CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION SOCIAL THEORIES AND SOCIAL CHANGE

CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION SOCIAL THEORIES AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE MODERN WORLD LECTURE 2

PLAN 1. Human being is an open unspecialized entity. 2. Humanism and enlightenment: ethical values in dead-end. 3. Myth is universal mode of cultural growth. 4. Civilization and technologies: secondary overload. 5. Communication vs. subjectivity problem.

SOURCES 1) Arendt H. Reflections on Literature and Culture. Stanford University Press, 2007. 2) Boas F. Anthropology and Modern Life. Courier Dover Publications, 1962. 3) Ferguson N. Civilization: The West and the Rest. Penguin, 2011. 4) Geertz C. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. Basic Books, 1973. 5) Hendry J. Anthropology: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld Publications, 2012. 6) Lawson D. Investigating a Global Axiology: Looking for a Global Leadership Ethic. Pro. Quest, 2008 7) Osborne R. Civilization: A New History of the Western World. Random house, 2011.

HUMAN BEING IS A PREMATURE AND SEXUALLY MATURE APE? Mammals Human race • Intrauterine phase is longer than the nursing one. • Nursing phase is much longer than the intrauterine one. • Instinctive survival schemes are enough for procreation. • The very instincts are confused and faintly expressed. • Formed hair and limb development are enough for individual survival. • Infancy is usually the smaller period of life cycle. • Rudimentary hair and undeveloped limbs make individual survival impossible. • Infancy, childhood, and adolescence form a major period of life cycle.

MODERN EDUCATION: HUMANISM AND ENLIGHTENMENT REVISITED Social program Humanism Enlightenment Education Ideological principles Anything exists in relation to man, thus the essence of humanity is undefinable. It’s equally possible to judge primitive nature of man either naïve or sinister. Variety and progress of modern technology compel educators to talk about competences instead of knowledge.

MYTH IS TRUE PRE-HISTORY FOREVER? Undifferentiated harmony of individual and community Abridged schism of personality and history Ideological indifference outside politisized civilization

FREEDOM AND LIBERTY: CRAFTSMANSHIP AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Freedom Liberty Human activity Instrumental adaptation Organizational control

INFORMATION FORTHCOMING: BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONAL MEANS AND CULTURAL FORMS Environment Data Instruments Phenomena Resources Institutions

III WORLDS (BY K. POPPER) Things Ideas Social norms

INTENTIONALITY AND ACTIVITY: ALTERNATIVE TO WORLDVIEW PRINCIPLES Intention Speech • Flux vs. reflection • Background meaning • Acting vs. symbol • Usage frames

SUMMARY Human race is culturally, not biologically differentiated. Human nature is not a subject of axiomatic evaluation. Myth is inside, not behind modernity. Civilization is self-contradicting project thanks to ideologies as false myths. Information and freedom / liberty questions are being discussed on a shrinking territory of human subjectivity.