Dissertation > Excellent graduate degree dissertation topics show

Globalization and Cultural Individuality

Author: ChenWenDian
Tutor: GaoWenXin
School: Jilin University
Course: The philosophy of Marxism
Keywords: Cultural Individuality Globalization the Individuality of Western Culture the Individuality of Chinese Culture The Communist Movement
CLC: G112
Type: PhD thesis
Year: 2008
Downloads: 897
Quote: 2
Read: Download Dissertation

Abstract

In this thesis, I discuss the issue of cultural individuality and cultural diversity and the reason for this issue being the most important problem for man’s continuable development in the background of globalization and the change of human history from the bound of traditional nations to the world. Guided by Marxist thought, I expatiate on the cultural sense that the process of globalization and world history owns and its role as the practical activity and mode of subsistence for man. I analyze the meaning of cultural individuality and its basis. And I also prove that individuality and diversity of culture is the inner force of human development in culture and it is actually the heart of human culture.There are altogether seven parts in this thesis, which are the introduction, the five chapters as the main text and the conclusion.In the introduction, I focus on the significance, background, and methodology of this thesis. And I also point out the shortcoming in the research on the topic.In Chapter One, I concern much on the passive impact that individuality of capitalist culture puts on cultural diversity of human being. In the time of globalization, the selfness, other-ness and humanity of culture and their interrelation consist in the central problem of human subsistence and his cultural makeup. The issue of cultural individuality and diversity being from its latent sense to its apparent sense is originated from the differences, interrelationship and unbalance of cultural individuality. As the creating of man’s life, culture expresses the self-consciousness of production of life itself in essence. Man creates his life by creating culture. Cultural critique is identical with the self-critique of human life. As the mode of human life, culture is a union of the understanding of life and the mode of life creation. The full-scale and free development for the people must appeal to the development of the real world-wide universal interrelation. With the progress of modern industry, the increasingly social division and social intercourse, and the highly-developed scientific technology, individuality and diversity of human culture is pushed to interact with each other deeply. The key to man’s creation in his cosmopolitan and human character is the openness in human praxis. Without individuality, man will lose the value as a being. Without universal interrelation and intercourse, man can not achieve his transcendence. Globalization and world history is the unity of universal relations, broad intercourse, complete openness and his individuality.In Chapter Two, I discuss cultural individuality in the aspect of conception in order to explain that man’s creating culture is his creating life, and that cultural life is man’s special life, through which man creates his subsistent mode with the help of his practical activities. Cultural creation as a creation lies in individualization. From this viewpoint, individualization is the mystery of the life creation. Human life is not a purely biological life. The purely biological life has no individuality in the view of culture. And it is not an individual pattern of life. Human life is the outcome of cultural creation and then a kind of life creation. The national character of culture is an external expression of cultural individuality. But the inner dimension of cultural individuality entails selfness, other-ness and humanity, which are united together as one body. In this chapter, I disclose that such conception of culture is the core of viewpoint on national culture. I also point out the shortcoming of western culture which is mainly about the definition of thinking mode. Actually, any national culture can not substitute for the culture of other nations. That is to say, culture has its diversity and the continuable development of human culture is the basic ideal and value of national state.In the third chapter, I explain value and meaning of cultural individuality on the viewpoint that cultural individuality and diversity is the inner force of cultural development. Cultural self-consciousness and critique aims at the development of culture in its ecological aspect. Cultural individuality has its human origin in reality. The intermediary character of human culture is its basic character, especially when history is changed from the bound of nations to the world. The guiding spirit in contemporary culture expresses itself relatively and openly. Actually, only in the mode of intermediary and intercourse can man achieve his self- realization and freedom. In the process of globalization and world history and in the transition of human culture, cultural individuality does not mean close but open individuality. What’s more, it is not absolute individuality but relative one. In this sense, we need to understand culture with a thinking mode in which something dialectic, whole and creating is concerned. The diversity of cultural individuality is the power of cultural development, and in fact it is the heart of life. To purify individuality can only make human individuality limit in a close scope, while to bear the diversity and to foster the individuality is the best way to highlight and advance individuality.In the fourth chapter, I focus on the character of individuality in capitalist culture. Undoubtedly, cultural tradition is the historical outcome of man’s life creation and his spirit. That is to say, cultural spirit is the soul of cultural tradition and the final concern in culture is the most important thing in cultural spirit. There are different kinds of final concern in different cultural tradition, which differentiates culture in its spiritual character, and influences man in his life idea and mode of life creation. Therefore, final concern is the examination of life creation and life existence, which entails not only the cause of human creation and the mode of it. Anyway, the final concern cares more on the cause of human creation, which means the mode of human creation is subordinate to the cause. The crisis of cultural individuality and diversity in capitalist society relates to its development in the process of modernization. At the same time, the expanding of modernization leads to the globalization of human nature and world history. With the process of globalization and world history, national cultures interrelate in a higher degree and the consciousness on cultural individuality is concerned more.In Chapter Five, I pay attention to the character of individuality in Chinese culture in the process of western modernization. In my idea, the position of Chinese culture must be considered in the process of world history and globalization. In Chinese culture, we understand life, create life and build up the ethical culture of society in the understanding of moral virtue. Culture is the way of understanding man’s creation and life is the root of culture. We have to understand life from the culture. Culture as the collective creation of human life is historically produced. That is why we care much on cultural tradition. The outcome of culture is the creation of collectively human life and cultural tradition. The selfness of individuality in Chinese culture is caused by its not achieving the transition from agricultural civilization to modern industrial civilization with western countries. That is to say, it is the popularization of capitalist culture in its individuality that caused the selfness of Chinese culture. Chinese culture is the mode of life creation for Chinese people and their aggregation. The mode of Chinese culture in its life creation is kind of fusion and compatibility. The sinicization of Marxism is the self-consciousness of Chinese people in creating their lives. The process of modernization in China is identical with the process of the Marxist movement unfolded in China, which plays an important role in the free and all-sided creation of Chinese people’s lives. The progress in the process of Chinese social modernization will be sure to push the step of globalization into a higher degree and the historical movement of man and his life creation in humanity as well.In the conclusion, I attempt to understand the communist ideal of Marxism, globalization and world history according to the mode of man’s life creation. The fundamental value of communism is man’s complete liberation. Human liberation is the process of man’s life creation in humanity. Only with the advancement of man’s ability and self-consciousness to life creation can human liberation achieve. The aforementioned self-consciousness is of humanity and man’s complete liberation is not to eliminate conflicts and problems, but to advance the ability to solve the conflicts and the problems. In the real communist movement, there is the development of man’s individuality and liberation. That is to say, we do not assimilate different individualities in communist movement, but to foster them. Individuality in communist movement is not close and parochial but open and free. In communist movement, life creation is self-conscious. Only in this sense, can we understand the process of globalization and world history, and then understand the scientific significance and value of Marxian conception of history, which is practical materialism.

Related Dissertations

CLC: > Culture, science,education, sports > The world culture and culture > World > Cultural and thematic studies
© 2012 www.DissertationTopic.Net Mobile