What Does Theory Become? The Humanities, Politics and Philosophy (1970-2010): Reflections and Propositions by Étienne Balibar (Translation from French to English). by Tijana Okić&Selma Asotić&Ted Stolze (original) (raw)

The Future of Theory in the Humanities: Voices from Around the World

Stated as questions the three problematic are: first, what is the problem or crisis within the western tradition of theorizing that has necessitated within our horizon a gaze on its future? Secondly, how can non-western theoretical voices engage this moment of crisis of the western tradition of theorizing and do non-western theoretical traditions possess resources that inform the ‘rules of engagement’ of this encounter? Finally, with regard to the substantive problem of ‘theory’ can we find resources from a non-western tradition to contribute to this debate? My paper is divided into three sections with each section addressing one of the above questions respectively.

Discipline and Ideas in the Social Sciences Lecture Notes

The Emergence of Social Sciences Objectives: • Define social science as the study of society • Apply the concept scientific method when studying various human phenomena • Distinguish the difference between the social sciences, the natural science and the humanities Aristotle • Who wrote that " man is a rational animal " • We are all born and raised in a society • Man is a social being (Gadamer) • We interact with one another and build relationship in the hope of pursuing better life • We may share a distinct culture, same political dynamics, or similar institutions • As a rational animal, hence, we use our reason in order to satisfy our curiosity and discover the " how and why " of so many things around us The Human Knowledge • In our contemporary times, the human knowledge has so many point of view to use in order to see things • There exist several classification of the human knowledge that has broad categories such as social science, natural science and humanities Natural Science • In this source of knowledge this includes biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics • Natural science actually explain and attempt to predict various phenomena in nature such cellular composition, atomic particles, weather conditions and earthquake patterns Philosophy • It is easier to do rather than to define (Fr. Roque Ferriols) • It is an Active realization of truth (Indian Philosophy) • This includes Metaphysics, Epistemology, Theodicy, Phenomenology • In every branches, it studies everything through everything at the same time • Metaphysics: Being • Epistemology: Knowledge • Theodicy: God • Phenomenology: Experience and meaning Humanities • It is a branch of knowledge that tends to humanize human as they express themselves in various forms • This includes art and art history; literature, and music among others Important Terms: • Domain: a sphere of knowledge, influence or activity • Discipline: a particular branch of learning or body of knowledge, such as physics, sociology and history • Empiricism: the view that all rationally acceptable beliefs or propositions are justifiable or knowable only through experience or senses – Empirical knowledge Contemporary Sources of Knowledge • These are the domains pertain to the applied professions that involves practical application of the theories of knowledge to a actual or situational phenomena which is applicable for a domain

Not Just a Matter of Style: An Essay on the Social Responsability of Theory

Eutopías, nueva serie, vol. 31, Valencia, Episteme, 1994., 1994

I shall begin with silence as I shall end in silence. The words in between mark the borders of silence. Our words are only as efficient as relentless silence is sustained by force of soul, this has been one of the lessons taught by the magnificently lucid and dreadfully short career of my most beloved Otilia in this world that she consented to making meaningful. This is the first time I speak in public after the absurdly cruel event of her death. But I am not speaking without her or talking to her memory, just listening to her who knew more and better than I could ever do about this and virtually all other topics. I am trying to lend her now silent wisdom my tired voice. Whatever accurate reflections may be heard here are, poorly formulated, the fruit of her thoughts and her teaching. Whatever errors are committed are only mine. These lines are somehow part of a projected book we shall not write together in a shared temporality, the trace of a future dialogue which could be barely sketched out in the less than a year and a half that was the duration of my full and entire life. My only hope is that these reflections will not be too unworthy of her trust.

Academic Disciplines: Synthesis or Demise

New England Journal of Higher Education, 2018

Current anxiety over the values and directions of what we used to call " higher education " has rich and complex roots in the past, as well as problematic branches into the future. A crucial and core aspect of the subject not yet adequately understood is the structure and strategy of scholarship itself, and its future. Forty-five years ago, in the heyday of " multiversities " lauded in books by presidents Clark Kerr (UC Berkeley) and James Perkins (Cornell), an article appeared in the Journal of Higher Education entitled " Multiversity and University. " It contrasted the two models of scholarship, and contended that, whereas multiversity academic disciplines are each internally rigorous as scholarship, taken together as a putative whole, the multiversity had never been defended as scholarship and could not be so defended, because it is not scholarship. The disciplines arose and came together by historical accidents, not by intentional, systematic, scholarly or philosophical design. They arose in the early modern period of Western history—the 15th to 18th centuries, with the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Absolutism and Enlightenment—arguably the first " Age of Paradigm Shifts " in every field, significantly driven by Gutenberg's IT revolution in printing. Each of the various modern disciplines created its own vocabulary and conceptualization, which were based on analyses of contemporary events and developments, and—this is crucial— were exclusively specialized. Scholarship is always necessarily specialized—it examines the world in detail. What is distinctively modern with the multiversity is that its specializations exclude other subjects—studying each one (e.g. economics, politics, astronomy) separately, to the exclusion of others, in various languages that are mutually incompatible and incommensurable. Collectively, modern academic disciplines imply that scholarship at its highest levels describes the world as if it were fragmented, in separate silos. This structure and strategy of knowledge, inquiry and education played a leading role in producing modern secular Western civilization. Its long-term effects have been profound. Exclusive specialization was originally intended only to separate each field from religion in a period of religious wars. The cumulative effect—coincidentally and inadvertently—was that they also excluded each other, obviating our sense of reality as a coherent whole, which it actually is. This also gradually undermined authentic liberal education, which seeks self-development in wholeness of life. In the multiversity, " higher education " — advanced self-development—has devolved, as we see today, into advanced technical training— information and skills development. As such, it leads to lives fragmented accordingly—even divided against themselves. Translated into public policy in the real world, the disciplines' exclusions feed back as problems—in the early '70s Journal of Higher Education article the prime examples were our failures in Vietnam and the deepening ecological crisis caused by technology ignoring ecology. In sum, the flaws of fragmented scholarship have inclined us to problems at strategic levels in modern culture—in knowledge, education, public policy, and personal values—owing to the unattended gaps among the disciplines.