By: Padraig McGrath

Introduction: To understand why ‘scientism’, (the contemporary vulgarization of ‘the’ scientific method),  exists in a perpetual state of cuspness – promoting the view that scientific inquiry is always seemingly ‘on the cusp’ of a final and absolute answer or truth – Gadamer’s ‘Horizon’ metaphor has yet another practical application. Gadamer put’s forward this metaphor in his development of Heidegger’s philosophical hermeneutics as articulated in the latter’s 1927 masterpiece ‘Being and Time.’ The utility of Gadamer’s metaphor goes beyond textual analysis and has application in multiple broad fields. Beyond a criticism of the possibility of applying the same vulgarized scientific method used in the physical sciences to the social sciences and humanities, these criticisms indeed may apply to the physical sciences themselves, which then asks us to make inquiries towards the viability of a revised epistemology. Marxist and later syncretic systems are also raised in relation to how the above is problematized. This allows us to see through a dialectical materialist lens how the ideological abuse of science in the contemporary Occident has not only an economic but also a geostrategic function   – J. Flores

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n his 1960 magnum opus “Truth and Method” (“Wahrheit und Methode”), Hans-Georg Gadamer attempts to develop a theory of how we might be able to rescue overarching norms from the flux of history. To this end, Gadamer employs his famous “horizon”-metaphor. Gadamer’s idea is that one starts from a certain time and place inside history, and that as one learns and experiences more and more, the individual continuously approaches the horizon (the borders of ones worldview, the delimitations of ones culturally set-up version of reality, etc).

But as one continuously approaches the horizon, something strange becomes noticed – the horizon itself keeps moving farther away.

No matter how much one learns, history is never transcended. A terminus called “objectivity” is never reached. One remains forever embedded in “the history of effect” (“Wirkungsgeschichte”). Gadamer remains one of the twentieth century’s foremost exponents of German historicism.

Gadamer’s horizon-metaphor is applicable, not only to the discourse of history-culture-ethics-politics, but also to the natural sciences.

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By: Jafe Arnold

Italian anti-globalization activists from  La Terra dei Padri bring together Nuova Resistenza – Italia and their own cadre for a presentation from CSS Director J. Flores

n May 6^th, 2017 at la Terra dei Padri in Modena, Italy, Joaquin Flores gave a presentation on one of the most discussed – yet least understood – topics in contemporary politics, one that in so many reveals the importance of the nexus between the People and the geopolitical space in which the People dwells – Populism. The presentation focused on the differences between the varying types of populist ideologies and movements in East and West, grounding the discussion in a series of relevant examples of respective practical, contemporary manifestations. 

Although, etymologically speaking, the term “Populism” dates back to Roman times, the subjects of the presentation were the modern and contemporary movements emanating from the popular uprisings that stemmed from 1848.

The idea, broken down to its bare essentials, is that – in spite of sharing the same, politically loaded term – Liberal and Communitarian Populism occupy opposite ends of the economic, cultural, and political arena. Continue reading →

   By: Andrew Korybko

he Center for Syncretic Studies is pleased to present another original academic piece, in full, from our Russian collaborator, Mr. Andrew Korybko. This analytic monograph was a previously in-house submission to the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.  The subject of Russian-Polish bilateral relations is a significant one, and has been one of the focuses of the work of CSS. Mr. Korybko’s original dedication read as follows:

“This report is dedicated to all Poles and Russians in the hopes that they and their governments may one day have the brotherly and fraternal relations that both sides deserve.”

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“The thesis holds that Poland is developing and exploiting these two concepts within the institutions of the EU and NATO in order to advance its policies in the region at Russia’s expense. Poland is using Russian Guilt to normatively justify Polish Exceptionalism in the court of international opinion, thereby also damaging Russia’s soft power potential. It will be seen that an objective investigation into the topic will reveal that the moral bases of Russian Guilt and Polish Exceptionalism are extremely subjective and manipulated for self-serving interests. In all actuality, the aforementioned concepts will be exposed as being mental and emotional constructs that, although being expected to serve as highly effective ideological weapons in advancing certain foreign policy priorities, have little relevance to historical facts. Perceiving the Polish-Russian experience through a neutral perspective will undercut the moral foundation of the theories to the targeted audiences and present vulnerabilities that could be harnessed to defend the Russian Federation from this new form of intangible aggression.”

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