Kultura – dyskurs – wspólnota: Calvina Orville’a Schraga koncepcja komunikacji - PAULINA WINIARSKA (Autor) (Kraków, 2022)
https://wydawnictwo.ignatianum.edu.pl/kultura-dyskurs-wspolnota.htm
Monografia naukowa
This monograph is dedicated entirely to the thoughts of an American philosopher, Calvin O. Schrag. To summarize our considerations, we must admit that Schrag is one of many philosophers who have occupied themselves with the concept of communication. However, he distinguished himself by having created his own concept of communication by means of polemics with postmodern, analytical and existential thinkers. Thus, Schrag developed his own original philosophical system where one is surrounded with the author’s innovative, interdisciplinary approach to the subject of communication, cultural spheres, discourse, community and – finally – transcendence. The primary purpose of this study is then to convey Calvin Schrag’s thoughts to the Polish reader, with particular emphasis on the concept of communication. Despite the fact that he is a renowned philosopher in the West, in Poland and in the East, his ideas have not been seriously explored to date. We hope to bring about a change in this regard with the publication of this study. Schrag’s idea for the concept of communication was influenced by various philosophical trends and the tradition of analytical philosophy was the first to leave its mark. Although the author distances himself from many decisions made by analytical philosophers, he does draw from them the general method of studying the analysis of philosophical problems, which in turn completes a hermeneutic approach; one that is also focused on the aspect of sign in human cognition. In fact, Calvin Schrag draws intensely from the philosophical concepts of many thinkers. Perhaps we could say that the education he received made him an incessant polemicist. He has become the type of thinker who looks for solutions in the spirit of intergenerational polemics with various concepts that initially propose completely incommensurable solutions. This American thinker dares to redefines and reinterpret the solutions that would seem unacceptable to him at first. Possibly, it was the spirit of the Greek discussion that made Schrag such a firm believer in the polemical nature of the philosophical enterprise. This assumption appears to find confirmation in all of his works. On the canvas of the polemic own Schrag shapes his own ideas. In the early years of his academic research, Schrag was inspired to a large extent by analytical philosophy and explored the philosophical theories of Gilbert Ryle, John Langshaw Austin and Ludwig Wittgenstein. However, in the later period becomes visible the influence of the existential thought, in particular that of Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl and Karl Jaspers. Discussing Schrag’s ideas, it should be emphasized that the philosopher has systematized culture into a number of domains: every domain is a separate form of social awareness. He has then adopted the concept of symbolic culture where language, tradition, art, science and religion all play a significant role, being considered as forms of social awareness. The language regulates the practice of linguistic communication; the tradition regulates the practice of habits; the art regulates the artistic practice; the science regulates the scientific practice; and the religion regulates the religious practice. Schrag calls the systematized areas of culture “the culture spheres”. All forms of social awareness function within the practice of a specific community. As a result, and in view of the theory of communication, i.e. the main topic of this publication, we must stress that – for Schrag – the ability to participate in linguistic communication primarily means to participate in cultural communication. According to the concept of culture in Schrag’s thought, this is therefore a reference to linguistic communication as one of the most basic areas of culture. It means that, for example, the immersion of a child into the language of a specific community is a process inseparable from the wider process of immersion in the culture of this community.
Keywords: language commodification; language policy; politics of language; Russian language; sociolinguistics