Discussions of the Canon in Humanities and Social Sciences. A comparative study of cultural, literary and disciplinary canons

In my paper I examine various conceptions of the canon across different fields of culture and intellectual tradition. I emphasize the importance of distinguishing between cultural or literary canons and disciplinary canons. Within the cultural or literary canon, I further differentiate between canons that relate to the general image of European civilization – such as the so‑called Great Books or the canon of great Western literature – and those that pertain to national literary traditions. I contend that much of the criticism that arose during the ‘canon wars’ of 1980s and 90s was directed specifically at the ideological content of the national literary canon and was extended to other forms of canonicity largely by metonymy. In this regard, it is possible to move away from the critiques and focus more on the positive aspects of the canon as applied to various cultural fields and disciplines. I also argue that, in the case of philosophy, the philosophical canon should be primarily considered as a disciplinary canon, though it also shares certain features with the cultural canon.