%0 Journal Article
%T Beyond a socio
%A Suzi Adams
%J Thesis Eleven
%@ 1461-7455
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0725513619830433
%X This essay unpacks Johann Arnason¡¯s theory of culture. It argues that the culture problematic remains the needle¡¯s eye through which Arnason¡¯s intellectual project must be understood, his recent shift to foreground the interplay of culture and power (as the religio-political nexus) notwithstanding. Arnason¡¯s approach to culture is foundational to his articulation of the human condition, which is articulated here as the interaction of a historical cultural hermeneutics and a macro-phenomenology of the world as a shared horizon. The essay discusses Arnason¡¯s elucidation of his theory of culture as a contribution to debates on the ¡®meaning of meaning¡¯. It traces its beginnings from his critique of Habermas¡¯s theory of modernity to its development via a trialogue with Max Weber, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Cornelius Castoriadis. It argues that Arnason's theory of culture moves beyond socio-centric perspectives, and, in so doing, offers a critique of what we might call sociological solipsism. In decentring society/anthropos, a more nuanced understanding of the human condition as a unity in diversity is achieved. The essay concludes with a discussion of some tensions in Arnason¡¯s understanding of culture, and argues for the importance for incorporating a qualitative notion of ¡®movement¡¯ in order to make sense of historical novelty and social change
%K Johann Arnason
%K Cornelius Castoriadis
%K cultural sociology
%K hermeneutics
%K Maurice Merleau-Ponty
%K phenomenology
%K socio-centrism
%K theory of culture
%K Max Weber
%K world horizon
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0725513619830433