Advising activity
The Living Metropolis – How the American Transcendentalism and the Monoclimaxtheory Enables the Discovery of City Culture by the Sociologists of the Chicago School
10/2014 - 03/2017
Description
The dissertation is working on a method, that enables planers and sociologists to
recognize and discuss the political implications hidden in the objects of sociology and in social theories. The special focus lies on social theories emerged as the human ecological approach of the Chicago School from the transfer of a scientific theory into the sphere of the society.
The reasoning of the dissertation is founded in the science-theoretical insights that were gained following Kuhn’s investigations on the influence of paradigms on the structure and development of scientific theories. According to the discussion subsequent to Kuhn, it is assumed that the objects of all sciences become empirically real only on the basis of certain mental structures, so called „Vor-Urteilsstrukturen“. These structures projected by the scientist into reality are perceived to be culturally conditioned, complex ideas, that means they are supposed to be „kulturelle Deutungsmuster“ of the reality. Actually this cultural patterns of interpretation are identified with political philosophies.
Starting from three different individuality and system concepts, which have appeared in the Christian Occidental thinking, the work reconstructs the philosophy of democratic enlightenment, the liberal philosophy, and the conservative philosophy, as it appears with the American Transcendentalism. These philosophies were condensed to three different „Weltanschauungen“. At the same time the ideal reconstruction of these worldviews underscore that the binding of a political philosophy on a certain individuality and system concept for reasons of logical consistency entails fixed definitions of reason, nature, history, etc..
With the following investigations the author shows that the sociologists of the Chicago School
transfered the ecological approach of Frederick E. Clement to the human society. This way it arose a Monoclimaxtheory in the science of sociology. Confronting Clements’ Monoclimaxtheory and the human ecological approach with the reconstructed worldviews it comes to light, that both theories only appear against the background of a conservative worldview. That means in detail, that both theories use the individual and system concept and the ideas of reason and history belonging to the american transcensental variant of the conservative worldview.
At least the author uncovers the political impact of Chicago School’s Monoclimaxtheory.
