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Cultural studies aims to understand meanings rather than explain or predict behavior

Properties2
tagsja-picks, define, xref, definitional_content, trade, corroborated, category/definitional-content
aliases@carey_communication_2009, loc. 290

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Cultural studies aims to understand meanings rather than explain or predict behavior

Evidence

Cultural studies also has far more modest objectives than other traditions. It does not seek to explain human behavior in terms of the laws that govern it or to dissolve it into the structures that underlie it; rather, it seeks to understand it. Cultural studies does not attempt to predict human behavior; rather, it attempts to diagnose human meanings. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 290

Categorization

  • DEFINE: Central distinction between explaining and understanding, cause and meaning — a foundational definition of the cultural studies project.
  • XREF: Mirrors Weber’s verstehen vs. erklären and foreshadows the ritual vs. transmission view of communication Carey develops. — connects to: Social science interprets the interpretations that culture makes of life — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250; Cultural science should analyze the ordinary communicative products of contemporary life — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 332; Cultural studies scholarship examines culture and class through theoretical frameworks (+5 more)
  • corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 290

Broader Connections

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