Course syllabus

Marcuse and DavisThis course provides an examination of some attempts to support political struggles for freedom, justice and recognition through the philosophical critique of modern society. More specifically, the course examines three generations of theorists associated with the "Frankfurt School" of Critical Theory in Germany.

First Generation: Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse

Second Generation: Jürgen Habermas, Nancy Fraser, Iris Marion Young

Third Generation: Axel Honneth, Amy Allen, Rainer Forst

Topics to be discussed include science and technology, rationality, bureaucratisation, alienation, mass communication, the commodification of culture and the idea of critique.

Quick linksAdorno Horkheimer Habermas by Jeremy Shapiro2.png

 Syllabus overview 

Introduction
Week 1: 
The Frankfurt School
Jürgen Habermas
Week 2: 
The Public Sphere 
Week 3: 
The Unfinished Project of Modernity
Week 4: 
The Theory of Communicative Action
Week 5: 
Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy
Feminist Responses
Week 6: 
Habermas and Gender
Week 7:  
Inclusion and Democracy
Week 8: 
Reason and Power
Recognition Theory
Week 9:
The Struggle for Recognition
Week 10: 
Redistribution or Recognition?
Week 11:
Recognition and Power

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due