ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

Taking the demand for the recognition of differences as imminent challenges with which critical theory is faced, this essay presents ‘understanding the differences’ as a task of critical theory. Based on Wittgenstein’s “Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough”, it seeks a path to intercultural understanding without being stuck between universality and relativity. Wittgenstein’s ‘perspicuous presentation’ is suggested as the comparative method illustrating the differences as well as the commonalities, as a way of dealing with ‘the strangeness.’ ‘Perspicuous presentation’ is an illustrative device different from the socalled empirical accounts discovering new information or developing hypotheses. This is a purposedependent method that highlights the characteristic aspects of some areas or enables a comparison proper to certain purposes rather than being neutral. Fraser’s attempt to hypothesize and explain anything is aptly criticized as insensitive to understanding meanings of other cultures, and the stories of others understood with a rich cultural sensitivity lead us to a kind of critical reflection on our forms of life rather than not being explained. In conclusion, this article joins with the attempts to turn to specific contexts as a place of critique, discussing how critiques can contribute to actors with transformative capabilities, relying on actors’ selftransformative abilities.

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