(Module Description (Updated 03 September 2018)
An influential way of criticizing society relies on the idea that society prevents us from being who or what we are. This mode of critique is typically crystallized in the concept of alienation. Critical theory has inherited the concept primarily from the young Marx, and has expanded and contested its content. The module focuses on the concept of alienation, and has three fundamental aims: it provides, through the prism of Critical Theory, a conceptual map of alienation and related notions (such as reification, commodification, objectification, conformity and inauthenticity). It also tracks the historical development of the concept, starting from its historical sources (Rousseau, Marx and Heidegger) and reaching its recent revival in the work of Third Generation Critical Theorist such as Axel Honneth and Rahel Jaeggi. Finally, it aims at tackling some fundamental questions raised by the concept of alienation: does alienation inevitably rely on the essentialist notion of the "true self? Is alienation a normative notion, or does it challenge our assumptions about what moral discourse might be? Does alienation really provide helpful tools for social criticism, or its critical purchase is ultimately too thin to underpin a sustained critique of society?
AIMS
The aim of the module is to:
• introduce students to key Frankfurt School thinkers such as Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Axel Honneth and Rahel Jaeggi;
• introduce students to historical and contemporary debates about the concept of alienation and related notions;
• consider the philosophical problems involved in constructing a critical social theory, and in particular the justification of critical judgements concerning contemporary society;
• assess the extent to which the approaches developed by critical theoristscan deliver convincing diagnoses of contemporary society.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this module students are expected to be able to:
• demonstrate good understanding of the central philosophical problems involved in constructing a critical theory of society;
• explain the distinctive contributions that the Frankfurt school figures make to a critical theory of society;
• reflect upon the role that concept of alienation may have in articulating a critical theory of society ;
• articulate their own position regarding the validity of the theories put forward by the thinkers studied.
An influential way of criticizing society relies on the idea that society prevents us from being who or what we are. This mode of critique is typically crystallized in the concept of alienation. Critical theory has inherited the concept primarily from the young Marx, and has expanded and contested its content. The module focuses on the concept of alienation, and has three fundamental aims: it provides, through the prism of Critical Theory, a conceptual map of alienation and related notions (such as reification, commodification, objectification, conformity and inauthenticity). It also tracks the historical development of the concept, starting from its historical sources (Rousseau, Marx and Heidegger) and reaching its recent revival in the work of Third Generation Critical Theorist such as Axel Honneth and Rahel Jaeggi. Finally, it aims at tackling some fundamental questions raised by the concept of alienation: does alienation inevitably rely on the essentialist notion of the "true self? Is alienation a normative notion, or does it challenge our assumptions about what moral discourse might be? Does alienation really provide helpful tools for social criticism, or its critical purchase is ultimately too thin to underpin a sustained critique of society?
AIMS
The aim of the module is to:
• introduce students to key Frankfurt School thinkers such as Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Axel Honneth and Rahel Jaeggi;
• introduce students to historical and contemporary debates about the concept of alienation and related notions;
• consider the philosophical problems involved in constructing a critical social theory, and in particular the justification of critical judgements concerning contemporary society;
• assess the extent to which the approaches developed by critical theoristscan deliver convincing diagnoses of contemporary society.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this module students are expected to be able to:
• demonstrate good understanding of the central philosophical problems involved in constructing a critical theory of society;
• explain the distinctive contributions that the Frankfurt school figures make to a critical theory of society;
• reflect upon the role that concept of alienation may have in articulating a critical theory of society ;
• articulate their own position regarding the validity of the theories put forward by the thinkers studied.