The Symbolic Construction of Reality

The Symbolic Construction of Reality
Author: Jeffrey Andrew Barash
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2009-05-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0226036898

In 1933 eminent philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945) fled Nazi Germany for the United States. His fame in Europe having already been established through a public debate with Martin Heidegger in 1929, Cassirer would go on to become a noteworthy influence on American culture. His most important early writings focused on the symbol and symbolic interaction, exploring how human cultures—from early myth-based ones to our own modern, scientifically oriented time—have used symbols to mediate the basic forms of experience. Following this work, Cassirer extended his insights to encompass a broad spectrum of philosophical themes: from investigations into Western epistemological and scientific traditions to aesthetics and the philosophy of history to anthropology and political philosophy. Reflecting this diversity in Cassirer’s own work, The Symbolic Construction of Reality collects eleven essays by a wide range of contributors from different fields. Each essay analyzes a different aspect of his legacy, reassessing its significance for our contemporary world and bringing much-needed attention to this seminal thinker.

The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality
Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2011-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1453215468

A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

Ernst Cassirer

Ernst Cassirer
Author: Edward Skidelsky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2011-10-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1400828945

This is the first English-language intellectual biography of the German-Jewish philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945), a leading figure on the Weimar intellectual scene and one of the last and finest representatives of the liberal-idealist tradition. Edward Skidelsky traces the development of Cassirer's thought in its historical and intellectual setting. He presents Cassirer, the author of The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, as a defender of the liberal ideal of culture in an increasingly fragmented world, and as someone who grappled with the opposing forces of scientific positivism and romantic vitalism. Cassirer's work can be seen, Skidelsky argues, as offering a potential resolution to the ongoing conflict between the "two cultures" of science and the humanities--and between the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy. The first comprehensive study of Cassirer in English in two decades, this book will be of great interest to analytic and continental philosophers, intellectual historians, political and cultural theorists, and historians of twentieth-century Germany.

Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality

Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality
Author: Dean of the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Kent L Sandstrom
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2006-03
Genre: Social psychology
ISBN: 9780195330656

The Second Edition of Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality introduces students to the symbolic interactionist perspective in sociology. This book differs from other texts on interactionism in several important respects. First, it offers a stronger empirical focus, linking discussions of the central ideas and premises of symbolic interactionism to pertinent research, including ethnographic studies conducted by each of the authors. Second, the book emphasizes topics that are inherently interesting to students, such as the dynamics of self-development, impression management, identity transformation, gender play, rumor transmission, and collective action. Third, it includes an analysis of the changing nature and experience of selfhood in contemporary society. Fourth, the authors provide a useful set of pedagogical tools at the end of each chapter, including a summary of key points and concepts, a glossary of key terms, a list of suggested readings, and questions for reflection and discussion. Finally, Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality offers a discussion of the personal relevance of symbolic interactionism, its salience for social policy, its broadening theoretical scope, and its relationship to new and increasingly prominent perspectives emerging within sociology. The new edition covers an even broader range of ideas and topics than the First Edition. It also features several updated sections and boxed inserts. These address such topics as: * The impact of postmodernity on students' experiences of self. * The dynamics of mass panics. * Status passages experienced by students. * Ethnomethodology and the construction of reality. * The necessity of language. * Internet technologies and their effects on interaction. * New methods of ethnographic analysis. * The dramatic elements of social movements. * The value and future of interactionism.

Symbols and Artifacts

Symbols and Artifacts
Author: Pasquale Gagliardi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351487299

A selection of 18 papers from an international conference in Milan, June 1987, organized by the Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism. Details how corporate artifacts are invested with meaning, are related to control, and can be used as cultural indicators in research. Among the topics are office design, housing modifications, computer systems, and the space shuttle. Fairly devoid of specialist jargon.

Choosing Presidents

Choosing Presidents
Author: Michael Novak
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017-07-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351528602

In Choosing Presidents, Novak uses the election of an American president as a means to dissect the symbols of our national life and politics, exposing many as distorted perceptions of American realities. This work is a guide to the complexities of electoral politics and a lasting contribution to our understanding of the presidency.The author is Michael Novak.

I Am A I

I Am A I
Author: Steven Joshua
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2010-04
Genre:
ISBN: 1449096263

I AM A I, Unfolding the Flower As long as you 'walk this planet', you are going to be working with or applying the laws/truths of a physical science textbook. You will work with or apply gravity and the laws of motion in order to walk. You will work with or apply the laws/truths of thermodynamics to keep warm. You will work with or apply the laws of harmonics to speak. And...you may be totally unaware that you are applying these laws/truths as you move through physical form even though they have the potential of being everywhere and are "within you and without you" . Sound familiar? What can be said for physical laws applies to the spiritual laws/truths of Heaven as well. I AM A I, Unfolding the Flower provides you with a comprehensive model that synthesizes the physical sciences with the metaphysical sciences while incorporating the core concepts of most world religions. In addition, it provides you a set of very basic relatively generic tools, that when applied, can enhance your life experience, spiritual and non-spiritual. Some of the tools presented in this book are: O Truth perception and recognition exercises O A multitude of meditation forms are presented to you O Mechanics of your mind and exercises on how to use them O The mechanics of visualization exercises and exercises that extend your 'mind's eye' through time and space O Some elementary ESP exercises O Numerous exercise modalities for you to use music as a mental tool It is the operator's intention that determines the use of a tool. Just as it is the applications of the laws/truths inside a physical science book, that produces physical effects in your life. It is the applications of the laws/truths inside I AM A I that will produce spiritual or mystical effects in your life. And...a principle stated in this book -- the 'higher' determines the 'lower' - maintains that the spiritual or mystical results can have physical side effects.

Language as Symbolic Power

Language as Symbolic Power
Author: Claire Kramsch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1108877761

Language is not simply a tool for communication - symbolic power struggles underlie any speech act, discourse move, or verbal interaction, be it in face-to-face conversations, online tweets or political debates. This book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the topic of language and power from an applied linguistics perspective. It is clearly split into three sections: the power of symbolic representation, the power of symbolic action and the power to create symbolic reality. It draws upon a wide range of existing work by philosophers, sociolinguists, sociologists and applied linguists, and includes current real-world examples, to provide a fresh insight into a topic that is of particular significance and interest in the current political climate and in our increasingly digital age. The book shows the workings of language as symbolic power in educational, social, cultural and political settings and discusses ways to respond to and even resist symbolic violence.

The Communicative Construction of Reality

The Communicative Construction of Reality
Author: Hubert Knoblauch
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2019-12-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429775334

This volume advocates a shift from the social constructivism found in the work of Thomas Luckmann and Peter Berger, to a communicative constructivism that acknowledges communication as an embodied form of action in its own right, according to which social actors, in engaging in communicative action, construct a material social reality that guides, delimits, and enables actions. A study of the importance of understanding the role of communication in an age in which digitization and mediatization have extended the reach of communication to a global level and brought about the emergence of the communication society, The Communicative Construction of Reality shows how communication society does not merely replace modern society and its hierarchical institutions, but complements it in a manner that continually results in conflicts leading to the refiguration of society. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology with interests in the sociology of knowledge, communication, and social theory.

The John You Never Knew

The John You Never Knew
Author: Kenneth H. Maahs
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2006
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 9780820481982

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