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Big Research Questions about the Human Condition
The book is a manifesto-like essay aiming to redress some globally present drawbacks characterizing current research in the humanities: 1. Fragmentation and thematic volatility; 2. A reluctance to acknowledge that humanities research is a truth seeking enterprise as all scientific research; 3. A certain unwillingness (or inability) to ask clear questions and to provide distinct answers to these questions. The book consists of three parts: A. Introduction, where the problem and the purpose of the book is presented; B. six chapters, each presenting a certain topic that I suggest that humanist scholars gather around with sustained efforts; C. Conclusion with some words of how to proceed and a section discussing what the humanities or should and are not or should not be.
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- I. Questions And Answers – Background, Motivations And Aims
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II. Suggested Questions
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1 What Explains That Some Kinds of Knowledge Are Widely Accepted Whereas Other Kinds of Knowledge Are Rejected?
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The question
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A knowledge society – what is one and are we in one?
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The decisive criterion: A knowledge-affirming attitude
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The state of the art and suggested steps forward
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2 Why Do Some Societal Processes and Phenomena Develop in a Circular or Repetitive Way Whereas Other Processes Evolve along a Cumulative Trajectory?
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Cultural evolution
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Cumulativeness
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Non-cumulativeness
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What explains the difference?
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3 Why Do Social Norms Change, Despite the Fact That Their Mission Is to Be Sustained? What Role Do Non-Conformist Individuals and Minority Groups Play in Cultural, Cognitive and Normative Change?
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A: Why do social norms change, despite the fact that their mission is to be sustained?
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B: What role do non-conformist individuals and minority groups play for cultural, cognitive and normative change?
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4 Does a Gradual Extension of Our Lifespan (and the Rise of Welfare) Imply a Growing or Declining Ability to Postpone the Satisfaction of Our Needs and Desires?
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The relevance and importance of the question
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The state of the art
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What can be done?
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5 What Explains the Widespread Diffusion of Inequality and the Gradual Emergence of Egalitarianism Over the Centuries?
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Introduction
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The equality–inequality gradient
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The trajectory of egalitarianism
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6 Why Do People Appropriate Aesthetic Experience (Both as Producers and Consumers of Cultural Manifestations), and What Are the Individual and Societal Functions of Such Experiences?
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The issue
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The essential questions
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The state of the art
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Ideas
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III. What Lies Ahead?
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Thematic clusters
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The omitted questions
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What the humanities are and what they are not
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Appendices
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A. Five Thematic Clusters Summarising a Workshop on Big Questions
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B. Translated Highlights from an Article on the Big Research Questions
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- Notes
- References
- Index
- 出版地 ： 英國
- 語言 ： 英文
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