Culturology
Encyclopedia
Culturology is the branch of Social Sciences
concerned with the scientific understanding, description
, analysis
and prediction
of cultural activities, cultural systems and culture
broadly-construed.
, Aleksei Losev
, Sergey Averintsev, Georgy Gachev, Yuri Lotman
, Vyacheslav Ivanov
, Vladimir Toporov
and others. During the Stalinist era
this kind or research was superseded by Marxist social studies. Culturology as an interdisciplinary field reemerged in late 1960s.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
, culturology has been introduced into the VAK list of categories of specialties for which scientific degrees may be awarded and is a compulsory object of study during the first year in the institutions of higher education and in secondary schools. Defined as an integral study of human culture
s as integral systems and their influence on human behavior, it may be formally compared to the Western discipline of cultural studies
, although it has a number of important distinctions.
, the word “culturology” is borrowed from American anthropologist Leslie White
who defined it as the field of science which studies culture as cultural systems and presented in a series of essays "The Science of Culture". Following White, philosopher of science Mario Bunge
defined culturology as the sociological, economic, political and historical study of concrete cultural systems. When synchronic, culturology is said to coincide with the anthropology
, sociology
, economics
and politology of cultures. By contrast, diachronic culturology is a component of history
. According to Bunge, scientific culturology also differs from traditional cultural studies
in that the latter are too often the work of idealist literary critics or pseudo-philosophers ignorant of the scientific method
and incompetent to the study of social facts and concrete social systems.
Bunge’s systemic and materialist approach to the study of culture has given birth to a variety of new fields of research in the social sciences
. Fabrice Rivault, for instance, is the first scholar to formalize and propose International Political Culturology as a subfield of International Relations
in order to understand the global cultural system, as well as its numerous subsystems, and explain how cultural variables interact with politics
and economics
to impact on world affairs. This scientific approach differs radically from culturalism, constructivism and cultural postmodernism
in that it is based on logics, empiricism
, systemism and emergent materialism
.
While International Political Culturology is presently being studied by scholars around the world , "Teleculturology" has also emerged in international telecommunication standards organizations
influenced by the work of Marshall McLuhan
to describe studies of participation in cultural and medical practices at a distance. Teleculturology represents one dimension, among other, of Telehealth.
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
concerned with the scientific understanding, description
Description
Description is one of four rhetorical modes , along with exposition, argumentation, and narration. Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms and each has its own purpose and conventions....
, analysis
Analysis
Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle , though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.The word is...
and prediction
Prediction
A prediction or forecast is a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge...
of cultural activities, cultural systems and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
broadly-construed.
History of the term in Russia
The notion of culturology in Russia may be traced to late 19th century and early 20th century and associated with the names of Mikhail BakhtinMikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language...
, Aleksei Losev
Aleksei Losev
Aleksei Fedorovich Losev , a Russian philosopher, philologist and culturologist, one of the most prominent figures in Russian philosophical and religious thought of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, Sergey Averintsev, Georgy Gachev, Yuri Lotman
Yuri Lotman
Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman – a prominent Soviet literary scholar, semiotician, and cultural historian. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences...
, Vyacheslav Ivanov
Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov
Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian poet and playwright associated with the Russian Symbolist movement. He was also a philosopher, translator, and literary critic.-Early life:...
, Vladimir Toporov
Vladimir Toporov
Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov was a leading Russian philologist associated with the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school. His wife was Tatyana Elizarenkova....
and others. During the Stalinist era
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
this kind or research was superseded by Marxist social studies. Culturology as an interdisciplinary field reemerged in late 1960s.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, culturology has been introduced into the VAK list of categories of specialties for which scientific degrees may be awarded and is a compulsory object of study during the first year in the institutions of higher education and in secondary schools. Defined as an integral study of human culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
s as integral systems and their influence on human behavior, it may be formally compared to the Western discipline of cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
, although it has a number of important distinctions.
Contemporary use of the term
In contemporary Social SciencesSocial sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, the word “culturology” is borrowed from American anthropologist Leslie White
Leslie White
Leslie Alvin White was an American anthropologist known for his advocacy of theories of cultural evolution, sociocultural evolution, and especially neoevolutionism, and for his role in creating the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor...
who defined it as the field of science which studies culture as cultural systems and presented in a series of essays "The Science of Culture". Following White, philosopher of science Mario Bunge
Mario Bunge
Mario Augusto Bunge is an Argentine philosopher and physicist mainly active in Canada.-Biography:Bunge began his studies at the National University of La Plata, graduating with a Ph.D. in physico-mathematical sciences in 1952. He was professor of theoretical physics and philosophy,...
defined culturology as the sociological, economic, political and historical study of concrete cultural systems. When synchronic, culturology is said to coincide with the anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and politology of cultures. By contrast, diachronic culturology is a component of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. According to Bunge, scientific culturology also differs from traditional cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
in that the latter are too often the work of idealist literary critics or pseudo-philosophers ignorant of the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
and incompetent to the study of social facts and concrete social systems.
Bunge’s systemic and materialist approach to the study of culture has given birth to a variety of new fields of research in the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. Fabrice Rivault, for instance, is the first scholar to formalize and propose International Political Culturology as a subfield of International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
in order to understand the global cultural system, as well as its numerous subsystems, and explain how cultural variables interact with politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
to impact on world affairs. This scientific approach differs radically from culturalism, constructivism and cultural postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
in that it is based on logics, empiricism
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
, systemism and emergent materialism
Emergent materialism
In the philosophy of mind, emergent materialism is a theory which asserts that the mind is an irreducible existent in some sense, albeit not in the sense of being an ontological simple, and that the study of mental phenomena is independent of other sciences.The view can be divided into emergence...
.
While International Political Culturology is presently being studied by scholars around the world , "Teleculturology" has also emerged in international telecommunication standards organizations
Standards organization
A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization , or standards setting organization is any organization whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise producing technical standards that are...
influenced by the work of Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
to describe studies of participation in cultural and medical practices at a distance. Teleculturology represents one dimension, among other, of Telehealth.