Constructing Social Reality by Michael Karlberg

My first book, Beyond the Culture of Contest, offers a small contribution toward rethinking the intellectual foundations of Western civilization. Is it possible that the intellectual foundations of the present civilization-the ideas, the assumptions, the methods, and the assertions that underpin individual and collective thought-are entirely sound and yet, somehow, give rise to such a defective order? Could it just be that the wrong people have taken hold of sound knowledge and are applying it to create inadequate structures, processes, and behaviors? Should we not also look for fundamental defects in the knowledge system that defines today’s world? ²

Regarding the last of these three levels, Arbab posed the question:

Transformative change has become an existential imperative.Īt the 2016 conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies in Montreal, Farzam Arbab pointed out the need for such change on three levels: the attitudes and behaviors that reflect the interior condition of our hearts and minds, the social structures and institutional arrangements that are external features of our social order, and the systems of knowledge upon which our social order has been constructed and from which many of our attitudes and behaviors derive. ¹ Humanity cannot continue much longer on its present course. Thoughtful observers on all continents are beginning to recognize that the current social order is, in the words of Bahá’u’lláh, lamentably defective. Reality as Enabling and Constraining Perceptions of TruthĬhapter 3: Reconciling Science & Religionįostering a Normative Discourse on ReligionĬhapter 5: Materialist Frames of Referenceįigure 1 – Relative perspectives on a complex multifaceted phenomenonįigure 2 – Assessing truth claims about a complex multifaceted phenomenonįigure 3 – Diversifying and deepening insights into a complex multifaceted phenomenonįigure 4 – Integrating diverse insights regarding a complex multifaceted phenomenonįigure 5 – Relative dependence on human agencyįigure 6 – Relative embodiment of normative truths in social constructsįigure 7 – Relational and distributive dimensions of powerįigure 9 – Generating oppressive or emancipatory structures of knowledge Preface No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher.Ĭover design, book design, and typeset by Nilufar Gordon Constructing Social Reality An Inquiry into the Normative Foundations of Social Change ContentsĬhapter 1: Reconciling Truth & Relativity Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings. Constructing Social Reality: An Inquiry into the Normative Foundations of Social Change / Michael Karlberg, authorĮvery effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtness accurately.

Constructing Social Reality by Michael Karlberg