The Status of Knowledge and New Directions for the Humanities

A new notion of language can play an important role in developing a new understanding of knowledge and the humanities. I believe that language gives rise to pluralism not only because different verbal languages force us to see the world differently, but also because any object that can be perceived by humans or can be processed digitally is in need of interpretation. Consequently, our notion of knowledge needs to be communal rather than absolutistic, and our response to the contemporary human predicament needs to invoke active rather than passive freedom. These two conditions appear to suggest the possibility of building a bridge between the humanities in the academic world and the humanities in the cultural markets.