Concept Formation in the Humanities and the Social Sciences

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Methods of Concept Formation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Metrical Concepts and Measurement in the Humanities

      • Tadeusz Pawlowski

      Pages 3-22

   3. Concepts with Family Meanings in the Humanities

      • Tadeusz Pawlowski

      Pages 23-54

   4. Persuasive Function of Language

      • Tadeusz Pawlowski

      Pages 55-73

3. Applications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

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   2. Aesthetics and Art Theory

      1. Informational Aesthetics

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 77-90

      2. The Concept of Kitsch

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 91-111

      3. The Concept of Happening

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 112-143

      4. Interpretation of Art Works

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 144-161

      5. Beauty and its Socio-Psychological Determinants

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 162-177

   3. Social Sciences

      1. The Concept of Indicator in The Social Sciences

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 181-196

      2. Semiotic Theory of Culture

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 197-203

      3. Theory of Questions and its Applications in the Social Sciences

         • Tadeusz Pawlowski

         Pages 204-220

4. Back Matter

   Pages 221-236

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Uniqueness of style versus plurality of styles: in terms of these aesthetic categories one of the most important differences between the recent past and the present can be described. This difference manifests itself in all spheres of life - in fashion, in everyday life, in the arts, in science. What is of interest for my purposes in this book are its manifestations in the processes of con­ cept formation as they occur in the humanities, broadly conceived. Here the following methodological approaches seem to dominate the scene. 1. A tendency to apply semiotic concepts in various fields of research. 2. Attempts to introduce metrical concepts and measurement, even into disciplines tra­ ditionally considered as unamenable to mathematical treatment, like aesthetics and theory of art. 3. Efforts to fmd ways of formulating empirically testable, operational criteria for the application of concepts, especially concepts which refer to objects directly not observable, like dispositions, attitudes, character or personality traits. Care is also taken to take advantage of the conceptual apparatus of methodology to express problems in the humanities with the highest possible degree of clarity and precision. 4. Analysis of the p~rsuasive function oflanguage and its possible uses in science and in everyday life. The above tendencies are present in this book. It is divided into two parts: I. Methods of Concept Formation, and II. Applications. In the first part some general methods of concept formation are presented and their merits discussed.

• aesthetics
• art
• art theory
• care
• concept
• culture
• fashion
• happening
• interpret
• methodology
• opera
• present
• science
• style

• Institute of Philosophy, University of Lodz, Poland

  Tadeusz Pawlowski

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