Parte de:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00bfQu\u00e9 es la Filosof\u00eda Pol\u00edtica? \/ I. El problema de la Filosof\u00eda Pol\u00edtica<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Por Le\u014dnardus Str\u016bthi\u014d<\/span><\/p>\n\n (4)<\/span><\/strong><\/span> Positivism necessarily transforms itself into historicism. By virtue of its orientation by the model of natural science, social science is in danger of mistaking peculiarities of, say, mid-twentieth century United States, or more gen<\/span>e<\/span>rally of modern western society, for the essential character of human society. To avoid this danger, it is compelled to engage in \u201ccross-cultural research,\u201d in the study of other cultures, both present and past. But in making this effort, it misses the meaning of those other cultures, because it interprets them through a conceptual scheme which originates in modern western society, which reflects that particular society, and which fits at best only that particular soci<\/span>e<\/span>ty. To avoid this danger, social science must attempt to understand those cultures as they understand or understood themselves: the understanding primarily required of the social scientist is historical understanding. Historical understanding becomes the basis of a truly empirical science of society. But if one considers the infinity of the task of historical understanding, one begins to wonder whether historical understanding does not take the place of the scientific study of society. Furthermore, social science is said to be a body of true propositions about social phenomena. The propositions are answers to questions. What valid answers, objectively valid answers, are, may be determined by the rules or principles of logic. But the questions depend on one\u2019s direction of interest, and hence on one\u2019s values, i.e., on subjective principles. Now it is the direction of interests, and not logic, which supplies the fundamental concepts. <\/span>It is therefore not possible to divorce from each other the subjective and objective elements of social science: the objective answers receive their meaning from the subjective questions. If one does not relapse into the decayed Platonism which is underlying the notion of timeless values, one must conceive of the values embodied in a given social science as dependent on the society to which the social science in question belongs, <\/span>i.e.<\/span>, on history. Not only is social science superseded by historical studies; social science itself proves to be \u201chistorical.\u201d Reflection on social science as a historical phenomenon leads to the relativization of social science and ultimately of modern science generally. As a consequence, modern science comes to be viewed as one historically relative way of understanding things which is not in principle superior to alternative ways of understanding.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Next paragraph<\/a><\/p>\n Previous paragraph<\/a><\/p>\n (4)<\/strong><\/span> El positivismo se transforma necesariamente en historicismo. En virtud de su adhesi\u00f3n al modelo de la ciencia natural, la ciencia social se encuentra en peligro hacer pasar las peculiaridades de, digamos, los Estados Unidos de mediados del siglo veinte, o m\u00e1s <\/span>a\u00fan<\/span>, de la sociedad occidental moderna, por <\/span>caracter\u00edsticas<\/span> esenciales de la sociedad humana. <\/span>Para evitar este peligro, <\/span>la ciencia social se ve impelida a ocuparse a la<\/span> \u00ab<\/span>investigaci\u00f3n transcultural<\/span>\u00bb,<\/span>1<\/a><\/sup>\u201cCross-cultural research\u201d, entrecomillado en el original.<\/span><\/span> al <\/span>estudio de otras culturas, tanto <\/span>del <\/span>presente como <\/span>del <\/span>pasad<\/span>o<\/span>. <\/span>Pero al <\/span>realizar<\/span> este esfuerzo, <\/span>pasa<\/span> por alto <\/span>lo que <\/span>esas otras culturas <\/span>significan<\/span>, porque las interpreta a trav\u00e9s de un esquema conceptual que se origina en la sociedad occidental moderna, que refleja esa sociedad en particular y que, en el mejor de los casos, s\u00f3lo se ajusta a esa sociedad <\/span>occidental moderna<\/span>. <\/span>Para salir, entonces, de este atolladero, la ciencia social <\/span>debe intentar <\/span>entender<\/span> esas culturas tal como ellas se <\/span>entienden<\/span> o se <\/span>ente<\/span>nd\u00edan a s\u00ed mismas: <\/span>el entendimiento<\/span> principalmente exigido a<\/span>l cient\u00edfico social es <\/span>el entendimiento<\/span> hist\u00f3ric<\/span>o. De este modo, el entendimiento hist\u00f3rico se convierte en <\/span>la base de una ciencia verdaderamente emp\u00edrica de la sociedad. <\/span>Pero, al considerar la magnitud incalculable del esfuerzo requerido por el entendimiento hist\u00f3rico, nos es l\u00edcito preguntar si el entendimiento hist\u00f3rico no estar\u00e1 sustituyendo al estudio cient\u00edfico de la sociedad. <\/span>Adem\u00e1s, <\/span>se <\/span>supone que la<\/span> ciencia social <\/span>es <\/span>un cuerpo de proposiciones verdaderas sobre los fen\u00f3menos sociales. Las proposiciones son respuestas a preguntas. <\/span>Lo que sean las respuestas v\u00e1lidas <\/span>\u2014<\/span>objetivamente v\u00e1lidas<\/span>\u2014 <\/span>puede determinarse por las reglas o principios de la l\u00f3gica.<\/span> Pero <\/span>las cuestiones planteadas <\/span>dependen de la direcci\u00f3n de los intereses de <\/span>cada<\/span> uno y, por lo tanto, de los valores <\/span>de cada investigador<\/span>, es decir, de <\/span>sus<\/span> principios subjetivos. <\/span>De ah\u00ed que sea<\/span> la direcci\u00f3n de los intereses, y no la l\u00f3gica, la que proporciona los conceptos fundamentales. Por tanto, no es posible separar entre s\u00ed los elementos subjetivos y objetivos de la ciencia social: las respuestas objetivas <\/span>cobran sentido gracias a unas preguntas <\/span>que son<\/span> subjetivas. <\/span>A no ser que reincidamos<\/span> en el platonismo decr\u00e9pito subyacente<\/span> a la noci\u00f3n de valores atemporales, <\/span>debemos<\/span> concebir los valores encarnados en una determinada ciencia social como dependientes de la sociedad a la que pertenece la ciencia social en cuesti\u00f3n, es decir, de la historia. <\/span>No se trata tan solo que la ciencia social sea sustituida por los estudios hist\u00f3ricos; en realidad, queda al descubierto que la ciencia social en s\u00ed misma es <\/span>\u00ab<\/span>hist\u00f3rica<\/span>\u00bb. <\/span>La consideraci\u00f3n <\/span>de <\/span>la ciencia social<\/span> como fen\u00f3meno hist\u00f3rico conduce a su relativizaci\u00f3n y, en \u00faltimo t\u00e9rmino, a la relativizaci\u00f3n de la ciencia moderna en general. Como consecuencia, la ciencia moderna viene a ser considerada como un<\/span>a forma, entre muchas otras aparecidas en en la historia, de entender <\/span>el mundo. <\/span>Una forma<\/span> que no es, en principio, mejor que cualquier otr<\/span>a<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Siguiente p\u00e1rrafo<\/a><\/p>\n P\u00e1rrafo anterior<\/a><\/p>\n Ir al inicio de esta entrada<\/a><\/p>\nLe<\/span>\u014d<\/span>nard<\/span>\u012b<\/span> Str\u016bt<\/span>h<\/span>i<\/span>\u012b<\/span> verba<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
Hisp<\/span>\u0101<\/span>nice<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n