so, turns decisively to political philosophy. In the first of three chapters, Meier determines four intertwined moments constituting the concept of political philosophy as an articulated and internally dynamic whole. The following two chapters develop the concept through the interpretation of two masterpieces of political philosophy that have occupied Meier’s attention for more than thirty years: Leo Strauss’s Thoughts on Machiavelli and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract. Meier provides a detailed investigation of Thoughts on Machiavelli, with an appendix containing Strauss’s original manuscript headings for each of his paragraphs. Linking the problem of Socrates (the origin of political philosophy) with the problem of Machiavelli (the beginning of modern political philosophy), while placing between them the political and theological claims opposed to philosophy, Strauss’s most complex and controversial book proves to be, as Meier shows, the most astonishing treatise on the challenge of revealed religion. The final chapter, which offers a new interpretation of the Social Contract, demonstrates that Rousseau’s most famous work can be adequately understood only as a coherent political-philosophic response to theocracy in all its forms.

Excerpt from The Social Philosophy and Religion of Comte This volume consists of a series of articles which have already appeared in the Contemporary Review, and which the proprietors of that review have kindly permitted me to republish. A few paragraphs have been re-written, and a few verbal changes introduced to remove obscurity or inaccuracy, but the general substance of the articles remains unaltered. In the following exposition and criticism of Comte's philosophy I have considered it mainly, though not exclusively, in its ethical and religious aspects. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Social philosophy can be considered the study of what unifies mankind and the study of values and ideals and what their meaning and worth is to human existence. Originally published in 1918, Mackenzie’s study provides a basic outline of what he believes is the origin of social philosophy whilst placing a focus on social order; dividing his work into the foundations of social order, national order and world order. This title will be of interest to students of Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology

This volume explores the potential of employing a relational paradigm for the purposes of interdisciplinary exchange. Bringing together scholars from the social sciences, philosophy and theology, it seeks to bridge the gap between subject areas by focusing on real phenomena.Although these phenomena are studied by different disciplines, the editors demonstrate that it is also possible to study them from a common relational perspective that connects the different languages, theories and perspectives which characterize each discipline, by going beyond their differences to the core of reality itself. As an experimental collection that highlights the potential that exists for cross-disciplinary work, this volume will appeal to scholars across a range of field concerned with critical realist approaches to research, collaborative work across subjects and the manner in which disciplines can offer one another new insights.

Among the galaxy of scholars, Swami Vivekananda stands out as a majestic tower of light who has given a new tempo to the building up of a new sense of nationalism in modern India. The uniqueness of Vivekananda was his endeavour to translate every ounce of Vedanta into a social living and was never a cold theoretician or an abstract metaphysician. He was aware that India's life is governed by her sovereign sense of the infnite and inclusiveness which nourished her national life and India has been a spiritual strength for her people, implanting the seeds that have continuously sprouted and flowered in her art, literature, religion, philosophy, science and politics. It is a civilization that should be seen, not as a closed system or as a finished product, but as a dynamic and unfolding process. Whatever the differences, India's spiritual heritage should be recognized as the focal point and to be appropriated in the conception of a new resurgent India. Regrettably, what we had been glorifying as the central value of this culture and civilization is disorientated today due to the brutal exhibition of barbarous instincts which were exhibited through the rivalry between religious groups. What is being experienced is the loss of inherited values and our inability in reinventing new values. By virtue of its characteristic pluralism and its continuously evolving synthesis, India represents a nation which is continuously unfolding its civilizational potentialities. In making of such an Indian ethos, the foundational ideal which has been the basis of Indian culture and civilization is the concept of Dharma and Vivekananda was able to comprehend and articulate the relation between morality (dharma) and human affairs which are the concerns of practical Vedanta.