FROM CULTURE TO CULTURAL: A HISTORICAL EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE SHIFT IN ACADEMIC DISCOURSES THROUGH HERDERIAN NOTIONS
Abstract
Purpose – The adjective "cultural" cumulates all the complexity of today's world. It has become a widely used qualifier in social and human sciences. The morphological transformation from adjective to noun motivates substantial research and conceptual developments. I argue that adjectivization is a direct consequence of relativization and personalization of culture.
Methodology - Historical epistemology creates the conditions for a true dialogue between cultural, social and scientific realities by restoring conceptual dynamics. Largely attributed to Herder and Boas, the relativization process have exponentially increased and diversified the use of the concept of culture.
Findings - The ongoing conceptual pluralization can be traced back to Herder. By creating and popularizing the plural term "cultures", Herder and Boas facilitated the gradual transformation of the noun into an adjective by bringing to light its heterogeneous and fluid nature. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, an intense process of psychologization elevated the Herderian concept of culture to the status of a central instrument in human and social sciences and reinforced its pluralization through an increased focus on individual determinants.
Keywords: Herder; Boas; culture; psychologization; historical epistemology.
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