Cultural Studies

Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms and Its Place in Democratic & Anthropocentric Legal Thought

by Daniel Buk

I wrote this paper for a class at the end of 2010. Both the professor I wrote it for and my adviser wanted me to try and get it published, after I edited it down from 50 pages to a journal-length article, and to present it at a conference. Unfortunately, I didn't find the time as of yet.

After I had published this paper, I would have uploaded it here for all who are interested to see. Unfortunately, I don't know when I can find the time to edit them and otherwise make it presentable, so after almost two years, I gave up on the idea of putting up published work on here and finally figured I may as well upload my unedited draft onto here before too long.

The reason that many of you may notice that my argument centers around the American Pragmatists is because the class I wrote this for revolved around the Pragmatists' contributions to democratic thought.

I will attempt to discover a complete Pragmatist interrelation between idea and action- what Hegel refers to as Geist,... more I will attempt to discover a complete Pragmatist interrelation between idea and action- what Hegel refers to as Geist, and of praxis (literally “practice”).

First, I agree with the general proposition that political philosophy nearly always ends in a philosophy of knowledge (and in a Hegelian sense, conversely implicitly begins in a philosophy of knowledge), and thus I will therein argue that, as Cassirer propounds, the end of all philosophy is anthropology- it is the study of how humanity lives and interacts by and through their social contexts and how humanity synthesizes these into evermore contexts in a continuum that defines itself. How we perceive the world, how we acquire knowledge, how we understand our place in the world is essential to the creation of society.

We arguably need “The Other” as a reference to know ourselves- to define or characterize ourselves against or in tandem with (“knowing oneself likewise in the other”- Hegel), thus the whole project of epistemology can be directed toward political philosophy by way of social epistemology- society/civilization is arguably the product of such a consensus of epistemological reference points.

The Confluence and Presumptions of Liberalism & Humanism in Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms

by Daniel Buk

This is a an unedited second paper.

In this paper, which I treat in second in the same series the previous one started, I further make explicit the... more In this paper, which I treat in second in the same series the previous one started, I further make explicit the democratic principles inherent in Cassirer's philosophy. I look for the source of Cassirer's initial engagement with liberal thought and trace it to his eyewitness account of the growing völkisch movements and later the political ascent of the Nazis in Germany.

I particularly focus on Cassirer's observations of aphasia, which he defines as the absence of symbolic thought. I examine my own question whether or not the cultural destruction that preceded the Final Solution (such as library destruction and book burning) was a calculated attempt to induce aphasia in the German public so they would become literally unable to detect a symbolic indebtedness in their own intellectual environment or national context to those the Nazis wanted to persecute.


I briefly examine a similar development in the Russian Revolution and the transition from the Soviet Union to the new Russia.

To briefly sum up, I look at how the corruption of language leads to the manipulation and the corruption of civic discourse, leading to a gradual perversion of any notion of a social contract. This aforementioned theme is continued from the first paper as it sharpens in this.

28.1 Call for Papers_1 week left!_Archaeological Review from Cambridge: Archaeology and Cultural Mixing

by Paul van Pelt

The embodied computer/user

by Deborah Lupton

The construction of patienthood in medical advertising

by Deborah Lupton

¿ Cómo se piensa lo “queer” en América Latina?(Presentación Dossier)

by Maria Amelia Viteri

Tales Dead Birds Tell: the historical and cultural context of early avian specimens in the biology collections of Randolph College

by Emily Smith

DPR Newsletter and Call for Papers 10.2.12

by Discourse, Power, Resistance DPR Conference

Integrating Brand Perception, Culture Dimension and Social Influence in Predicting Purchase Intention in Luxury Brand Market

by ali ihtiyar

Although few in numbers and mostly based on cases from advanced nations, previous studies on luxury consumption have... more Although few in numbers and mostly based on cases from advanced nations, previous studies on luxury consumption have shed light on the field of branding and suggested the pivotal role of social and intercultural dimensions in influencing consumers engagement and ultimately, their purchase intention. However, luxury branding conception are still not sufficiently explored in emerging economies to lend a satisfactory guideline for branding stakeholders to maneuver their policies and brand development programs. After all, there is a saying “what cannot be measured cannot be managed”. In particular, there is no statistically validated measure on the role of brand perception (BP), culture dimension (CD) and social influence (SI) in predicting purchase Intention (PI). The study is crucial for brand leaders and policy makers to partially access their readiness to embrace strategic intercultural considerations to be more competitive global brand performers. This study intends to propose an appropriate technique to empirically examine the inter relationships of latent BP; CD, SI and PI through a new propose theory-based luxury brand purchase intention model. It is basically a literature reviews on the related constructs and how the relationships assessment of those constructs should be carried out. It suggests and justifies the need for adopting a sequential explanatory mixed methods (EMM) research with the application of structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures for quantitative explanation and content analysis for the follow-up in-depth qualitative interviews. This proposal will provide insights and fill in the literature gaps on appropriate methodology to get statistically validated representation of intercultural elements of branding for luxury brand developments in Malaysia that may implicate other similar research in other emerging economies with similar situations.

The Emergence of 'Sexualization' as a Social Problem

by Robbie Duschinsky

Draft only; Social Politics

The article explores the history of the way the idea of ‘sexualization’ has been problematized – situated as an object... more The article explores the history of the way the idea of ‘sexualization’ has been problematized – situated as an object of concern – in the USA and UK. My focus here will be on media discourses, having analysed policy and sociological discourses on sexualization elsewhere. I document that, from the early 1980s in the USA, the term ‘sexualization’ came to describe a mal-socialisation which causes the precocious entry by the child into adult forms of sexual subjectivity and desire. I will argue that the media problematization of sexualization has been the result of a ‘discursive coalition’ between a number of conservative and feminist commentators, who for quite different reasons wished to justify measures to protect and regulate the sexuality and morality of young women. Underpinning this coalition is an inadequate account of sexual and commercial choice, as either simply present or absent for young women.

Decolonizing the academy: African diaspora studies

by Charles F. Peterson

Affect Theory Reader - intro (Seigworth/Gregg)

by Greg Seigworth

Deleuze and Cultural Studies (one paradigm less)

by Greg Seigworth

Banality for Cultural Studies

by Greg Seigworth

Who'We'are and How We Perceive'Others': Influence of History Textbooks During the Construction Process of'Self'and the 'Other'in Cyprus

by Tutku Akter

Westermarck Hypothesis Reconsidered: A Comment on Kushnick and Fessler

by Dwight Read

Co-authored with Fadwa El Guindi. Published in Current Anthropology 2012, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 134-135.

Kushnick and Fessler (2011) invoke Westermarck’s (1891)
hypothesized origins of sexual aversion and incest taboos... more Kushnick and Fessler (2011) invoke Westermarck’s (1891)
hypothesized origins of sexual aversion and incest taboos and
use existing ethnography to assert that “cousin marriage
among the Karo of Indonesia . . . reveal[s] Westermarckian
patterns” (2011:443). The Karo are patrilineal Batak from
North Sumatra practicing clan exogamy with marriage between
matrilateral cross cousins (known as impal) valued for
maintaining proper kinship relationships (Singarimbun
1975). Impal marriages are reported to be rare (Singarimbun
1975). The authors claim that “impal have a stated aversion
to intermarriage . . . consistent with the Westermarck hypothesis,” with the provision that “impal are cosocialized”
since “early life association leads [marriageable cousins] to
erroneously view one another as siblings” (2011:443).

There are several problems with this study. First, the evidence
for the supposedWestermarckian aversion is equivocal.
Second, no evidence is demonstrated for a persistent or transmitted folk model of aversion. Third, there is no evidence of
a link between the presumed folk model and frequency of
cross-cousin marriages. Each problem is considered in turn.

Why We Shouldn't Be Bored with the Political Economy versus Cultural Studies Debate

by Janice Peck

Freak Show. A proposito della venere ottentotta

by Federica Timeto

pubblicato su "Duellanti", luglio 2011, pp. 40-41.

la proliferazione delle immagini review SC

by Federica Timeto

review, published in "Studi Culturali", VIII, 2, 2011, pp. 320-325.

Returns and Escapes: Luce Irigaray and Lesbian Utopics

by Catherine Driscoll

Driscoll, C. (1995) "Returns and Escapes: Luce Irigaray and Lesbian Utopics". Critical InQueeries, 1.1.