Topic of the issue SOCIETY, MEANING, CHANGE
Issue editor: Emilia Chengelova
CONTENTS & Abstracts & Keywords & The authors in the issue
Emilia Chengelova (DSc., Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Behavior Models in an Anomic Society: Normality or Deviance
Abstract:The article proceeds from the general assumption that in an anomic society, such as the Bulgarian society in course of transformation, eight basic patterns of economic behavior can be identified, only one of which can be classified as normal, while the other seven models are burdened with different components of deviance. The deviance of individuals is specific, depending both on their attitude towards the goals set by culture in society and on the preferred means of achieving these goals (legitimate or illegitimate). While normal behavior is marked by the category of social conformism, we refer to deviant behavioral patterns of innovators, ritualists, retreaters, rebels, maximizers, neutralizers and alternators. The author employs abundant empirical material regarding the presence of these eight behavioral models in contemporary Bulgarian society.
Keywords: shadow economy; anomie; society in transformation; social conformism; deviant behavior.
Valeri Apostolov (Assist. Prof. at the University of National and World Economy, Department of Human Resources and Social Protection)
Systems Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in the Bulgarian Economy
Abstract:: The article deals with the acute issue of the availability of adequate occupational safety and health systems in the Bulgarian economy. Although the creation of such systems is impeccably postulated in legislation, its practical application leaves much to be desired. Through assessments by employers and employees in the Bulgarian economy, the article reveals the more important trends in the creation of safety and health systems at work. Based on analyses of empirical assessments, conclusions are drawn regarding the changes required to improve the safety and health policies at enterprise level. The article raises key issues in the field of safety and health at work, indicating the necessary directions for future policies.
Keywords:safety and health at work; Bulgarian economy; legislation.
Ani Dimitrova (PhD Graduate Student at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Fluctuations in Trust in the Presidential Institution during the Mandates prior to 2017
Abstract: The Presidential institution is comparatively new in the Bulgarian tradition of state administration. In the historical aspect, it is essentially a democratic version of the figure of the Chairman of the State Council and of the monarch. Since its inception, the new institution has been called upon to respond to the expectations of society and to adopt standards familiar to traditional democracies.Fluctuations in confidence reflect a change in attitude, contribution, presence, and behavior of the holder of the position in times of social or political crisis.Envisaged as equally distanced from, and with different functions than, the three levels of government (legislative, executive and judicial), while not representing a branch of power, the presidential institution is the highest and only state body that derives its legal status and powers directly from the Constitution; it embodies the unity of the nation and the dignity of the state. The fact that the President is directly elected by all eligible voters gives the institution additional legitimacy. This enables it to serve as the foundation of forms of direct democracy, such as referendums on important national issues. This legitimacy allows the President to form cabinets in times of political crisis, as he/she is an institutional figure holding a mandate that embodies the sovereign, i.e., the people. In this sense, it is of interest to trace the behavior of the presidential institution, which is recognized as being one of the factors maintaining public order and democracy, preventing chaos and violence in Bulgaria. This study is focused on how, and why, public perceptions of the figure and activity of the President change over time.
Keywords: the President; confidence; fluctuations; institution; legitimacy.
Simeon Vassilev (PhD, Lecturer at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication )
Radev's and Hemingway's Rhythm is the World
Abstract: In the article, a comparison is made between the journalism and writing styles of Simeon Radev and Ernest Hemingway. Their journalism is a point of reference for their work. For both authors, books were their personal destiny. Radev the journalist, a master of “the art of conversation”, helped Radev the historiographer; similarly, Hemingway the correspondent helped Hemingway the novelist. Hemingway's compass had one direction - from journalism to literature, while Radev's went from journalism through diplomacy to history. Their style of writing was drawn from their journalistic experience. The compass of these “feverish slaves of the moment” was the same during their travels through Europe, even though Hemingway lingers in the memory of readers with his cap and sailor's T-shirt, while Radev, with his diplomat's top hat and walking stick.
Keywords:Simeon Radev; Ernest Hemingway; journalism; literature; history; correspondence; writing style.
Behavior Models in an Anomic Society: Normality or Deviance
Abstract:The article proceeds from the general assumption that in an anomic society, such as the Bulgarian society in course of transformation, eight basic patterns of economic behavior can be identified, only one of which can be classified as normal, while the other seven models are burdened with different components of deviance. The deviance of individuals is specific, depending both on their attitude towards the goals set by culture in society and on the preferred means of achieving these goals (legitimate or illegitimate). While normal behavior is marked by the category of social conformism, we refer to deviant behavioral patterns of innovators, ritualists, retreaters, rebels, maximizers, neutralizers and alternators. The author employs abundant empirical material regarding the presence of these eight behavioral models in contemporary Bulgarian society.
Keywords: shadow economy; anomie; society in transformation; social conformism; deviant behavior.
Valeri Apostolov (Assist. Prof. at the University of National and World Economy, Department of Human Resources and Social Protection)
Systems Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in the Bulgarian Economy
Abstract:: The article deals with the acute issue of the availability of adequate occupational safety and health systems in the Bulgarian economy. Although the creation of such systems is impeccably postulated in legislation, its practical application leaves much to be desired. Through assessments by employers and employees in the Bulgarian economy, the article reveals the more important trends in the creation of safety and health systems at work. Based on analyses of empirical assessments, conclusions are drawn regarding the changes required to improve the safety and health policies at enterprise level. The article raises key issues in the field of safety and health at work, indicating the necessary directions for future policies.
Keywords:safety and health at work; Bulgarian economy; legislation.
Ani Dimitrova (PhD Graduate Student at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Fluctuations in Trust in the Presidential Institution during the Mandates prior to 2017
Abstract: The Presidential institution is comparatively new in the Bulgarian tradition of state administration. In the historical aspect, it is essentially a democratic version of the figure of the Chairman of the State Council and of the monarch. Since its inception, the new institution has been called upon to respond to the expectations of society and to adopt standards familiar to traditional democracies.Fluctuations in confidence reflect a change in attitude, contribution, presence, and behavior of the holder of the position in times of social or political crisis.Envisaged as equally distanced from, and with different functions than, the three levels of government (legislative, executive and judicial), while not representing a branch of power, the presidential institution is the highest and only state body that derives its legal status and powers directly from the Constitution; it embodies the unity of the nation and the dignity of the state. The fact that the President is directly elected by all eligible voters gives the institution additional legitimacy. This enables it to serve as the foundation of forms of direct democracy, such as referendums on important national issues. This legitimacy allows the President to form cabinets in times of political crisis, as he/she is an institutional figure holding a mandate that embodies the sovereign, i.e., the people. In this sense, it is of interest to trace the behavior of the presidential institution, which is recognized as being one of the factors maintaining public order and democracy, preventing chaos and violence in Bulgaria. This study is focused on how, and why, public perceptions of the figure and activity of the President change over time.
Keywords: the President; confidence; fluctuations; institution; legitimacy.
Simeon Vassilev (PhD, Lecturer at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication )
Radev's and Hemingway's Rhythm is the World
Abstract: In the article, a comparison is made between the journalism and writing styles of Simeon Radev and Ernest Hemingway. Their journalism is a point of reference for their work. For both authors, books were their personal destiny. Radev the journalist, a master of “the art of conversation”, helped Radev the historiographer; similarly, Hemingway the correspondent helped Hemingway the novelist. Hemingway's compass had one direction - from journalism to literature, while Radev's went from journalism through diplomacy to history. Their style of writing was drawn from their journalistic experience. The compass of these “feverish slaves of the moment” was the same during their travels through Europe, even though Hemingway lingers in the memory of readers with his cap and sailor's T-shirt, while Radev, with his diplomat's top hat and walking stick.
Keywords:Simeon Radev; Ernest Hemingway; journalism; literature; history; correspondence; writing style.
Malek Hosseini (Assist. Prof. at the Islamic Azad University, Science & Research Branch, Tehran.)
Wittgenstein on Contentment
Abstract:In imitation of a remark by Wittgenstein, in which he speaks of “Zufriedenheit”/ “contentment”, and with the help of other relevant remarks, the present brief paper tries to show the great importance the concept of “contentment” had for Wittgenstein. It is an important link between Life and Philosophy in Wittgenstein's work, and demonstrates what he held to be the desirable way of living and philosophizing.
Keywords:contentment; wisdom; Wittgenstein.
Denitsa Zhelyazkova (PhD Graduate Student at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Philosophical Faculty)
Wittgenstein's Anti-Platonism. Was Wittgenstein a Realist?
Abstract: Wittgenstein holds an interesting place in the debate about philosophical Realism. Was Wittgenstein a Realist in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus? The short answer to this question is “no”. In order for sentences or the complex propositions expressed by sentences to take place, the atomic propositions that are configurations of logically separate names in logical space must be analyzed. These in turn correspond to objects, whose agglomerations are called states of affairs (atomic facts), which correspond to the atomic propositions. Semantic ontology is a form of representationalism. Complex propositions are truth-functions of simple propositions, whose truth or falsity is determined by the ways in which they logically depict states of affairs. Тhe core of this semantic ontology is a “picture theory of meaning” which must be shared by the propositions and facts they represent. The important thing is that, in the atomic facts, there must be objects that have the same form as the names in the atomic propositions. What objects are is not determinable and not sayable. Three questions arise in regard to logical constants. First, are there such things? Second, how are they defined? Third, do they occur in the propositions of logic?
Keywords:realism; Platonic realism; Wittgenstein; Russell; proposition; propositional function; sense; nonsense.
Tatyana Batuleva (DSc., Assoc. Prof. at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Rosie Braidotti: Difference and the Nomadic Subject
Abstract: Sharing François Laruelle's thesis on heterogeneity in the use of the concept of difference, which imparts a specific color to philosophy in the twentieth century, the author examines Rosie Braidotti's specific interpretation of difference, which, being inspired by differentialism and the nomadic project, creates one of the most interesting contemporary philosophical conceptions. The various roles of difference are sought – first, in the context of Braidotti's understanding of the stages of the feminist project as a set of degrees of difference; second, by viewing difference as a defining element in her theory, the construction of the nomadic subject and his or her becomings in a posthuman and postanthropocentric context; third, in the political projections of the feminist brand of nomadism, based on the politics of location. The article argues the conclusion about the positive structure of the nomadic posthuman subject as opposed to the classical subject on the one hand and the deconstructed subject on the other.
Keywords:feminism; nomadism; differentialism; strategic essentialism; nomadic subject; living nexus; posthuman; counter-memories; politics of location.
Hristo Hristov (Assist. Prof. at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The French Revolution of 1789 in Terms of a Brief History of the Pamphlet
Abstract:In this paper, I turn my attention to two main topics: first, the French Revolution of 1789, which began 230 years, and second, a brief history of the pamphlet. A study of the relationship between these topics sheds light on the intellectual history of modern political thought. On the one hand, we thus discover some leading directions in the development of the media of the written word, which may give rise to divergent and contradictory ideas in the impartial observer. On the other, we stand before the imposing view of the modern political revolution as an epoch-making event involving complete denial of the past system of religious, moral, and juridical values in the name of the people's all-embracing liberty, defined as the most important value by the radical Enlightenment philosophers in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Keywords:French Revolution; radical philosophers in the Age of Enlightenment; intellectual history of the modern political thought.
Krasimir Delchev (DSc., Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Philosophical Faculty)
The Renaissance Skepticism of Sanchez in Quod nihil scitur
Abstract:The article analyzes the skepticism of Francisco Sanchez.
Keywords:skepticism.
The French Revolution of 1789 in Terms of a Brief History of the Pamphlet
Abstract:In this paper, I turn my attention to two main topics: first, the French Revolution of 1789, which began 230 years, and second, a brief history of the pamphlet. A study of the relationship between these topics sheds light on the intellectual history of modern political thought. On the one hand, we thus discover some leading directions in the development of the media of the written word, which may give rise to divergent and contradictory ideas in the impartial observer. On the other, we stand before the imposing view of the modern political revolution as an epoch-making event involving complete denial of the past system of religious, moral, and juridical values in the name of the people's all-embracing liberty, defined as the most important value by the radical Enlightenment philosophers in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Keywords:French Revolution; radical philosophers in the Age of Enlightenment; intellectual history of the modern political thought.
Krasimir Delchev (DSc., Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Philosophical Faculty)
The Renaissance Skepticism of Sanchez in Quod nihil scitur
Abstract:The article analyzes the skepticism of Francisco Sanchez.
Keywords:skepticism.
Stefan Penov (DSc., Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Alium est ergo sum vs. Cogito ergo sum
Konstantin Yanakiev (Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Philosophical Faculty)
Explanation, Understanding and Inference
Alium est ergo sum vs. Cogito ergo sum
Konstantin Yanakiev (Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Philosophical Faculty)
Explanation, Understanding and Inference