Monday: 1:30-5:30 Instructor: Richard Toews

Email: red_rpt@telus.net

Office Hours: Tuesday 12:30-1:30

The point of theory isn’t to think safe thoughts; rather, the point is to open intellectual horizons, which one is hardly likely to do with much effectiveness unless one hazards dangerous thoughts.

Ronald Beiner Philosophy in a Time of Lost Spirit

Social theory is a basic skill of life. It is about the mundane and the concealed – those hidden aspects of social life we sometimes encounter in the ordinary courses of daily life. We don't always see them, thus we aren't always in a position to speak of them, for at least the following reasons: (1) The powers-that-be want them concealed. (2) Either the empowered or the weak may resist talking about them because they are too threatened. Or (3) people need time and experience to learn how to put into words the reality they live with. Social theories don't just occur to us. Some we never get. Others come in time. Some we have to work to get at. But they are there to be known. Importantly, social theory is the undergirding principle that guides our actions, whether in protest or acquiescence. The purpose of this course is to open up our understanding to the event of philosophy's end – the collapse of all foundational discourses and the advent of new possibilities of alternatives to mediating agency.

With this in mind, we will start with classical theorists such as Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. These will lead us into more contemporary thinkers. It is impossible, in the scope of this course, to cover adequately the vast array of social theory. We will explore modernity and the enlightenment project, feminism, postmodernity, new social movements, and anarchism. The questions addressed in the seminars will reflect the readings with a focus on issues such as questions of social and economic justice, the role of the intellectual, gender relations, sexuality, the modern state, class relationships, community (is there such a thing as Plato's "common good?"), and resistance. The course is designed around an interactive format; active participation is highly encouraged, but each and every student, regardless of his or her verbal contribution, will be assured a place of value.

Prerequisites: SA 102 and 250 (or with permission of Instructor)

Learning Objective and Outcomes:

The whole purpose of theory is to provide a skill by which we can analyze the social environment in which we live. We analyze in order to provide for alternative social practices - never one dominating practice (Marx would refer to this as praxis). The point of alternatives is to provide a means to better understand those people (individuals) and groups of people with whom we share a common world. Our intention must never be to overcome the weaker members of that world, but always to find, create (whatever), ways and means to understand the weak, but also the strong. The purpose of this endeavor is to build conciliatory societies. With this in mind, this course will provide a basis for participants to be able to demonstrate:

• A knowledge of significant social theorists and their theories.
• An application of social theory to social reality.
• An ability to critique (this does not necessarily mean criticize) not only the dominant society but grassroots groups within society as well.
• An ability to critique (exegete) our own social reality.

Required Books:

Assignments:

First essay (3-5 pages) 15%

Mid Term exam 30%

Final Essay (10-12 pages) 40%

Class Participation 15%

Essay of a Selected Topic (30 marks):

*Each student must submit for approval essay proposals to the instructor no later than one week (Nov. 5^th) before the peer review.

• Web Sites:

GRADING:

First essay (3-5 pages) 15%

Mid Term exam 30%

Final Essay (10-12 pages) 40%

Class Participation 15%

WRITEN ASSIGNMENTS:

Short Essay (15%):

Students will focus on any one of the theorists discussed in class (see text) and discuss in a short paper (3-5 pages) their contribution to social theory. Explicate a significant aspect of their theory and its implications (are we better or worse off for them?). First essay is due at the end last class of week 6 (Oct 10^th) [15%]. Papers not handed in at that time will be deemed late.

Mid-Term Exam (30%):

Based on readings in class. Exam will be held end of week 7 (Oct. 17^th).

Students will explore a theoretical problem, treating it as an analytical objective (see attachments). (Why are you interested in your particular choice, why should we be interested in what you have to say and how will your paper add knowledge [goal]). Students will derive a solution to the problem (method) using a theoretical construct discussed in class. As there is no final exam, final essays are due at end of last class (Dec. 3^rd); i.e. 3:50 p.m. sharp. Any essays not in at this time will be considered late and graded accordingly, i.e. late policy will go into effect as of 3:51 p.m.

• Note: Please observe the ASA style for your essay (please see attached guide). Any deviation from these procedures will not be deemed acceptable.

• Plagiarism:

• NOTE:

Presentation:

Each student is responsible to lead a thorough discussion in class one of the articles assigned for reading in class. Use the article review form supplied as a guide for how to write the material up. NOTE: be creative and don't just stick to the form. Creative minds get rewarded. In simple terms, a class discussion will entail a review of an article which is comprised of a very short (and I mean short) summary. After the summery, the article should be dissected in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. How might the author improve on her/his weak points? How do the weaknesses and strengths contribute to further advancing knowledge? Are there related articles that shed light on the subject in question handled in the article? Are there any unfamiliar terms and concepts covered in the article and how do these terms and concepts contribute to advancing knowledge? Finally, the discussion leader must prepare in advance a topic of discussion that arises out of the article. What leading questions might arise from the articles? These discussion questions will be addressed in group, but the presentation will be for the general class. Class discussion groups will be on a lottery basis so each student must be prepared for all discussion groups (Students will be assigned to groups on day of group presentation). Presentation grade will be determined in large part by participation in group discussion.

Grades:

Most, if not all students would love to have nothing but As (or some reasonable facsimile thereof). The sad reality is that most of these students will not realize this dream. The reasons are multiple, but the dominant one being that of the many who wish, few are willing to take the time and energy required to be part of this august group. There are too many attractions that sidetrack the best of intentions. With this reality in place, A’s are absolutely top drawer (papers that fall into this category simply take my breath away. This is not to say that nobody ever gets an A from me); B’s are still pretty good; C’s, where many assignments end up, are average (but that does not mean that C’s are cause for anxiety).

Late policy:

• Due dates and exam dates are firm. Exceptions are made with prior notice and permission of the instructor and with relevant documentation. NOTE technical failures (i. e., computer malfunction) are not deemed worthy of extensions on assignments or exams, so don’t ask.

Papers are due the last day of classes, (Dec. 3^rd) at or before, but not later than 3:50 p.m. Late papers must have a date stamped by Faculty Services. Any paper not handed in at this appointed time will have a late penalty applied. Late penalty will amount to one full letter grade (e.g. A- to B-) and any papers three days late will receive an automatic F.

• Students who may wish to drop or withdraw from the course should keep close track of relevant institutional deadlines. This is a student responsibility. The last day to register for this course as an audit is the last day of class. You must have attended, at the very least, 80% of all classes in order to change your registration to an audit.

• Students should also familiarize themselves with the attached SCMS departmental standards.

The following schedule is used as a guide for a course grade; it may be subject to revisions based on actual test scores.
 

A+: 95-100 A: 90-94 A-: 85-89

B+: 80-84 B: 75-79 B-: 70-74

C+:65-69 C: 60-64 C-: 55-59

P: 50-54 NC: <50

Topics and Discussions

Course Introduction:

Week Two (Sept. 17)

Origins of Sociology:

Introduction: The Prophets of Paris. Read: Saint Simone, Memoir on the Science of Man; Comte, General Considerations on the Nature and Importance of Positive Philosophy (Hand outs).

Week Three (Sept. 24)

Marx: The Scientific Analysis of Capitalism: Sociology in the Underground. Read: Estranged Labour, p. 30; Labour-Power and Capital, p. 61; On Imperialism in India, p. 50; The Values of Commodities, p. 51.

Week Four (Oct. 1)

Nietzsche and Darwin: God is Dead; Übermensch, Evolutionists: "Nietzsche’s Madness," and "Do-Gooders, Evolutionists, and Racists." Read:Thus Spoke Zarathustra (PorNie); Critique of Religion (Wll-to-Pow); Nihilism (NieRea); Reason in Philosophy (TwId) Hand Outs.

Week Five (Oct. 8)

Durkheim: critique of positivism/enlightenment Dreyfus’s Empire. Read: Sociology and Social Facts, p. 71; Primitive Classifications, p. 82; Anomie and the Modern Division of Labour, p. 70; Suicide and Modernity, p. 74.

• Week Six (Oct. 15)

Week Eight (Oct. 29)

Women in early society The Impact of Women… Read: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women and Economics, p. 172; Anna Julia Cooper, The Coloured Woman’s Office, p. 179; Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own, p. 257; Simon de Beauvoir, Woman as Other, p. 337.

Week Nine (Nov. 5)

The social self: Freud, Simmel, Cooley, Mead, Chicago School Sigmund Freud; The Discovery of the Invisible World; The Discovery of the Ordinary World. Read: Freud, The Psychical Apparatus, p. 126; Remembering, Repeating…, p. 138; Civilization and the Individual, p. 145; George Herbert Mead, The Self, the I, and the Me, p. 224.

• Week Ten (Nov. 12)

• Week Eleven (Nov. 19)

Week Twelve (Nov. 26)

Post Modernism: Foucault and Others Contemporary Sociological Theory…Read: Jacques Derrida, The Decentering Event, p. 411; Foucault, Discourse on the West, p. 415; Audre Lorde, The Master’s Tools, p. 446; Foucault, Power as Knowledge, p. 475.

• Week Thirteen (Dec. 3)