Citizenship,
play element in culture and economic behaviour
University
of Prešov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Department of Civics and
Ethics, Slovakia
Abstract:
By the creation of all social forms has
been, with the progress of technology, brought into the natural environment the
organizational principle (A. Gehlen) and alongside did evidently act as
culture-building phenomena also game and the competitive, agonal principle (J.
Huizinga, R. Caillois, E. Fink). Man could be in this context understood as homo
faber as well as homo ludens. While the mentioned organizational
principle is the projection of human efforts, tending to counterbalance the
chaos and helplessness, the play element and the agonal principle are
considered as dynamising elements, which support the progress.
When we reflect the development of the
Western civilization within last two centuries, we can recognize, that while in
the 19th century one of the fundamental culture-building principles – the play
element retreats and the ideals of work and disciplining education dominate, in
20th century the new-powered agonal principle did appear first and foremost in
the sphere of business and politics.
As the
fundamental tendencies, which characterize contemporary Euro-atlantic cultural
space and determine its limits, we can identify individualization,
pluralisation and polarization. These processes do also prefigure the
determinants of cultural communication and education. These days we learn to derive social institutions from
autonomous personalities and their actions. Their diversity and unlikeness are
becoming fundamentals for the search of new unity and sense for identity of
citizens.
Key words: culture, society, play element,
agonal principle, business, economic behaviour, citizenship