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This paper tries to provide an interpretation of the concept of culture in the work of one of German Enlightenment's most versatile personalities: Johann Gottfried Herder. The emphasis will be placed on this concept within the framework of a new interpretation of the historicity and essence of language as a medium of knowledge, understanding and communication, leading towards an examination of Herder's contribution to the philosophy of language and processuality as the basis of a project of an universal, but immanently historical anthropology. Furthermore, we will introduce Herder's integration of the enlightened rationality and classical metaphysics as expressed in his aesthetics and poetry. We also will reconstruct the foundations and future influence of Herder's linking of universalist humanism with the new awareness of the national and social determination of being. Namely, being as something actively and freely appropriated in an integrated manner that is however not arbitrary. Key words: Herder, Enlightenment, culture, philosophy of language

Generally acclaimed as the greatest philosopher of the Enlightenment, David Hume has been, nevertheless, a problem for Enlightenment historians. In terms of the Enlightenment's own standards of empiricism and demonstrable philosophical tenets, Hume's is by far the most "legitimate" philosophy of the age, yet it is almost diametrically opposed to the traditional historical characterization of the Enlightenment. Consequently, historians must re-assess the empirical character of the Enlightenment, acknowledging it as yet another Age of Faith rather than science (as Becker contends), or acknowledge Hume's as the most valid Enlightenment philosophy. Such a re-assessment and study of Hume's conclusions would dramatically alter Enlightenment histories and provide meaningful insights into the actual Enlightenment legacy regarding modern man and his society.

What does emancipation mean today? In political theory, the idea of emancipation has typically been understood as a process of rationalization involving the promotion of human rights or the historical overcoming of capitalism. However, in contemporary social criticism the earlier antagonism between liberalism and Marxism has largely been replaced by the conflict between Enlightenment thinking and Enlightenment critique. The tension between Enlightenment philosophy and Enlightenment skepticism can be taken as emblematic of the two main tendencies within contemporary critical thought. However, a similar ambivalence can be found in the classical critical theory of the so-called Frankfurt School. Given that we have to distinguish between two types of critical theoretical thought, is it even possible to answer the question about emancipation in an unambiguous way? The overall aim of this study is to examine the meaning of emancipation in contemporary critical thought. More specifically, the principal aim is to demonstrate that Jürgen Habermas’s critical theory can be understood as an attempt to overcome the opposition between the early and the late Frankfurt School in order subsequently to evaluate this attempt and thereby judge whether Habermas’s approach can serve as a key for combining the concepts of emancipation corresponding to these two types of critique. My main objection to Habermas’s reformulation of critical theory is that it is characterized by a lack of emancipatory potential and a lack of critical force. In trying to pave the way for an alternative approach, my strategy for accommodating the tensions between the two models of critical theory is to show that emancipation can be viewed as a process involving three disparate yet interconnected stages: an initial break in the continuity of history; a collective political struggle in order to realize the utopian vision thereby opened up; and, a possible understanding among the participants in a discourse.

Based on the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris X, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-198) and index.

Based on the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris X, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-198) and index.

No description available.