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Social Science

Unification in the Social Sciences: Search for a Science of Society
Anticipation: A New Thread for the Human and Social Sciences?
Society and Social Power
The Conscious Individual
Person-Centered Education
Twelve Action Lines For a Better World
Relevance of Spiritual Principles for Resolving Social Problems
A Brief History of Mind and Civilization
Mind, Thinking and Creativity
Knowing Beyond the Structure: Maximizing Social Power through a Synergistic, Values-based Approach on Diversity
The Role of Presuppositions in the Social Sciences
Anticipation in Law and Social Science*
Multilateralism: Its Past, Present and Future

Robert Horn
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract To manage complexity in the modern world requires large-scale visual language diagrams that are called “information murals.” These murals present the science involved in major global and local issues; describe the policies that may respond to these challenges; and integrate the communication using the arts of diagramming and illustration on a wall-size scale. ... Read more
WAAS ST Working Group
Get Full Text in PDF In February 2021, the World Academy of Art and Science hosted an expert panel on societal transformation as part of its 60th anniversary conference. From this, a working group was formed for the purpose of identifying, developing, promoting and implementing practical, catalytic strategies for addressing major challenges and evolving human society into sustainable form. The... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Individualism and collectivism are two competing philosophical and social movements that have divided the world for centuries. Their origins can be traced back to ancient times. They are founded on different interpretations of the value and place of freedom and equality in society. While their rivalry is ancient, it is also evolving and taking on ever new forms.... Read more
Robert Van Harten
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract A silent revolution occurs per definition outside our views. The present silent revolution is the unprecedented shift of focus away from numbers towards values. At a time of crisis where all numbers fail us, the future of the world is opened, directed, and saved through values. Numbers represent the inhuman side of life, whereas values represent the human quality of... Read more
Garry Jacobs, Janani Ramanathan, Ralph Wolff, Remus Pricopie, Piero Dominici, Alberto Zucconi
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Every institution of higher education and every government is trying to overcome the problems it faces and improve the reach, relevance, financial viability and effectivity of education. But no one is thinking globally for solutions that will be optimal from the perspective of humanity as a whole. The enormous challenges we face in education today can best... Read more
Garry Jacobs
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract There is an imperative need to reconceptualize the role of the firm in modern society based on a holistic perspective in order to correct the imbalances and excesses generated by a too narrow conception of purpose and the inadequacies of current theory to explain and reveal the underlying process by which firms, stakeholders and society at large grow, develop and... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The concept of modernization refers to the transition of societies through industrialization, urbanization, and technological sophistication. It is a visible manifestation of the underlying process of global social evolution. Social evolution has a direction. Its cardinal characteristic and driving force is the progressive recognition and enforcement of an... Read more
David Chikvaidze
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The narrative ‘sweeps through’ history, starting with the Treaties of Westphalia in 1648, on to the Congress of Vienna of 1814-15, to the current terminology of ‘modern multilateralism’ with its lineage from the Versailles Treaty of 1919 and the League of Nations, to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods in 1944, the European Coal and... Read more
Carlos Blanco
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract This paper addresses the problem of how to identify a small and parsimonious set of principles or “postulates” that may help us understand the great theoretical foundations of the social sciences. From a philosophical point of view, it presents ten premises that are perhaps essential for any attempt at elaborating a social theory. When one tries to elaborate... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract As society evolves in consciousness, the character of its leadership evolves as well. The physical stage of human development is characterized by the rule of physical strength and directed by military leaders with the capacity to mobilize and exercise physical force through violence. In the vital-social stage, leadership shifts to the authority of custom and... Read more
Janani Ramanathan, Garry Jacobs
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Great achievements of the past hold invaluable lessons for the future. Often we deify the leader and celebrate the outcome, but overlook the underlying principles they reflect. The American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s is a testimony to the combined power of an idea, the catalytic role of dedicated individuals and the power of token actions in... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract All values are spiritual in their essence, even those that appear to be physical. For all values seek perfection of the whole. The widest and highest perfection is based on the totality and oneness of reality. Such a perfection is comprehensive and inclusive. It is founded on truths that complete other truths rather than compete with them. Despite their vast... Read more
Erich Hoedl
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Unequal distribution of societal power is to a large extent responsible for poverty, hunger, the destruction of nature, and inhuman living conditions. From the perspective of its redistribution, we distinguish three basic means of power: The ownership of material and immaterial properties, the kind of organisation and the values according to which properties... Read more
David Harries
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Strategic Foresight is usually understood to be a process for exploring possible and plausible futures, or an ability to better anticipate and prepare for what those futures may hold. This perspective may reflect the majority of foresight practice, but, intellectually and in terms of potential value, it is incomplete and unnecessarily constrains the scope and... Read more
Frank Dixon
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Over the past 15 years, sustainability has become mainstream in the corporate and financial sectors. But environmental and social conditions are declining rapidly in many regions. Nearly all corporate and financial sector sustainability strategies are focused on company-level activities, such as unilaterally mitigating negative environmental and social... Read more
Martin Ramirez, Juan Cayón-Peña
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Scientists have an important role not only in avoiding inappropriate and dangerous decisions, but also advising policymakers and other stakeholders about the best and wiser moves to make towards a human-centered society, thereby fomenting scientific knowledge and enhancing cross-cultural connections and joint research. They should also not forget... Read more
Winston P. Nagan, Megan Weeren
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract This article explores a particular aspect of the role of anticipation in social and legal processes. The program begins by recognizing that social interaction happens within a time-space manifold of events. This means that society functions in terms of events located on the plane of time and the situation of space. This means that social process is a dynamic... Read more
Carlos Blanco
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Any expression of rationality is based upon premises, many of which cannot be ultimately justified. The role of these presuppositions becomes particularly important in the domains of the social sciences and the humanities. A philosophical reflection on the foundations and methodologies of these disciplines can shed valuable light on how to overcome the... Read more
Marta Neškovic
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract In this article, a principal place is given to the question of how the ways we conceptualize the use of our mind influence the generation of social power. We define social power as the potency of socially integrated individuals to accomplish specific predetermined values. These values can be related to anything from concrete material prosperity to abstract... Read more
Janani Ramanathan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Global civilization is the product of diverse cultures, each contributing a unique perspective arising from the development of different mental faculties and powers of mind. The momentous achievements of modern science are the result of the cumulative development of mind’s capacity for analytic thinking, mathematical rendering and experimental validation. The... Read more
Garry Jacobs
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The rational mind is the highest evolved status of human consciousness. The evolution of mind and civilization has proceeded hand in hand for millennia. The development of new capacities of mind made possible the development of tools, language, agriculture, permanent settlements, towns, cities, religion, trade, transportation, communication, government, law,... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Society unknowingly follows the course of spiritual evolution. Spirituality is the quest for self-existent order and harmonious perfection. The evolution of society is driven by an irrepressible aspiration for the values that are the translation and embodiment of that order. The history of civilization is a record of its progressive emergence. Spirituality is... Read more
F. J. Radermacher
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract This article describes a global governance system that—from the author’s point of view—would lead to sustainability and allow the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have just been adopted at the UN level. Major elements are (1) the integration of existing international regimes in the area of the UN, WTO and the world financial... Read more
Alberto Zucconi
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Education, together with family and culture, is one of the fundamental building blocks of the social construction of reality. It is more and more evident that we need a paradigm change in the field of education in order to enable people to deal effectively with the mounting challenges facing humanity. This retooling needs to start with our frames of reference.... Read more
Ashok Natarajan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract This article traces the evolutionary development of human consciousness and its increasingly complex and sophisticated organization as human personality from the instinctive behavior of the animal and the subconscious conformity characteristic of early forms of human civilization through progressive stages of transition from physical to social to mental levels... Read more
Janani Ramanathan
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Society is the source of immense power. Over the past few centuries humanity has record­ed phenomenal growth in its collective capacity for accomplishment, as reflected in the 12-fold growth in global per capita income since 1800. The remarkable achievements in living standards, longevity, science, technology, industry, education, democracy, human rights,... Read more
Roberto Poli
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Anticipation is increasingly at the heart of urgent contemporary debates, from climate change to economic crisis. As societies are less confident that tradition will provide an effective guide to the future, anticipatory practices are coming to the foreground of political, organizational and personal life. Research into anticipation, however, has not kept pace... Read more
Garry Jacobs, Winston P. Nagan, Alberto Zucconi
 Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The social sciences have contributed significantly to humanity’s remarkable progress over the past two centuries, but the multidimensional crises confronting the world today reflect the need to rapidly move beyond the limitations imposed by the compartmentalization of social science disciplines and the absence of common unifying principles equivalent to those... Read more
Social Science
Robert Van Harten
Garry Jacobs, Janani Ramanathan, Ralph Wolff, Remus Pricopie, Piero Dominici, Alberto Zucconi
Martin Ramirez, Juan Cayón-Peña
Winston P. Nagan, Megan Weeren
Janani Ramanathan
Alberto Zucconi
Ashok Natarajan
Janani Ramanathan
Garry Jacobs, Winston P. Nagan, Alberto Zucconi