Summary
From Knowledge to Creativity:
How the Humanities Can Change the World
The book explores the creative potential of humanistic disciplines,
mostly in the fields of philosophy, literature, language and cultural
A studies. The concept of the “transformative humanities” emphasizes the constructive rather than purely explorative aspect of these disciplines. The book offers a fresh look at the old division between theoretical and practical fields of knowledge and calls for a reexamination of the far-reaching questions: What can the humanities do? How can they affect the areas of their study? Which cultural practices can be built on the basis of our studies of language, literature, and philosophy?
The book’s central concern is the need for deep methodological changes in the humanities that would add a new, practical dimension to them. For example, can the analysis of language lead to the synthesis of new lexical units and grammatical models that expand the power of intellectual expression? Can philosophy be involved in creative thinking about alterna-tivel worlds and their technological implementation? The book argues that the humanistic disciplines need to develop their own practical extensions in order to transform the areas of their study, just as technologies extend the effect of the natural sciences by transforming the world of nature, or as politics extend the social studies by transforming society:
Nature – natural sciences – technology – transformation of nature
Society – social sciences – politics – transformation of society
Culture – human sciences – transhumanities – transformation of culture
We need a
The book reexamines some of the central concepts of the humanities, such as “human”, “author,” “sign,” “text,” “interpretation,” “writing,” “self,” and “wisdom,” offering transformative perspectives on them. The value of rigorous scholarship and analytical procedures must not be undermined, but the humanities urgently need new approaches to avoid intellectual and social marginalization and to participate fully in the cultural and technical dynamics of contemporary society.
Примечания
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«It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing». Стив Джобс цитируется no:
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«…Любовь, – заключила она [Диотима], – вовсе не есть стремление к прекрасному, как то тебе, Сократ, кажется. – А что же она такое? – Стремление родить и произвести на свет в прекрасном. <…> Почему именно родить? Да потому, что рождение – это та доля бессмертия и вечности, которая отпущена смертному существу».
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В последнее время усиливается тенденция минимизировать или даже вовсе стирать разницу между науками и технологиями. Так, акторно- сетевая теория (ANT), выдвинутая Бруно Латуром, Мишелем Каллоном и Джоном Л о, не делает различий между науками (знаниями) и технологиями (артефактами), рассматривая их как взаимопереводимые компоненты одной системы, в которой и люди, и понятия, и объекты играют активную роль. Мы
