O ścieżce ku prawdziwej autonomii podmiotu w krytyczno-realistycznym nurcie
About the Path to the Real Autonomy of the Subject within the Critical Realist Tradition

Summary/Abstract: RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to explore the authority understanding in a perspective of Roy Bhaskar's critical realism. In the proposed framework, authority ceases to be understood in terms of heteronomy or autonomy and emerges as a relational causal mechanism rooted in the ontological stratification of the human being. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The central research question is: In what way can authority be conceived as a relational causal mechanism that does not subjugate but enables self-knowledge and reflexivity? The study is theoretical and analytical in nature, employing the conceptual apparatus of critical realism, including the four planes social being. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The arguments lead toward an understanding of authority as an emergent relational mechanism embedded within the ontologically stratified structure of human existence. Its legitimation arises from the dynamic interplay of four interdependent orders of reality: the material, the social, the structural, and the personal. When the interrelation among these planes remains undisturbed, it deepens the understanding of authority as a relation of co-agency. RESEARCH RESULTS: The analysis shows that authority grounded in external, heteronomous determinants may inhibit human development and constrain autonomy. Whereas, authority conceived as an emergent relational-causal mechanism restores agency to the subject. In this sense, relational authority does not dominate but potentializes others, contributing to their self-development and cognitive autonomy. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: Critical realism does not reject authority, but transforms it into a relational space of co-responsibility. Authority that is authentic and emancipatory can emerge at the level of the transcendental self. Such an authority takes on a relational form with others, relationship, that enables knowing and understanding important and complex issues. Authority, thus, becomes a relational mechanism of emancipation, co-creating a space of shared responsibility and mutual recognition.

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