Big Research Questions about the Human Condition a Historian's Will

Ask bigger, fewer, and clearer questions! This is the major message of this book, comprising a set of issues to focus on, hereby suggesting a way to overcome the fragmentation characterising the humanities today. It also urges humanists to regard humanities research as an integral part of science, a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jarrick, Arne
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: London Anthem Press 2020, 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Table of Contents:
  • Includes bibliographical references and index
  • Acknowledgments; Figures and Pictures; 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?; Appendixes; References; Index