2020-04Thematic Section
Toward a “Cultural Philosophy”: Five Forms of Philosophy of Culture

Abstract:

This work argues that an opportunity is being missed by the philosophical tradition, especially within philosophy of culture: an opportunity not just to philosophize “about” culture, but to embody culture and put it into practice. It argues that philosophy itself is a powerful form of culture – one that needs to be better understood and more explicitly practiced. To highlight this blind spot, the work introduces a distinction between “philosophy of culture,” and “cultural philosophy.” Cultural philosophy should be better explored by the discipline for two reasons: a clearer understanding of cultural philosophy would benefit all practitioners of philosophy; also, a philosopher of culture who engages cultural philosophy will be a more effective philosopher of culture. The goal of the project is to highlight the possibility of (and value in) a “cultural philosophy,” and to serve as something of a prolegomenon toward further work in that area.

Keywords:

cultural philosophy, Bildung, Hadot, Anderson, Cassirer

How to cite:

Kemling, Jared. “Toward a ‘Cultural Philosophy’: Five Forms of Philosophy of Culture.” Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture 4, no. 4 (2020): 19-35. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2020.0038.

Author:

Jared Kemling
Rend Lake College
468 N. Ken Gray Parkway, Ina, IL 62846, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3706-2208
kemlingj@rlc.edu

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