Traditionstheorie

All cultural achievements develop in or as traditions, may it be simple rituals and customs or complex systems of knowledge such as religion, art, science and philosophy. In his book, Thomas Arne Winter presents a systematic theory of tradition, which analyses the universal structure behind the manifold forms in which traditions appear. A critical discussion of Heidegger and Gadamer develops a new approach, which combines methods of phenomenology, hermeneutics and structural analysis. Precise examinations of the basic concepts of passing on, repetition, pattern, understanding, and sense ( meaning) elaborate an ontology of tradition. It is shown how hermeneutical patterns enable the collective sense-making of human life. Yet theory of tradition is not about defending traditional sense, it is all about uncovering its generative process. This allows, within an anthropological perspective, the universal grammar of human forms of life to be comprehended.