SAS2 Social Theory

Theology, Reason, and Science have each had their days of glory: the Middle Ages, the Age of Reason, and the Modern Age. Each era has brought many vital insights into our understanding of the world and ability to act on it. But these forms of knowledge and learning have also been responsible for negative legacies that affect how humans interact with Nature and each other. The institutions of religion, philosophy, and science have too often supported hierarchies that blindly served authority. The effects of such hierarchies ranged from domination of all life forms by human beings to ensuring that powerful interests prevailed over the common good.

The global epoch we have now entered will embrace many forms of wisdom and dialogue, or it will not be. While humans must continue to build on previous accomplishments, this new, global age must also rise to the challenge of creating better and more effective forms of civic and social engagement to solve problems on a world scale. It must create synergies among the living knowledge of people from all parts of the world. This includes the almost one billion poor or marginalized people wrongly branded as ‘have-nots’ and ‘know-nothings’ with little to contribute to human history.

The central purpose of SAS² is to help people develop the skills they need to inquire into situations that do not lend themselves to easy solutions designed by experts alone. Creating and mobilizing knowledge for the common good does not depend simply on sharing the right information, having the right concepts, or using the right techniques. It hinges on the competency or skillful means that people bring to situations that are inescapably messy and unpredictable. SAS² should be used in this spirit, as a helpful set of concepts and tools that promote the practical wisdom to engage with others and the world we live in.