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Karaktär och kultur. Sociologisk moralistik från Riesman till Sennett

Isenberg, Bo LU (2008) In Sosiologisk tidsskrift Vol. 16. p.255-278
Abstract
The article describes and analyses an essentially American intellectual tradition which explicitly or implicitly poses the central question of Hellenistic and Roman philosophy – ”how should I live?” – as its main theme and concern, and which discusses the matter theoretically, empirically, and normatively. The tradition includes sociologists and other social scientists, but also cultural theorists, literary critics, essayists, and novelists. This article will conceive them as ”moralists” with immediate predecessors in the classical modern sociology. As moralists, they express a ”style of thought”. By way of introduction, two key concepts are defined, namely ”character” and ”culture”. The two notions combined display the moralistic... (More)
The article describes and analyses an essentially American intellectual tradition which explicitly or implicitly poses the central question of Hellenistic and Roman philosophy – ”how should I live?” – as its main theme and concern, and which discusses the matter theoretically, empirically, and normatively. The tradition includes sociologists and other social scientists, but also cultural theorists, literary critics, essayists, and novelists. This article will conceive them as ”moralists” with immediate predecessors in the classical modern sociology. As moralists, they express a ”style of thought”. By way of introduction, two key concepts are defined, namely ”character” and ”culture”. The two notions combined display the moralistic hermeneutic horizon, but also a central problem in sociology. The article goes on with a discussion on the early modern moralists, among whom was for instance Montaigne. This intellectual current was of significant importance to classical sociology as well as to the 20th century American moralists. In this part of the article, the notion “style of thought” is introduced. The main part of the article consists of discussions on main problems and notions of American moralists Riesman, Trilling, Bell, Himmelfarb, Lasch, Bellah, Putnam, and Sennett. The article concludes with a substantial discussion on the elements of the American moralistic style of thought, as well as with some critical reflexions. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Artikeln diskuterar en väsentligen nordamerikansk tanketradition som explicit eller implicit framställer den centrala antika filosofiska frågan – ”hur bör jag leva?” – som sin frågehorisont, och som gör det såväl teoretiskt, empiriskt som normativt. Det handlar om sociologer och andra samhällsvetare, men också om litteraturvetare och kulturkritiker, essäister och skönlitterära författare. Artikeln gestaltar dem som ”moralister” med föregångare i den klassiska moderna sociologin. Som ”moralister” manifesterar de en ”tankestil”. Inledningsvis behandlas två centrala och komplementära begrepp för amerikanska moralister: ”karaktär” och ”kultur” och varianter av dessa. Begreppen manifesterar den moralistiska frågehorisonten, men uttrycker även... (More)
Artikeln diskuterar en väsentligen nordamerikansk tanketradition som explicit eller implicit framställer den centrala antika filosofiska frågan – ”hur bör jag leva?” – som sin frågehorisont, och som gör det såväl teoretiskt, empiriskt som normativt. Det handlar om sociologer och andra samhällsvetare, men också om litteraturvetare och kulturkritiker, essäister och skönlitterära författare. Artikeln gestaltar dem som ”moralister” med föregångare i den klassiska moderna sociologin. Som ”moralister” manifesterar de en ”tankestil”. Inledningsvis behandlas två centrala och komplementära begrepp för amerikanska moralister: ”karaktär” och ”kultur” och varianter av dessa. Begreppen manifesterar den moralistiska frågehorisonten, men uttrycker även en för sociologin grundläggande problematik. Artikeln fortsätter med en diskussion kring den tidigmoderna intellektuella strömning som gick under namnet ”moralistiken” och som exempelvis Montaigne tillhörde. Den klassiska moralistiken är av betydelse för såväl den klassiska sociologin som för de amerikanska moralisterna. Här definieras tillika det för artikeln centrala begreppet ”tankestil”. Därpå följer en genomgång av centrala problemställningar och begrepp hos ett urval av amerikanska moralister: Riesman, Trilling, Bell, Himmelfarb, Lasch, Bellah, Putnam, Sennett. Artikeln avslutas med en sammanfattande diskussion kring de element som ingår i den amerikanska moralistiska tankestilen, samt med några kritiska reflexioner. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
hermeneutics of the contemporary, character, culture, moralists, style of thought, sociologi, sociology
in
Sosiologisk tidsskrift
volume
Vol. 16
pages
255 - 278
publisher
Universitetsforlaget
ISSN
0804-0486
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
94c348cc-7f57-4d55-8da8-03c7214ff7b0 (old id 2430006)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:42:08
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:55:01
@article{94c348cc-7f57-4d55-8da8-03c7214ff7b0,
  abstract     = {{The article describes and analyses an essentially American intellectual tradition which explicitly or implicitly poses the central question of Hellenistic and Roman philosophy – ”how should I live?” – as its main theme and concern, and which discusses the matter theoretically, empirically, and normatively. The tradition includes sociologists and other social scientists, but also cultural theorists, literary critics, essayists, and novelists. This article will conceive them as ”moralists” with immediate predecessors in the classical modern sociology. As moralists, they express a ”style of thought”. By way of introduction, two key concepts are defined, namely ”character” and ”culture”. The two notions combined display the moralistic hermeneutic horizon, but also a central problem in sociology. The article goes on with a discussion on the early modern moralists, among whom was for instance Montaigne. This intellectual current was of significant importance to classical sociology as well as to the 20th century American moralists. In this part of the article, the notion “style of thought” is introduced. The main part of the article consists of discussions on main problems and notions of American moralists Riesman, Trilling, Bell, Himmelfarb, Lasch, Bellah, Putnam, and Sennett. The article concludes with a substantial discussion on the elements of the American moralistic style of thought, as well as with some critical reflexions.}},
  author       = {{Isenberg, Bo}},
  issn         = {{0804-0486}},
  keywords     = {{hermeneutics of the contemporary; character; culture; moralists; style of thought; sociologi; sociology}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{255--278}},
  publisher    = {{Universitetsforlaget}},
  series       = {{Sosiologisk tidsskrift}},
  title        = {{Karaktär och kultur. Sociologisk moralistik från Riesman till Sennett}},
  volume       = {{Vol. 16}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}