Gidden says that reflective monitoring of actions and rationalization of action of agent is very important to create a structured society. Rationalization of action is practical consciousness and reflective monitoring of action is discursive consciousness. Practical consciousness is routine work that we do in day to day life like getting up in the morning, going to classes, having lunch etc. These actions are not thought of in our mind before doing them. Only if any deviation occurs, we think about it. Discursive action is reflection on those actions. When we walk on the road, we see that we follow traffic rule so that you do not get hurt or nobody else is harmed. This reflective monitoring of action is necessary to create a social structure. This is what Gidden Says.
But what if….
The practical consciousness part of Godden’s argument is removed. How would be social structure then? What if our daily routine is a pure reflective motoring act? To explain further, I would take bath if I do reflective monitoring of my action and see that I am not causing any problem to my fellow friends by smelling bad. Ain't many people do that in the society? Then, isn't practical consciousness caused by or an outcome of reflective motoring of action?
The reflective monitoring of action will force people to think about broader aspect of society rather than sticking to his own “I’. If everyone behave reflectively without any practical consciousness then human altercations, conflicts, atrocities against women, corruption by politician, road accidents, riots can be reduced considerably. If this comes out to be true then I feel that would be better social structure than the present one. What say????
"Fictional Society II" follows...
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1 comment:
excellent thought shashi
ur question is removing practical consciousness while keeping reflective monitoring constant. I would think practical consciousness is the medium which provides us with the spare time to think reflectively. Suppose, everyday before we brush we have to reflect on why we need to brush, wouldnt this lead to wastage of time? Hence, I think there should be a balance between practical consciousness and reflective thinking. If we start thinking about each and every thing in our life, we will get time only for it. So, somewhere we have to draw the line. Personally, i would involve in reflective thinking about a subject only if I feel the subject has long standing implication for my future life.
This is the best I can do for your very deep question. Once again, thanks for raising this topic.
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