Big research questions about the human condition : a historian's will / / Arne Jarrick [[electronic resource]]

• Autore: Jarrick Arne
• Pubblicazione: London : , : Anthem Press, , 2021
• Edizione: 1st ed.
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (x, 150 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Disciplina: 907.2
• Soggetto topico: Historiography
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 20 Jan 2022).
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- 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? -- The question -- A knowledge society - what is one and are we in one? -- The decisive criterion: A knowledge-affirming attitude -- The state of the art and suggested steps forward -- 2 Why Do Some Societal Processes and Phenomena Develop in a Circular or Repetitive Way Whereas Other Processes Evolve along a Cumulative Trajectory? -- Cultural evolution -- Cumulativeness -- Non-cumulativeness -- What explains the difference? -- 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? -- A: Why do social norms change, despite the fact that their mission is to be sustained? -- B: What role do non-conformist individuals and minority groups play for cultural, cognitive and normative change? -- The question - an introduction -- State of art -- The significance of outsiders for cultural evolution -- A possible design -- 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? -- The relevance and importance of the question -- The state of the art -- What can be done? -- 5 What Explains the Widespread Diffusion of Inequality and the Gradual Emergence of Egalitarianism Over the Centuries? -- Introduction -- The equality-inequality gradient -- The trajectory of egalitarianism. ; 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? -- The issue -- The essential questions -- The state of the art -- Ideas -- III. What Lies Ahead? -- Thematic clusters -- The omitted questions -- What the humanities are and what they are not -- Appendices -- A. Five Thematic Clusters Summarising a Workshop on Big Questions -- B. Translated Highlights from an Article on the Big Research Questions -- Notes -- References -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: The basic message of this book can be put in a straightforward way: humanities scholars should improve their way of asking questions. Their questions about the human condition need to be as clear and simple as possible to enable unambiguous answers. Simple without being simplistic, nuanced without being embroiled - that is the ideal. Unambiguous answers (not to be confused with irrefutable answers) are much wanted, although not always possible to attain. Moreover, if one wants the questions to be highly significant for the understanding of the human condition, there should not be too many questions. Even in this respect, there is much to be wanted in today's humanities research. Instead of gathering around a limited set of profound questions and holding on to them until the answers begin to appear, generally the humanist guild scatters its scientific energy on too many disparate things - replacing them far too often with hundreds of new questions, 'perspectives' and 'problematisations'. In its turn, such a research culture may hamper a cumulative growth of knowledge, the possibility of which, moreover, is regrettably often denied or even viewed with suspicion. <br><br>This book redresses the current problems in the humanities world-wide. Firstly, it presents a set of big but still insufficiently addressed topics that humanities researchers should focus on over a sustained period of time, such as what explains that some kinds of knowledge are widely accepted whereas other kinds of knowledge are rejected, or what explains the widespread diffusion of inequality paralleled by a gradual emergence of egalitarianism over the centuries. Secondly, it discusses what the humanities are or should be, as well as what they are not or should not be. Humanities researchers should consider their field as an integral part of science, uniquely dealing with humans as decision-making, meaning-seeking and self-reflecting agents.
• Titolo autorizzato: Big Research Questions about the Human Condition
• ISBN: 1-78527-569-0; 1-78527-568-2
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910510589603321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II