Ułuda racjonalności? O emocjonalnych postawach społecznego funkcjonowania człowieka

In: Kultura i Społeczeństwo, Band 50, Heft 1-2, S. 129-152

Abstract

The article analyzes the concept of rationality in sociological theory and attempts to identify its significance in the light of research in neurophysics, evolutionary, and neuronal psychology. The author proposes a thesis that the sociological concept of man and human nature and decision making processes which shape social behavior of individuals stand in sharp contrast with the concept of man offered by the most recent studies of human mind. The examples of that specific "backwardness" are the primacy of the role of "I" or the use of outdated terminology suggesting the discrepancy between the spheres of "reason" and "emotions". The author proposes to abandon such divisions and to treat man not as a decision making center but as a homogenous structure adjusting its actions to the context, which is done primarily through emotions. Based on such assumptions the author suggests a direction in which sociological theory should go. Therefore it is crucial to consider emotional foundations of perception of reality and neuronal basis of social behavior (as necessary compliments of their socio-cultural aspects).