Course Proposal: Description
& Basic Outline
Theories
of Social Change: the Hermeneutics of Emancipation
This
course will examine various theories of social change and implications for
their implementation in practice. The central philosophical perspectives will
be that of Philosophical Hermeneutics which emphasizes the inquiry into the
nature of human existence. It views human nature not as fixed, but rather as
changing. It promotes emancipation through democratic dialogue, as a means of
achieving freedom and equal opportunities for self-fulfillment and meaningful
relationships with the world and with other people. The course will be
non-disciplinary, or if you prefer, cross disciplinary, or interdisciplinary.
The study of any subject immediately immerses one in physics, cosmology,
anthropology, mass communications, religion, psychology, economics, political
science, well you get the idea. The course is designed therefore to recruit
students from all disciplines so they can contribute their expertise to the
discussion. The materials for the course will include a variety of scholarly
articles. Also film, fiction, art, music, architecture;
newspapers and other cultural artifacts. The course will be designed for
graduate students, but may be open to motivated undergraduate students. Other
faculty will be invited to participate as well. The course is predicated on the
idea that everyday existence, from the most personal to the
broadest politically, involve deep philosophical commitments and
viewpoints; theory and praxis are united.
1. Definitions
a. Cosmology
b. Ontology
2. Change vs. Permanence—
Cosmological/Ontological views
a. Heraclitus of Ephesus
b. Parmenides of Elea
3. Observable Reality; Hidden
Reality: the Sophists
a. Antiphon the Sophist:
b. Gorgias of Leontini
4. Social Theory and the
Relativity of Truth
a. Protagoras of Abdera
b. Anonymous author (probably
student of Protagoras) of Dissoi Logoi
c. Antiphon the Sophist
1. Defining Hermeneutics
a. As interpretation
b. Hermes
c. Various meanings
d. Typology (Crusius)
2. Religious Hermeneutics
a. Torah Exegesis
b. Aristotle
c. Reformation
3. Other Renaissance
Developments
a. Philology
b. Jurisprudence
c. Philosophy
4. Philosophical Hermeneutics—the
primacy of Being,
a. Basic Features
i. Dissolution of rational logocentrism
ii. Stress on dialogue rather
than system
b. Sources of alienation and
domination
i. The subject-object dichotomy
ii. Trends transcending the
split: feminist theory and quantum consciousness
iii. Alienation as caused by the
split
iv. Western logocentrisma
and idealisma lead to domination
c. Gradual Change:
Philosophical Hermeneutics as Conservative
i. Need to understand;
emancipatory tendencies.
ii. Need to rethink how we
relate to ourselves and the world.
5. Philosophy of Science—Statements
about observable events in nature.
a. Observed with unaided
sensory abilities or with the use of instruments.
b. Science generalizes these
observations
c. Science tries to find
functional relationships between these variables.
d. Most statements in science
are probabilistic; other constraints on establishing absolute truth
e. Operationism and logical positivism limit
that which can be stated securely to those laws yielded by a-d.
f. Theoretical statements may
try to elaborate those functional relationships.
g. Theories are more convincing
when they are found to apply to a larger class of events than that from which
they were derived (prediction).
h. Constraints posed by the
difficulty of stating propositions in a falsifiable manner due to their
complexity.
i. Charges of the critics of operationism are mostly wrong.
j. Science should strive to
promote of human rights. No science is conducted without an interaction with
cultural values and practices.
1. Critical Theory (The
Frankfort School)
a. Horkheimer: critique of domination and
project of emancipation. New forms of domination (World War II and post WWII)
i. Bureaucratic socialism of
eastern Europe
ii. Rise of fascism in Central
Europe
iii. Birth of mass culture (the
‘culture industry) in Western Europe and US
b. Additional Setbacks to
Critiquing Society
i. Decolonizaton more difficult to critique
ii. Feminist movement shows
other forms of domination deeply imbedded
iii. Modes of communication have
changed society
c. Despite difficulties,
Critical Theory “Goes Against the Grain of a Legitimating Process Endemic to
Power Formations”
2. Post-Structuralism
Poststructuralists want to avoid forms of political oppression that are
legitimized by resorts to reason
a. Definitions
i. ‘Subject: like ‘individual’
except not limited to rational thought
ii. constructivism
b. Lacan
i. Committed to ‘subject’ via
commitment to Hegel and psychoanalysis
ii. His psychoanalysis
reconciles Marxism and existentialism
iii. No separation between self
and society
iv. His language fuses the
theoretical and the poetic to slow the reader down, not to convince, but to
make one think.
v. Fuses phenomenology [free self] and strucuralism [linguistic
determinism]
vi. Anti-biological.
vii.
Interested in mathematical logic and poetry.
viii.
Based on structural anthropology and linguistics
c. Derrida (& Nietzsche
& Hardy)
i. “Language cannot be
transcended to reach the thing signified while disposing of the signifier.” [bh p.
1165]
ii. Langugae is unstable, sous rature highlights the dynamic connection to multiple
meanings
iii. This position elaborated
from dynamics-complexity view by Hardy
iv. Deconstruction
v. Creation creates exclusion
vi. Exclusion can become
repressive
vii.
Also decentered language: Bakhtin,
Wittgenstein, Korzybski.
viii.
There is no certainty, but longing for it spawns oppositions.
ix. Derrida wants to rid the
world of such oppositions = emancipation.
d. Nietzsche
e. Sartre
f. Foucault
3. Post-Analytic Philosophy;
Pragmatic and Neopragmatic Philosophy
a. Rorty
b. Others: Davidson, Putnam, Quine
c. Also: Peirce, James, Dewey,
Mead, Santayana, Sellars, Wright, Hu Shi, Niebuhr,
Hook, Haack, Lewis, Toulmin,
West, Habermas, Margolis, many others.
d. But where does Charles
Taylor fit?
1. Post-Colonialism
a. Description
b. Bhabha—Extended postmodern
concerns to the analysis of neocolonial forms of oppression and exploitation.
c. Identity, Subordination,
Power Structures
d. European Domination of 85% of
globe’ Interaction of Colonial Powers to the Colonized Cultures.
e. Non-independent countries,
minority cultures, neo-colonial forms of subjugation through expanding
capitalism and globalization
f. Contesting colonial
discourses, power structures, and social hierarchies
g. Edward Said (1980)—Western
Attitudes Toward Moslem Cultures Comprised of Crude
Caricatures Such as to make that World Vulnerable to Military Aggression.
2. John Crossan,
The Birth of Christianity
3. Liberation Theology and
Liberation Education
a. Jesus
b. Malcolm X
c. Jeremiah Wright
d. Gutiérrez—Stamp out Poverty
and Injustice (Plagge)
4. Father Paulo Freire
5. Kurt Lewin
6. Martin- Baró
7. Linda Dennard
8. The Philippine Experience
a. Bankhoff & Weekley
b. Juan
c. Fontejon-Benoir—liberalizing education; via
empowerment of students
d. Hidalgo
e. Silliman Journal, inc Oracion
9. Globalization
a. Post-American Power
Distribution
i. Friedman—The World is
Flat
ii. Zakaria—The Post American World
iii. Both realistic picture of
changing world; but promote globalization
iv. Rashid—Militant Islam
v. Mortenson—Three Cups of Tea—personal
view of Pakistan (education important)
vi. Deibert: Mass communication as
involved in globalization (see infra).
b. Encirclement—Georgia,
Russia, Ukraine, Poland (missle defense system), oil,
gas, NATO, Obama vs McCain views.
1. Systems Theory &
Complexity
a. Spatio-temporal patterns generated
by interaction of many factors
b. Bifurcations: Sudden
emergence or change in patterns of system behavior
c. Chaos theory: complex
patterns of behavior of systems
d. Self-organization and
emergence
2. Mass Media-The Toronto
School
a. Innes—History is
discontinuous and interactive with media changes
b. MacLuhan—The Global Village
c. Deibert—Parchment, Printing, and
Hypermedi—Media Theory
3. Mode of Communication—Mark
Poster: Language primary for social transformations
4. Social Systems Theory
a. Parsons—System as guiding
conceptual scheme
b. Luhmann-Habermas Debates—Sytstem
theory needed for impartiality vs discourse by humans
c. Relates to
subject-individual distinction
d. Relates to economic
implosion fix by free market vs government control
e. R.H. Abraham: Systems theory
important hermeneutic circle to evolving social systems
5. Gender
a. Scientific (psychology)
revolution
i. Murphy & Abraham
ii. Crawford & Maracek
iii. Sikolohiyang Pilipino
iv. Science, Psychology not
neutral, exists in social context
v. Riger/Gergen
on changes in Methodology via feminist psychology
b. Postmodern
i. Kristeva
ii. Cixous
iii. Hutcheon
iv. Haraway—Wolmark
on Haraway—A Cyborg Manifesto and Cybersexualities
v. Abraham & Abraham
vi. Creativity and Social Change
6. Evolution and Moral
Sensibility (Loye)
a. Darwin—Evolution of ‘highest
part of our nature’, Descent of Man
b. Jefferson—Moral Democratic
Society with separation of church and state
c. Loye—Creativity over Conformity
d. Loye—Darwin on moral development
e. Loye—Importance of changes in
psychology and systems theory for moral development
F. Post Human Conditions—What
Are the Essential Aspects of Being Human, and What are
Their Responsibilities?
1. Legal
a. Legal Rights of
Androids/Chimera
b. Metaphysics of Androids/Chimera
2. Religious
a. Metaphysics
b. Ethics
3. Natural-Secular-NeoPragmatism
a. Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep
b. Making Androids Human-like
c. Change Requires Instability;
Systems View
d. “What then about intelligent
life that can self-reflect and even transcend our limited consciousness? Humans
have indeed come forth in our manifest cosmos. And humans, as evolving life
forms and cultures, are surely not finished. How might we personally develop;
how might life forms evolve? At this dangerous crossroads for planet Earth and
our own individual futures, how can we better live for ourselves and for all of
creation, while manifesting the underlying beauty of a cosmos that holds the
mysteries of life? Perhaps everyday creativity can help show us the way.” [Ruth Richards, 2007]
Readings
and Exercises
Each
week we will read one article in common, each pick another article of their own
choosing, browse for additional material related to some topic of interest,
both on the internet and a library, and write a brief paper on some aspect of
the week’s topic of interest. There will be one lecture, presentations, and
discussion each week. There may be special exercises as well. Here is the first
one.
Browse
the whole syllabus, and pick a topic or word with which you might not be too
familiar or about which want to know more. As you browse, keep track of the
sequence of your browsing, for the first six steps. Here is an example.
Suppose
we pick the term ‘emancipation’ as something we generally know what it means,
but might want to pin it down a bit more. So we might do the following:
1. Google ‘emancipation’ The
first item googled is at Wikipedia, not a bad place
to start, so you might click the first item or wherever Wikipedia occurs
2. At the Wikipedia article on
emancipation there are many links to related topics, I got curious about the
last one on how the subject was treated in a popular US TV program, so I
clicked Emancipation (House). The medical case deals with an emancipated minor,
and penetrates the problems associated with that status when dealing with the
legal implications of medical treatment for an emancipated minor. I have to
decide whether to pursue what is an emancipated minor, is it a legal position
or a self-imposed psychological position (minors can divorce from their
parents), or return to Wikipedia. There is no link to emancipated minors, so I
try to Google it. The Google list includes a Wikipedia entry, and I don’t have
to click that item as its dexcription already states
it as a legal position. So I look at the first item in wisegook.com for any
other angles. Back to Emancipation at Wikipedia
3. Clicked Self-Determination,
also a Wikipedia article. Deals with it as a national issue, whch relates it to the Post-Colonial topic of this course.
One of the topics deals with the right to succeed, a topic very active on the gobal scene today. There is a section on current movements,
which includes Australia, Israel/Palestine, Kurdistan, Indian Kasmir, Taiwan, Turkish Cypriots, and the USA. They should
have also included the separatist movements in the Philippines, Georgia, and
several other nations as well. Besides the numerous links to other pages ans web sited in the body of the
article, there were additional links. I picked one to chase, clicking on an
external link: The Center for World Indigenous Studies.
4. Their web site had mainly
brief descriptions and links to various media and web efforts. I clicked on a
link titled “World War and the Fourth World”. WWFW
5. The WWFW page gave a
synopsis of their basic program that mentioned several conflicts (Kashmir,
Tibet, Chechnya, Papua, Tamils, Palestinians, and ending with an indictment of
USA for using its war on terrorism to “quell legitimate movements of
self-determination.” Very interesting. Then I returned to the initial article
on Emancipation in Wikipedia, where I then clicked on “Emancipation of Women”
which was a link to the Wikipedia article on Feminism.
6. This article was excellent
coverage of the history of feminism and approached the topic from several
philosophic and cultural perspectives such as Socialist & Marxist Feminism,
Radical Feminism, Liberal Feminism, Black Feminism, Postcolonial feminism and
third world feminism, Multiracial feminism, Libertarian feminism, Post-structural
and postmodern feminism, Ecofeminism, Society, Civil rights, Language,
Heterosexual relationships, Religion, Culture, Women’s writing, Feminist
Science Fiction, Riot grrrl movement, and many more.
This is an excellent article and could be the foundation of a course on
feminism.
The original article on emancipation was not
particularly good, but it still led to a huge expansion to very useful
information. The first assignment for the course is to try a similar exercise with
any relevant topic and to document it similar to what I have done here. At the
end, state what was the most interesting thing you learned on this journey. Try to hold it down to a one page if single spaced;
two pages if double spaced.
http://www.blueberry-brain.org/chaosophy/Cybersexuality/Cybersexuality-creativity-bbi-v6a2.htm
21 January 2009; updated 8 February 2009; 20 July 2010