The Symbol Theory

Abstract

Norbert Elias (1897-1990) Note on the text Introduction Towards a comprehensive understanding of human beings: reconfiguring sociology, evolutionary biology and philosophy Languages as learned sound patterns and symbols as the 'fifth dimension' 'Symbol emancipation' as an evolutionary breakthrough The high survival value of communication by learned sound-symbols To speak, to think, to know: the sociogenesis and psychogenesis of reality-congruent symbols Human society as a level of nature: beyond idealism and materialism From 'truth' to reality congruence: beyond traditional philosophical theories of knowledge Concept-formation in the 'five-dimensional' human world: beyond abstraction explanations The distant past and the long future: reality-congruent knowledge and human survival Appendix: Previously unpublished passages in Elias's Introduction Textual variants Bibliography Index.

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