Philosophy of culture
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Philosophy of culture is a branch of philosophy that examines the essence and meaning of culture.
Early modern discourses
German Romanticism
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) has formulated an individualist definition of "enlightenment" similar to the concept of bildung: "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity."[1] He argued that this immaturity comes not from a lack of understanding, but from a lack of courage to think independently. Against this intellectual cowardice, Kant urged: Sapere aude, "Dare to be wise!" In reaction to Kant, German scholars such as Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) argued that human creativity, which necessarily takes unpredictable and highly diverse forms, is as important as human rationality. Moreover, Herder proposed a collective form of bildung: "For Herder, Bildung was the totality of experiences that provide a coherent identity, and sense of common destiny, to a people."[2]
In 1795, the linguist and philosopher
In 1860, Adolf Bastian (1826–1905) argued for "the psychic unity of mankind". He proposed that a scientific comparison of all human societies would reveal that distinct worldviews consisted of the same basic elements. According to Bastian, all human societies share a set of "elementary ideas" (Elementargedanken); different cultures, or different "folk ideas" (Völkergedanken), are local modifications of the elementary ideas.[3] This view paved the way for the modern understanding of culture. Franz Boas (1858–1942) was trained in this tradition, and he brought it with him when he left Germany for the United States.
English Romanticism
In the 19th century, humanists such as
In practice, culture referred to an
Matthew Arnold contrasted "culture" with
Other 19th-century critics, following Rousseau have accepted this differentiation between higher and lower culture, but have seen the refinement and sophistication of high culture as corrupting and unnatural developments that obscure and distort people's essential nature. These critics considered folk music (as produced by "the folk", i.e., rural, illiterate, peasants) to honestly express a natural way of life, while classical music seemed superficial and decadent. Equally, this view often portrayed indigenous peoples as "noble savages" living authentic and unblemished lives, uncomplicated and uncorrupted by the highly stratified capitalist systems of the West.
In 1870 the anthropologist
See also
References
- ^ Immanuel Kant 1784 "Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?" (German: "Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?") Berlinische Monatsschrift, December (Berlin Monthly)
- ^ Michael Eldridge, "The German Bildung Tradition" UNC Charlotte Archived 2009-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Adolf Bastian", Today in Science History; "Adolf Bastian", Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ a b Arnold, Matthew. 1869. Culture and Anarchy.
- ISBN 0-415-10723-7. argues that contemporary definitions of culture fall into three possibilities or mixture of the following three:
- "a general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development"
- "a particular way of life, whether of a people, period, or a group"
- "the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity".
- ^ Bakhtin 1981, p.4
- ^ McClenon, pp.528-529
Sources
External links
- Media related to Philosophy of culture at Wikimedia Commons