The problem of definition and substantive evolution of the research subject of Ukrainian cultural research

Abstract

The main incentive for carrying out this research work was the need to specify the meaningful paradigm of Ukrainian cultural research through the definition of its subject, as a complex-structural concept of “culture”. The subject is the basis of science, similarly to the methodology and the conceptual and categorical apparatus. Given the aggravation of the crisis state of modern Ukrainian cultural studies, the study of such thematic direction is of quite urgent importance. The article reveals one of the key hindering factors in understanding the specifics of cultural research, which in turn creates a pluralism of interpretations of the essence of this science. The problem of defining the specificity of “scientific” in relation to cultural research and other types of scientific practices is analyzed. The content variability of the subject of cultural knowledge during the historical development of cultural research as a science is considered, similar to the evolution of the research subject of other scientific disciplines. Information is provided regarding the approximate number of currently existing definitions of the concept of “culture” as a subject of the study of cultural research, according to the calculations of various scientists. A typology of interpretations of culture based on content and a complex of means of conceptual expression is established. A comparative analysis was carried out and an integrating synthesis was made of various definitions of culture, the authors of which are well-known representatives of cultural thought – E. Taylor, U. Thomas, L. White and others.