ABSTRACT
The balance between the determination of structural causality and human agency, consciousness and consciousness reflected upon, feeds back upon these determinations to affect historical event and even alter significantly the structures themselves. Given a certain socio-economic structure, merely the knowledge of some geological discoveries will ensure that both mining and pollution will take place. The answer lies in the ontological description of structures. Structures are systems of relations between the 'positions' of individual elements, which through the collective action of these elements possess causal force. Chemical structure, molecular structure, atomic, sub-atomic, all of these express different levels of ontological depth. Society, social structure, is also being continuously created. Yes, it is true, that structures are being reproduced, but also through a historical process they are constantly being modified. The existence of consciousness, particularly self-reflective consciousness, indicates a difference in the sorts of elements contained within the structures rather than a difference in their relations.
