The Humanist Turn in the Social and Cultural Sciences and the Commitment to Criticism

Title

The Humanist Turn in the Social and Cultural Sciences and the Commitment to Criticism

Author

Oliver KOZLAREK

Page

17-36

DOI

Abstract

Recently, some of the most important debates in the social sciences and the humanities show signs that they have begun to undergo a significant transformation that I shall call the "humanist turn". In the first part of this paper I will show that humanism is not simply a way of defining once and for all the essence of the human being. Humanism seems to be much more a reaction to historical crisis in which a humanly dignified life is in danger. In the second part, I will argue that understanding Humanism as a kind of reaction to crisis helps to remember that it is intimately related to "criticism" in the sense that has been given to this word by critical theory. Finally, I will try to show that the current "humanist turn" is not a simple return to traditional forms of humanism but that it relates and in some way even grows out of the "cultural turn" that was dominating debates in the social sciences and the humanities for quite some time.

Keyword

Humanist Turn, Cultural Turn, Critical Theory, Social Sciences, Cultural Sciences

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