This article aims to contribute to a critical ontology of social objects. Recent works on collective intentionality and norm-following neglect the question how free agents can be brought to collectively intend to x , although x is not in their own interest. By arguing for a natural disposition to empathic understanding and drawing on recent research in the neurosciences, this article outlines an ontological framework that extends collective intentionality to questions of oppression and status asymmetries. In a contribution to this (...) journal, Wisnewski (2005) unfortunately mischaracterizes the problem of meaning in social criticism. Implementing status problems in studies of collective intentions and construing social facts as both subjective and objective in character helps explain why agents can have persistent "misunderstandings" of social objects. (shrink)

This paper investigates material legalism and its influence on shaping the Albanian communist state. It aims to shed light on the underlying complexities and constraints of material legalism in Albania by analyzing the legislation established during the proletariat dictatorship. This underscores the disparity between the communist ideology, which was claimed to be liberating and progressive, and the history of a legal system that extended control even into private matters. Consequently, challenges arose in the legal interpretation, implementation, and practical enforcement of (...) normative laws in Albanian society. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of recognizing both the formal and material realities when establishing an effective legal order to meet the needs of Albanian citizens. (shrink)

Focusing on his essays “New value‐free sociology” and “Remarks on social conflict today,” this chapter discusses Adorno's assessments of how Karl Mannheim, Georg Simmel, Lewis Coser, and Ralf Dahrendorf have addressed the tensions and conflicts that beset contemporary society. The chapter draws on these sociologists' works and on Adorno's reading of them to elucidate core arguments in his critique of both their conceptions of the social world and their sociological modes of procedure. Particular emphasis is placed on Adorno's notion of (...) the potential of a sociological approach that is more suitable for gaining insight into the antagonistic capitalist condition. The key components of such an approach, notably experience, its interplay with theory, and sociology's response to appearance, are further illuminated with reference to passages that illustrate their operations in sociological research. (shrink)

The article examines the impact of environmental quality on shaping the development policy of Polish voivodeships. The main analytical tool used was the synthetic index of environmental quality, compiled by means of the Perkal method. It was constructed in order to organize Polish voivodeships in terms of environmental quality, which was determined in a comprehensive way on the basis of three thematic areas: advantages of the natural environment, the level of pollution of the environment as well as active protective (...) activities. The obtained values of synthetic measures were then compared to the level of economic growth of Polish regions. It was necessary in determining which voivodeships perceive the quality of the environment as the main factor enhancing their economic growth, and which treat it as a barrier to economic development. (shrink)