Big Research Questions about the Human Condition

A Historian's Will

Arne Jarrick (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

160 Seiten

2020
Anthem Press (Verlag)
978-1-78527-567-8 (ISBN)

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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.

Married, four children, six grandchildren; professor emeritus of history at the Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University; former secretary general for the humanities and social sciences, Swedish Research Council; former Vice-president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; et cetera

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; I: Questions and Answers – Background, Motivations and Aims; Ii: Suggested Questions; 1: What Explains That Some Kinds of Knowledge Are Widely Accepted Whereas Other Kinds of Knowledge Are Rejected?; 2: Why Do Some Societal Processes and Phenomena Develop in a Circular or Repetitive Way Whereas Other Processes Evolve Along a Cumulative Trajectory?; 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?; 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?; 5: What Explains the Widespread Diffusion of Inequality and the Gradual Emergence of Egalitarianism Over the Centuries?; 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?; What Lies Ahead?; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.

Erscheinungsdatum	10.05.2021
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	153 x 229 mm
Gewicht	454 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
ISBN-10	1-78527-567-4 / 1785275674
ISBN-13	978-1-78527-567-8 / 9781785275678
Zustand	Neuware