Social Theory speculations, metaphysical speculations
[Social Theory]
human existence, society, human nature

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Social Theory


  Our Spirituality & the wider world page showed that numerous World Faith, Philosophical, and Literary Authorities ALL share profound insights into human nature as a complex "Tripartite Soul" combination of elements.

  This profound recognition provides awe-inspiring material of an unparalleled richness upon which to base social theory speculations about society and human existence.

  As someone once said:-

  It is better to light a candle than
to forever curse the darkness


Man's Divided Nature?





  The insights into human nature / the Tripartite Soul that the above image depicts can be continued and expanded upon in several ways:-






  Please locate your mouse over the "African", "American", "Japanese", and "Russian" links below to see tentative outline representations of some more nationalities!!!



African


American


Japanese


Russian



  The above views of Human Nature / the Tripartite Soul suggest that people are essentially the same yet differences exist in terms of ethnocultural and confessional heritages.




  We cannot deny that despite suggestions of a deep similarity in human nature across the Millenia and across the Globe there have been, for good and for ill, some notable "extreme?" personalities.
Introductory quotations
.
Spirituality & the wider world
.
Some Social Theory and insights
.
Emerson's "Transcendental" approach to History
.
The Social Construction of Reality
.
The Unfolding of History
.
The Vienna Declaration
.
Framework Convention on National minorities





  It may well be that the Tripartite Soul approach to insights into human nature can even be extended to a "Societal Level" of speculations about society and human existence.

  This view would suggest that Societies themselves!!! have a Tripartite character.

  The "Model" of an Open Society is presented above in a rather dramatic, and baldly stated, way. This presentation does however give much food for further consideration.
  As to the religious aspects of societies whilst it is true that several world religions ALL give assent to a largely identical set of profound spiritual insights it is also the case that verses can be found within holy texts of individual religions suggesting that an individual religion is an uniquely valid religion. A degree of toleration and mutual respect in this area might be a practical necessity to allow for co-existence where an insistence of the claims of an individual faith could well lead to disputations.

  As to the ethnic aspects of society it has been the case that former multi-national empires have crumbled such that individual constituent nationalities of those empires became self-determining often establishing polities where the local majority population national culture became a locally prized aspect of the nationally self-determined state.

  It is only in recent times that the Council of Europe has attempted to provide outline aspirations as to the rights of minorities in the form of the Vienna Declaration of October 1993 and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of September 1995.

  The Vienna Declaration

  We, Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Council of Europe, meeting for the first time in our Organisation's history at this Vienna summit conference, solemnly declare the following:

  The end of the division of Europe offers an historic opportunity to consolidate peace and stability on the continent. All our countries are committed to pluralist and parliamentary democracy, the indivisibility and universality of human rights, the rule of law and a common cultural heritage enriched by its diversity. Europe can thus become a vast area of democratic security.

  This Europe is a source of immense hope which must in no event be destroyed by territorial ambitions, the resurgence of aggressive nationalism, the perpetuation of spheres of influence, intolerance or totalitarian ideologies.

  We condemn all such aberrations. They are plunging peoples of former Yugoslavia into hatred and war and threatening other regions. We call upon the leaders of these peoples to put an end to their conflicts. We invite these peoples to join us in constructing and consolidating the new Europe.

  We express our awareness that the protection of national minorities is an essential element of stability and democratic security in our continent.

  The Council of Europe is the pre-eminent European political institution capable of welcoming, on an equal footing and in permanent structures, the democracies of Europe freed from communist oppression. For that reason the accession of those countries to the Council of Europe is a central factor in the process of European construction based on our Organisation's values.

  Such accession presupposes that the applicant country has brought its institutions and legal system into line with the basic principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The people's representatives must have been chosen by means of free and fair elections based on universal suffrage. Guaranteed freedom of expression and notably of the media, protection of national minorities and observance of the principles of international law must remain, in our view, decisive criteria for assessing any application for membership.....

The Vienna Declaration - Full Text


  The opening sentence of Appendix II of the Vienna Declaration states that-

  The national minorities which the upheavals of history have established in Europe should be protected and respected so that they can contribute to stability and peace.

  But a specific list of minorities recognised by the Council of Europe is not defined. This same absence of a recognised list of minorities is true also of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities that was signed in February 1995.

  The Framework Convention
for the Protection of
National Minorities

  The member States of the Council of Europe and the other States, signatories to the present framework Convention,
  Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage;
  Considering that one of the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
  Wishing to follow-up the Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Council of Europe adopted in Vienna on 9 October 1993;
  Being resolved to protect within their respective territories the existence of national minorities;
  Considering that the upheavals of European history have shown that the protection of national minorities is essential to stability, democratic security and peace in this continent;
  Considering that a pluralist and genuinely democratic society should not only respect the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of each person belonging to a national minority, but also create appropriate conditions enabling them to express, preserve and develop this identity;
  Considering that the creation of a climate of tolerance and dialogue is necessary to enable cultural diversity to be a source and a factor, not of division, but of enrichment for each society;
  Considering that the realisation of a tolerant and prosperous Europe does not depend solely on co-operation between States but also requires transfrontier co-operation between local and regional authorities without prejudice to the constitution and territorial integrity of each State.....

Framework Convention - Full Text


  Several of the states that have ratified the Framework Convention assert that they themselves recognise that they have specified, longstanding, minorities that should qualify for such consideration as is set out in the Framework Convention. Other ratifying states have asserted that they themselves have no qualifying minorities but they have still signed up in overt solidarity with the other states in the Council of Europe. Most of those states that have signed or ratified the Framework Convention have however done so without any recorded comment.

  As of 16th October 2001 thirty four member states of the Council of Europe had ratified the Framework Convention - a further eight states had initially signed in support of the Framework Convention but had yet to fully ratify their acceptance of its provisions.





  Switzerland, Belgium and Canada can perhaps be numbered amongst the western societies that have most expicitly accepted that they have historical responsibilities towards accomodating longstanding ethnic diversity within single state systems. In all these cases the approach has effectively been towards the accomodation of historic communities rather than individuals. That is to say towards preserving or establishing contexts whereby the individual human beings concerned can, at a regional level, substantially live within their own historic-communal institutions, operating in their own language, within a state that they accept and which is also accepted by other human beings living similarly historic-communal lives within other historic communities included in the same state.
At a national level the state then tries to find structures within which such more localised self-aware communities can co-operate in national government and administration.

Permit me..to tell You what the freedom is that I love and that to which I think that all men intitled. It is not solitary, unconnected, individual, selfish liberty. As if every man was to regulate the whole of his Conduct by his own will. The Liberty I mean is social freedom. It is that state of things in which Liberty is secured by the equality of Restraint; A constitution of things in which the liberty of no one Man and no body of Men and no Number of men things in which the liberty of no one Man and no body of Men and no Number of men in the Society. This kind of Liberty is indeed but another name for Justice, ascertained by wise Laws, and secured by well constructed institutions.

Edmund Burke  

  We hope that the close identity shown, in several of our page sections, between the central mystical truths of several of the Great Faiths of the World will assist in allowing peoples from each of these faith-based cultural backgrounds to regard the differences between their respective heritages of civilisation as being less than they might otherwise have imagined.



  Please click on these links to review quotations
about "Central" spiritual insights
drawn from sources as indicated :-
 
 
Christianity Islam
Judaism Hinduism
Buddhism Taoism

  There may well be other faiths (not least Sikhism) that should properly be included in any definitive consideration of Mysticism in world religions !!!
 

  Whilst such aspirations as these are undoubtedly "idealistic" we may nonetheless raise the question as to whether or not there are any practical limitations to the promotion of "Societal Open-ness."
  A point of great relevance being whether "Peace on Earth between people of goodwill" is likely to be any more realisable where there are many "Open" societies?
 
 


  In his essay "History" Ralph Waldo Emerson sets out a transcendentalist approach to History where the "innate Humanity" that is common to all of mankind is seen as operating throughout the ages in the shaping of events. The first two paragraphs include such sentiments as:-

  "There is one mind common to all individual men.
  Of the works of this mind history is the record. Man is explicable by nothing less than all his history. All the facts of history pre-exist as laws. Each law in turn is made by circumstances predominant. The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn, and Egypt, Greece, Rome, Gaul, Britain, America, lie folded already in the first man. Epoch after epoch, camp, kingdom, empire, republic, democracy, are merely the application of this manifold spirit to the manifold world".

  Towards the end of the essay Emerson asserts that :-

  " every history should be written in a wisdom which divined the range of our affinities and looked at facts as symbols. I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is".

  Emerson suggests that it is by looking at facts as symbolic of the application of human affinities that people may hope for a broader and deeper writing of history that would more truly express, and constructively demonstrate, Humanity's central and wide-related nature.

 

  There are several pages on our site that investigate the variously persuasive approaches to the study of History that have been adopted by a number of Famous Historians
  That being said none of these Historians have really attempted to approach their studies from a Transcendentalist perspective!!!
  Given this fact we have attempted to briefly set out an approach to Historical studies which hints at the operation of human affinities in the providing of the facts which Historians tend to take as their subjects of study.

  We particularly recommend our series of pages that consider The Revolution of 1848 as tending to display the action of Human Affinities in the shaping of events.



 
 

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