The Very Idea of Organization: Towards a Hegelian Exposition

Abstract

The contemporary debate on the social ontological foundations of organization does not, for methodological reasons, sufficiently get a grip on the phenomenon of organization. The original determinacy of organization remains presupposed. To render this implicit meaning of organization explicit, another, more embracing and in-depth methodology is needed. German idealist types of philosophy provide an extremely powerful methodology. In the philosophy of German idealism from Kant to Hegel, along with neo-Kantianism and up to contemporary transcendental philosophy, however, the idea of organization is not addressed. Indeed, it is a challenge to construct the idea of organization from the perspective of German idealism: the perspective of reason, and with that, of freedom. It results in a new framework for dealing with organization in theory and practice. The article constructs the idea of organization (and claims that it still makes sense to do so) within the framework of G.W.F. Hegel. It shows where the issue of organization should be addressed topologically in Hegel’s system of philosophy and what, then, organization shows to be here speculatively.

Savremena debata o socijalno ontološkim osnovama organizacije, iz metodoloških razloga, nedovoljno zahvata fenomen organizacije. Početno određenje organizacije ostaje pretpostavljeno. Da bi se ovo implicitno značenje – toga šta organizacija jeste – učinilo eksplicitnim, potrebna je drugačija, obuhvatnija i temeljnija metodologija. Filozofija nemačkog idealizma pruža veoma moćnu metodologiju. Međutim, u filozofiji nemačkog idealizma od Kanta do Hegela, neo-kantijanizma, pa sve do savremene transcendentalne filozofije, ideja organizacije nije obrađivana. Odista, izazov je konstruisati ideju organizacije iz tako idealističke perspektive: perspektive razuma i, uz to, slobode. Ovo nam pruža novi okvir za bavljenje organizacijom u teoriji i praksi. Članak konstruiše ideju organizacije (i drži se toga da i dalje ima smisla to raditi) unutar okvira G. V. F. Hegela. Pokazuje gde bi, topološki gledano, problemi organizacije trebalo da se obrađuju u Hegelovom filozofskom sistemu i, stoga, šta se ovde pokazuje da organizacija jeste spekulativno.