Deep Social Structure of SPHERONS’ Harmony:
Copernican Revolution of Sociology in the XXI Century

By Leo Semashko

Publication:

In English: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=726

In Russian: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=699

Mikhail Kovalevsky (1851-1916) is the first Russian sociologist who proclaimed the need for pluralism in sociology and criticized monism in a whole, Marxist materialistic/economic monism in particular. He wisely characterized it as a "fatal mistake" and "naive simplification" [1]. This was fully proved by whole practice of the 20th century and the collapse of Marxism with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Monism does not allow sociology to find deep, stable at all times, social structure that defines the social world/reality as such. It was not found until now, but it has several approximations. o­ne of the most promising of them is tetrasociology, developing since 1976 under the original name of "system-spheral approach" or "spheral approach" [2].

The discovery of a deep social structure as structure of the universal harmonious classes of the population - SPHERONS employed in four spheres of social production, which determine invariant social reality (social) at all times, the first time it became possible into tetrasociology [2]. Tetrasociology expresses four-dimensional pluralistic social philosophy, o­n the foundations of which is built the science of social harmony, harmonious civilization and global peace. Discovering SPHERONS in tetrasociology is based o­n the axiom of social harmony and the three fundamental facts of social cognition.

Axiom of social harmony: The harmonious existence of a society in any place and at any time is defined by the measure in proportion of four necessary and sufficient social resources: People (P), Information (I), Organizations (O) and Things (T). (Things are any material benefits and services). In the acronym: P-I-O-T, or: PIOT [3].

The first fact and achievement is the discovery of the four spheres of society or social production, which belongs to Karl Marx in "German Ideology", 1845 [4].

The second fact and achievement is the discovery of vital employment, self-production, autopoiesis, which belongs to Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela (1973) [5], which was introduced in sociology by Nicholas Luhmann in 1990 [6]. They proved that property, power, religion and the like attributes are its special cases.

The third fact and achievement is the creation of the first in sociology system theory of "structural functionalism" of four "societal subsystems" or spheres and related "societal communities" by great American sociologist- theorist Talcott Parsons in 1937-1978, which was developed by Alvin Toffler,Pierre Bourdieu and some other theorists [7].

But this theory of high universal explanation of social reality was rejected by industrial sociology after Parsons' death (1978). About this well-known British sociologist Margaret Archer wrote: "From the 1970s o­n wards there was a steady abandonment of ‘systematic sociology’… Generically, the majority of today’s social theory has no resources with which to conceive of a robust civil society and a real civil economy... With Marxism dead, so was the power to conceive of a better future attained through social conflict. With Parsons in demise, so died any serious concern with social integration and ‘the problem of social order’" [8].

The combination of these key facts and achievements of social knowledge in Tetrasociology led to the discovery of SPHERONS [2; 3; 7]. SPHERONS are the large groups of people of entire population, which differ in their life and labor employment in the four spheres of production (it is why they are called SPHERONS) continuously reproducing the four necessary and sufficient resources of society and human - resources of PIOT in their infinite historical variety. Therefore, they are also necessary and sufficient. Deep social structure of SPHERONS is soft, associated with the transitions in time from o­ne life employment to another. SPHERONS are harmonious classes of the population, ensuring social peace from harmony, because the reproduction of resources can o­nly be in harmony and peace, which exclude violence, struggle and war of PARTONS - private, local and historically transient antagonistic groups, classes, nations in terms of tetrasociology [9, Chapter 1]. Any conflict and war between them o­n any grounds of partial property, wealth, income, etc. are o­nly a special case of internal social harmony of SPHERONS. SPHERONS are the eternal actors, the heart, the engine and the genome of the society and its global peace. These are they key functions, attributes, meaning and significance disclosed in tetrasociological paradigm. SPHERONS are represented in all social institutions and at all levels from the global to the individual and family [9].

Let us compare tetrasociology with its origins. Marx discovered the four spheres of social production but he not knew autopoiesis. Maturana discovered autopoiesis but he not knew of the production’s spheres. Parsons discovered/created a four-dimensional societal system of structural functionalism but he not knew the Maturana’s discovery and ignored the discovery of Marx. Tetrasociology and its Global Peace Science (GPS) integrated their achievements in the discovery of the four eternal universal SPHERONS employed in four spheres of production. SPHERONS constitute the social genome of humanity and determine his life in peace from harmony [9, Chapter 1; 10].

At the level of humanity of its deep social structure of SPHERONS in the corresponding tetrasociological terminology is expressed as follows:

1. SPHERON-1 (P1) is employed in Sociosphere, object and product of which are PEOPLE (P)

2. SPHERON-2 (P2) is employed in Infosphere, object and product of which is INFORMATION (I)

3. SPHERON-3 (P3) is employed in Orgsphere, object and product of which are ORGANIZATIONS (O)

4. SPHERON-4 (P4) is employed in Technoecosphere, object and product of which are THINGS (T)

HUMANITY = SPHERON-1 + SPHERON-2 + SPHERON-3 + SPHERON-4.

POPULATION, PEOPLE (P) = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4

      The empirical basis of the theory SPHERONS in tetrasociology is Statistics. The size of each SPHERON of humanity today may be hypothetically determined by the pattern of their statistical proportion for Russia 2010 calculated in the GPS Chapter 2 [9]. The number of Russian SPHERONS in millions and in percentage to the total population (rounded):

SOCIOSPHERON = 85 million or 59.4%

INFOSPHERON = 4 million or 2.8%

ORGSPHERON = 10.8 million or 7.5%

TECHNOSPHERON = 41 million or 28, 6%

Statistical error = 2.3 million or 1.6%

The size of humanity’s SPHERONS in 2011 ($ 7 billion) in this proportion is:

SOCIOSPHERON = 59.4% = 4.2 billion

INFOSPHERON = 2.8% = 0.2 billion

ORGSPHERON = 7.5% = 0.5 billion

TECHNOSPHERON = 28, 6% = 2 billion

Statistical error = 1.6% = 0.1 billion.

      It is obvious that such an extrapolation of proportions of o­ne country to the whole of humanity is rough but the other does not exist today. The proportions of sizes of SPHERONS in each country and each region are very different. However, it is immutable fact that if SPHERONS could be calculated for the o­ne country, they can be calculated in the same manner for any other country. This global statistics is an empirical foundation for global sociology of SPHERONS.

Logic and o­ntology of SPHERONS. They are simple and indisputable. If we recognize the reality of the four necessary and sufficient spheres of social production, which continually produce four necessary and sufficient for the life of society and every individual PIOT resources, we have to recognize the reality of the four necessary and sufficient SPHERONS employed in the spheres of production. The spheres of production cannot exist and be real without SPHERONS. This is a simple truth that no o­ne has ever denied. But it is deeply hidden under a thick cover of the historical fragmentation and endless cultural diversity of quality and graduation of the spheral objects (spheres, spheral resources and SPHERONS). Therefore, it has been available o­nly in the late 20^th and early 21^st century, in tetrasociology. This is the Copernican revolution of sociology, its transition from the private and temporary sociologies of PARTONS to fundamental sociology of SPHERONS.

Bibliography

1.Kovalevsky M.M. Sociology. - M., 1910. Vol.2. – P. 19; He. Modern Sociologists. SPb. 1905. - P. 8, 14, etc. in Russian;

2. Semashko, Leo (1992) Sphere Approach: Philosophy, Democracy, Market and Human. St.-Petersburg, 368 p. (in Russian); He. (2000). Tetrasociology as the Revolution of Social Thinking, the Way of Harmony and Prosperity. St.-Petersburg, 168 p. (in Russian); He. (2001).Tetrasociology as Sociology of Four Measurements. To the problem statement // Sociological studies. 2001, №9, p. 20-28; He. (2002) Tetrasociology: Responses to Challenges. St.-Petersburg State Polytechnic University (in Russian and English), 158 p.
3. Semashko, Leo (2012. The ABC of Harmony for World Peace, Harmonious Civilization and Tetranet Thinking.Together with the GHA 75 coauthors from 26 countries. Joint publication of GHA and IASE University, India. Global Textbook. GHA 34th Project. First published in English in India, New Delhi, Doosra Mat Prakashan, 2012, pages ~334. ISBN – 978-81-923108-6-2
4. Marx, K. and Engels, F. Works. Edition 2. GPI - Volume 3 - Moscow, 1955. - P. 15-62.
5. Maturana H., Varela F. Autopoiesis: the organization of the living (1973) // Maturana H., Varela F. Autopoiesis and Cognition. – Boston, 1980. – P. 63–134

6.Luhmann, Nicolas (2007) Introduction to Systems Theory. - M.: Publishing House - "Logos"

7.Parsons, Talcott (1975), “The Present Status of ‘Structural-Functional’ Theory in Sociology”, Social Systems and The Evolution of Action Theory, New York: The Free Press

Parsons, Talcott (2007) American Society: A Theory of Societal Community. Paradigm Publishers. See the chapter o­n American history.

Semashko Leo (1999) Sociology for Pragmatists. Part 1 - St. Petersburg. - S.148-157. Analysis of the theories of Parsons. Toffler, Bourdieu and the like.

8.Archer, Margaret (2010) The Current Crisis: Consequences Of Neglecting The Four Key Principles Of Catholic Social Doctrine: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=438

9.Semashko, Leo and 174 coauthors from 34 countries. Global Peace Science or Peaceloveology, Peacescience: First Common Good and Human Right, Revolution of Social Sciences, Creating Peace from SPHERONS’ Harmony and Nonviolent Victory of Peace over War in XXI Century. – Smaran Publication, New Delhi. 2016. – 616 p.

10.Semashko, Leo (2016) SPHERONS of Harmony: Copernican Revolution of Peacebuilding and Civilization. Synopsis: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=423

Leo M. Semashko, Ph.D. (Philosophy), RAN Professor; Founding President, Global Harmony Association (GHA) since 2005; GHA Honorary President since 2016; State Councilor of St. Petersburg; Philosopher, Sociologist and Peacemaker from Harmony; Author of more than 400 scientific publications, including 18 books in 1-12 languages; Author of Tetrism as the unity of Tetraphilosophy and Tetrasociology – science of social harmony, global peace and harmonious civilization; Director: Tetrasociology Public Institute, Russia; Director, GHA Web portal “Peace from Harmony”: http://peacefromharmony.org; Initiator, Manager, Coauthor and Editor in Chief of the book project “Global Peace Science” (GPS): http://peacefromharmony.org/docs/global-peace-science-2016.pdf.

Address: St-Petersburg, Russia; Phone: +7(812)-597-6571

E-mail: leo.semashko [at] gmail.com

Personal page: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=253

 
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Totalitarianism of Russian Theoretical Sociology
versus its Copernican revolution

The totalitarian Marxism 40 years suppresses the science of social harmony,
global peace and nonviolence: Tetrasociology
Another example: denial of paper and abstract publication for the Conference: "Russian Sociological Community
(100th anniversary of the RSC named M.M. Kovalevsky)" St. Petersburg State University November10-12,2016

http://soc.spbu.ru/nauka/conf/kovalsoc_russian2.pdf

http://www.kovalevsky.spbu.ru/

http://soc.spbu.ru/nauka/conf/kovalsoc_final.pdf

Suppression of freedom of sociological thought and freedom of word for the
new, fundamental sociology as a Copernican revolution in social cognition

The abstract above (and in the attachment, 3 pages): "Deep Social Structure of SPHERONS’ Harmony: Copernican Revolution of Sociology in the XXI Century" was presented o­n October 6, 2016 at the Conference: "Russian Sociological Community (100th anniversary of the RSO named M.M. Kovalevsky)" in St. Petersburg State University o­n November 10-12, 2016, in Section 2. "The images of social reality in modern sociological theories."

Two weeks later, 21 October, I get the following answer anonymous:
"Dear Leo! Due to the fact that to the section, o­n which you declared the report, was received a very large number of high-level applications, the section head, unfortunately, forced to reject your application to participate in the work of this section as a speaker or presenter. For this reason, we cannot include the text of your paper "Deep Social Structure of SPHERONS’ Harmony: Copernican Revolution of Sociology in the XXI Century" in the conference proceedings. We invite you to participate in the conference without speaking, registering 10 November 9.00 - 10.00 at The University Embankment, 9. With respect, the Organizing Committee. koval@spbu.ru".

After some research, I was able to establish that the letter was written, probably, executive secretary Flyagin Alexander, ​​e-mail: kovalsoc2016@spbu.ru, koval@spbu.ru, and section head is Dmitry Ivanov, prof. Sociology Faculty, who wrote an abusive Marxist review o­n theory of spheral classes (SPHERONS) of pluralistic tetrasociology about 20 or 30 years ago. (A similar review was published in 2002 in Sociological Study by mastodon of Marxism academician M.N. Rutkevich). It made clear who represents today totalitarianism of theoretical sociology (macrosociology) in St. Petersburg. Of course, this is a shameful event for Society of Kovalevsky, who rejected monism and recognized pluralism. But this is not an single case, but a steady trend: over the past 15 years, I have been denied participation in virtually all sociological conferences and publications in Russiathat is reflected in the relevant documents o­n website of the Global Harmony Association (GHA): http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=15, http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=557,
http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=645 and others, but not all the facts were recorded in them.

If classical totalitarianism killed people, the dissidents, modern totalitarianism was "inverted", using terminology Sheldon Wolin, i.e. liberal, soft when kill not person and the idea of ​​depriving him of voice and publications. It has not less harm. It brakes the development of sociology, which has not become the fundamental science of society, existing in more than 120 branches of disjointed empirical fragments for service of capital, corporations and those in power. It is more than a century is in stagnation, degenerates and is powerless to make the accurate sociological forecasts of Brexit, Trump’s winning and others, deprived of fundamental sociological theory and for a long time requires a scientific revolution. In 2000, I went o­n the first Russian Sociological Congress in St. Petersburg with a poster: "Looking for Sociology." I did not find it then. But today we do not see it also. I o­nly see a continuation of the traditional totalitarianism and the suppression of the dissents. Although the statute of ROS Kovalevsky says that it is "open for variety of approaches", in reality it is closed to them, showing it to me. In general, according to its website, which has not been updated since 2008, it is a dead society (formally I am its member but received no sign of life from it).

If ROS to compare with the GHA, which for nearly 12 years created by tetrasociology 52 projects of global harmony, has published 8 books and thousands of articles in many languages, and crowned its work with unparalleled Global Peace Science 174 by coauthors (including three Nobel Peace Prize laureates, former President of India and dozens of doctors) from 34 countries, the fruits of our work, at the expense of the fundamental sociological theory, exceed all made by ROS and other sociological societies and institutes in Russia during this period. A GHA website, the home page of which (http://peacefromharmony.org) was turned into a primer with pictures of Global Peace Science and tetrasociology fixes 200-300 thousand visits monthly. It surpasses readership of all Russian sociological journals and publications for the year. Books o­n tetrasociology and its derivative theories are read and have presentations o­n all continents. They are into the world's largest libraries, including the Library of Congress. So I was not really drawn to the wretched sociological conferences in Russia and not very sorrowful failures from them. Over the past years, I spoke and participated in many international sociological conferences (see my personal page).

During this time tetrasociology received many comments, reviews and discussions, some of which are published o­n our website in its different pages: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=15, http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=598 and others.

What costs sociology, by 98% empirical and closed o­n corporate interests, if all its financial strength, it is not able scientifically to understand, explain and predict the major events of the world, such as the victory of Trump. Tetrasociology was able to do it at the expense of its fundamental theoretical advantage ignored in Russia. This proves my article "Trump - Hillary: America's historic choice between peace and war, between its updating and fall with a bang": attachment and here http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=725. Nothing like the traditional sociology does know because of their theoretical helplessness. This o­nce again proves the correctness of Boltzmann: "There is nothing more practical than a good theory."

I write about it not in the manner of boasting but as a responsible social scientist concerned degradation, decline and disintegration of the national sociology, neglecting innovative achievements, discoveries and technologies of tetrasociology that are developing in Russia but do not use it, do not become the property of young sociologists, who are forced to languish in the old obsolete paradigms or in grimaces of decaying postmodern sociology. If you follow Thomas Kuhn, who established the law of change of scientific paradigms, o­n which a new paradigm wins when the carriers of the old paradigm go out naturally but you need to wait it. But this expectation requires decades and some achievements of a new paradigm may be simply unavailable ... It condemns sociology and the country o­n a long lag and degradation.

I am sending this letter to thousands of Russian sociologists with a goal to not o­nly pay attention to the Russian macrosociology demeaning and destructive facts of totalitarianism, which is now "without the noise and dust," as a famous movie said, finish with disagreeable ideas. The main aim is to find out whether there are among them heads of departments, communities and institutions of sociology, which could invite me to give lectures, courses and speeches o­n tetrasociology at conferences or for the scientific management of post-graduate students, etc. It is a kind of sociological sondage of sociologists. Are they alive for the scientific development? After all, before the society now stays such a mass of social outstanding issues that are growing like a snowball, and aggravated, before which the traditional, backward for centuries, social science is powerless because of its fundamental theoretical impotence. Especially catastrophic is a problem of impending nuclear war that cannot be solved without Global Peace Science from social harmony. But o­n o­ne condition, if it does not trample o­n, and will be develop, apply and study. The most concise and fundamental tetrasociology statement o­n 25 pages see here:
http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=423. It is deployed its Copernican revolution of thinking and consciousness o­n all spheres. Having eyes – will see. Those who have ears - will hear. Having thinking – will understand.

My sondage suggests the hypothesis that not all social scientists today are similar to Dmitry Ivanov - suppressor of the socially necessary ideas and theories, using for this organizational resource even small fry of "section head." But how many of them free from totalitarianism methodology as Marxist, and inverted, neoliberal, none of the social scientists did not know and does not want to know - is it not interesting for them. Marxists are ready for a bloody revolution but they, along with their dogma of "the o­nly true doctrine" (collapsed overnight as a house of cards in 1990, together with the Soviet Union) but they are completely sterilized for spiritual, scientific, Copernican revolutions. So when tetrasociology offers and represents such a revolution, they strongly suppress it. So they languish and die in Marxism, dragging the country, the people of which realized (in 1990) that it is better to reconcile with the collapse of the Soviet Union and get rid from this deadly ideology even apart than together with it to go to the grave by jointly. But no new scientific ideology in the dead theoretical field of Russian Marxists did not have and could occur after a total ideological pressure of any dissent. They cannot work anywhere without blood and violence so irreversibly suffered a historic collapse.

They could not abandon from their dogma of "the o­nly true doctrine of the class struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat," even in the face of the collapse of the USSR, which could be saved as a harmonious union of harmonious spheral classes (SPHERONS). But like suggestion of tetrasociology in 1988 at the Russian Marxists could not get other assessment as "crazy and insane", as it was revolutionary for Marxism that to similar, non-violent revolution is not ready and is not able to them o­n its definition of "only true". (Any doubt in this dogma is a top of "immodesty" at Marxists. But modesty in science is the gray mediocrity, as Marx wrote). Only the Chinese Marxists in 2006 at the next CPC Congress was enough intelligence within the Confucian tradition of social harmony, to officially abandon from the Marxist class struggle with the dictatorship of the proletariat and to accept instead it "building harmonious society." But without a theoretical understanding of the deep social structure of harmony SPHERON the building harmonious society was stated under question. Harmonious Confucianism won alien disharmonious Marxism and provided for China a powerful economic breakthrough, impossible with Marxism, but without scientific harmony of SPHERONS it hung in the air before the future "harmonious society."

The Russian society cannot live o­n without a scientific, harmonious and non-violent ideology, without which it is bursting at the seams, as, indeed, and other communities: the EU, the US, etc. Tetrasociology as macrosociological science is the most advanced and the longest, for 40 years, has withstood all the tests of time, received a check in a number of countries and the recognition of many scientists - the ideology of social harmony. It develops o­n the basis of discovery of principle new, fundamental social reality, unknown to mankind is still - reality of SPHERONS’ harmony. They constitute the eternal (natural) deep social structure that is invariant in all historical changes of society as it is the o­ne for all times the SOCIAL GENOME (SOCIONOME). With this structure begins a true fundamental global sociology, equally worthy the fundamental natural sciences. But it is not yet available due to the obstacles of private but the dominant ideologies.

Since I am deprived of other means of communication with the Russian professional sociological community by the efforts of Marxist totalitarians, I have no choice other than like sondage to draw attention of the minded sociologists to the tetrasociology, its discoveries and preferences, which remain virtually unknown. Only the joint efforts of innovative ideas within the collective consciousness of Durkheim and the sociological imagination of Mills can shift traditional sociology from the dead point and raise it to the level of fundamental social science through its Copernican revolution. Therefore, the purpose of my sondage is to find cooperation with Russian sociologists, free from totalitarianism and prepared for development of fundamental scientific sociology, required Russia and the world and open up entirely new prospects for both personal and social order.

Yours faithfully, with hope for a response,

Dr. Leo Semashko,

40 years of dissident-sociologist in Russia.

10/11/16