The structure of a personality and the process of civilizing. The note on the historicity of man in Norbert Elias’s deliberations

Abstract

From Elias`s The Civilizing Process. Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigationsthe article extracts ideas on human historicity and shows its significance forthe constitution of historical anthropology which considers the results of interdisciplinaryhumanistic research: philosophy, sociology, psychology. Elias placesthe nonfigurative subject of experience as a conceptual structure in oppositionto the “total man” as a personality which includes not only ratio/ intellect/mindbut also urges, emotions, passions. These are subject to shaping in interpersonalrelations corresponding to historically variable forms of life. Elias`s psycho-sociologicalresearch over human historicity was preceded by Wilhelm Dilthey.Having studied the evolution of civilization consisting in a growing emotion/affect control, Elias fills Dilthey`s conception of historical man with rich contentderived from the history of customs and state forming processes as well as thedevelopment of absolutism. He uses vivid examples of the manners in whichdining etiquette and approach to the opposite sex evolved to show how humanfunctioning urges changes during the process of civilization. Human historicitymeans changing forms of human life and changing the structure of emotionallife along with.