The Constancies, Reactivity and Processes for Security Reasons

Arnold Warchał Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland The Constancies, Reactivity and Processes for Security Reasons Summary The discussion about numerous problems of Security Studies, holistically also relates to evolvement of Safety Science, and problems stemming from various global fac‑ tors, and technological advancement of scientific background. Unfortunately, very often it communicates the fragmentary vision of the new and important multi‍‑dimensional treat‑ ment of this relatively new academic endeavor. The author of this essay relates some of the noticeable problems, and multiplicity of factors found in both, Security Studies and Safety Sciences, to lack of explanation of what common denominator is applicable to both of those categories. The author’s arguments rest on the unitary vision of science. Security and safety, however, are still very of the treated as the sub‍‑branches of other disciplines, such as international relations for example, or natural and applied sciences. The main premises presented here rest mainly on observation of the studies about security and safety considered as hybrid sciences of multi‍‑component issues. Respective of both, this calls for a need of acceptance of common philosophical grounds enabling this hybridity to turn into unitary, yet mulit‍‑dimensional vision of experts under rational goals searching for an independent, and holistic research platform able to observe problems of security and safety, under one scope of rationality. Keywords: security studies, safety sciences, philosophy of security, philosophy of science, politics General observations The Security Studies and Safety Sciences as an academic undertaking present various levels of scientific and academic consistency correlating with interdisci‑ plinary and inter‍‑dimensional spectrum of researches. The ever‍‑changing political, social, technological, and scientific environment have expanded its agenda to lim‑ its surpassing the previous international and global interests, to the point where Studia Administracji i Bezpieczeństwa nr 5/2018 additional association naturally evolved as an empirical backlash of various unforeseen aspects. Mostly as a reaction and in reference to natural, tangible fac‑ tors of the global environment. At the same time, it did expand away from its original academic endeavors of History, Political Science and International Rela‑ tion, into specifically Security1 Studies and Safety2 Sciences. And this extension is not necessarily connected visibly to previous, older base, when safety was not even a sub‍‑field. The technological and scientific developments immersed the military and socio‍‑political spheres with hitherto unknown possibilities, making original under‑ taking too narrow of a subject, what lead to a process of scientific change and adaptability to new consciousness of dangerous world. At the time when potential susceptibilities of scientific progress became obvious, not considered as stem‑ ming just from threats3 to national and social cohesion, but also as a form of risks4 to structural integrity of society on different levels, and wellbeing of indi‑ viduals, or social groups; the role of state, strategic, regulatory, organizational, and managerial problems became apparent. At the same time leading to necessity of questioning some of its previous bases of methodological enquiry. Needless to say, the fields of various security and safety studies has to be unified holisti‑ cally. This unification is slowly evolving into a proper study based on immensity of researches, new theories, models and methods of empirical background. Regardless of growth, it evolved into new branches of social sciences, with components of sometimes similar or sometimes different focus, but often overlapping values, for the practical and, especially, the academic realms – of security studies, and safety sciences. Now those two ranges of scientific pos‑ sibilities are perhaps becoming more unified, within own association and praxis at first, surely by becoming more independent of other studies, than just a few decades ago. Since then, different value factors make those more reactive on own grounds. – In special case of safety sciences, many of its determinants are located within mostly technical sciences, that provide even more fuel for the growth of risks studies, and/or systemic threats. Albeit, this surely creates even more extensions interlocking also with other sciences, ranging from natural sciences, through engineering and technol‑ ogy, medical and health sciences, to agricultural sciences, but continually also 1 2 3 4 Security, as defined in Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Second Edition, William Collins + World Publishing, Co., Inc. 1975. Safety, op. cit. Threat, op. cit. Risk, op. cit. 180 Arnold Warchał, The Constancies, Reactivity and Processes... with social sciences, and humanities. And this is what makes it methodologically – the hybrid sciences. In view of both technical and theoretical predicaments cut‑ ting across paths of security and safety, when widening spectrum of interests, and necessary methods of inquiry deepening its efforts, this hybridity is natural and reflective of measures applied to material data collected, theories and models built, rightfully with little ideological interests, and also, unfortunately, with little philosophical overview and outlook. Overall, interest in security and safety matters are apparently growing because of changes in regional and global outlooks, as well as scientific and tech‑ nological advancements, impacting states and societies on every level of certainty. This presents the new dilemmas, and often obvious threats to individual or state matters. Many of security experts are working on different subjects, not always from the same fields of scientific inquiry. Therefore, both theoretical and practical activities that many academicians are occupied with, are not yet fully integrated into a whole field of social science. Yet, just like with any other general matters of inquiry, this integration on philosophical and methodological level has to be achieved, if security studies and safety sciences are not to fall away from each other, or become mere sub‍‑domains of other growing academic disciplines, with natural or created unity. Achieving this unity is going to be difficult and will require an agreement among perspicacious academicians, able to find a formula nullifying differences, and transforming rather unruly set of categories, arising from the overlapping of disciplines and scientific grounds. Without philosophical outlook this might be a gruesome task. Security after all, is not technical enough to be a subjects of just, let’s say, engineering; and safety does not refer only to a new level of integrity of an ontological “object”, or an “epistemological” outlook. Both reflect the pro‑ cesses of different levels of natural human existence, on the universal scal (...truncated)