What kind of system is the National Culture, if it is a system? : Evolutionary perspective on the philosophical foundations of nations and nationalism

Résumé

Although contested, the concept of the nation plays a central role in the multidisciplinary literature on nationalism, while in sociology it appears to have little relevance. However, speeches about "the national" abound. This article offers a reconceptualization of "nations", adopting an evolutionary perspective and a systemic framework within which "nations" are conceived as cultural systems of a special kind. Ultimately, national cultures are closely linked to natural languages, and the acquisition of a national culture occurs, in turn, during the process of natural language acquisition. Thus, the acquisition of a natural language becomes a prerequisite for learning other cultural systems (artificial languages ​​or other cultural languages). National cultures function as metacultures. They are also the reference cultures for modern states. National cultures should be regarded as the most important type of cultural system today.