SOC580 Morality and Public Sphere

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2013
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Dr. Werner Binder (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 18:00–19:30 U35
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Course description

This course offers an introduction into sociological theories of morality and the public sphere. Main interest will be the conjunction of both: public morality. We will read texts that offer insights into the emergence of public opinions on moral topics as well as on the autonomy and rationality of moral discourses. At the end of the course students should be able to analyze public discourses with regard to their moral implications and cultural structure. Furthermore, this year's course will pay special attention to the intersection of economy and public discourse, and more specifically: to the role of morality in the discourses on the Euro crisis. Students are strongly encouraged to write their final paper in this area.
Syllabus
  • Timetable:
  • Seminar 1: Organizational Meeting
  • Seminar 2: Introduction
  • Seminar 3: Habermas: Civil Society and Public Sphere
  • Seminar 4: Alexander: The Civil Sphere
  • Seminar 5: Taylor: The Modern Social Imaginary
  • Seminar 6: Boltanski and Thévenot: Regimes of Justification
  • Seminar 7: Reading Week - No Class
  • Seminar 8: Habermas II: Transformation of the Public Sphere
  • Seminar 9: Moral Codes and Public Sphere
  • Seminar 10: Moral Politics and Public Discourse
  • Seminar 11: Narrative and Public Discourse
  • Seminar 12: Civil Society and Communicative Power
  • Seminar 13: Public Sphere and Performative Power
Literature
    required literature
  • HABERMAS, Jürgen. The structural transformation of the public sphere : an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. Translated by Thomas Burger. 1st ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1991, xix, 300. ISBN 0262581086. info
    not specified
  • TAYLOR, Charles. A secular age. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007, x, 874. ISBN 9780674026766. info
  • ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. The civil sphere. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, xix, 793. ISBN 0195162501. info
  • TAYLOR, Charles. Modern social imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004, 215 s. ISBN 0822332930. info
  • DURKHEIM, Émile. Elementární formy náboženského života :systém totemismu v Austrálii. Vyd. 1. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2002, 491 s. ISBN 80-7298-056-4. info
  • HABERMAS, Jürgen. Between facts and norms : contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998, xliii, 631. ISBN 0-262-08243-8. info
  • NOELLE-NEUMANN, Elisabeth. The spiral of silence : public opinion - our social skin : Schweigespirale : öffentliche Meinung - unsere soziale Haut (Orig.). 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993, xii, 269 s. ISBN 0-226-58936-6. info
  • NOELLE-NEUMANN, Elisabeth. Die Schweigespirale :Öffentliche meinung-unsere soziale Haut. München: Ullstein Sachbuch, 1980, 303 s. ISBN 3-548-34093-8. info
  • DURKHEIM, Émile. The division of labor in society. Glencoe: Free Press, 1947, xxiv, 439. info
Teaching methods
Class discussions, presentations, essays, final paper
Assessment methods (in Czech)
1. Participation in lass - 20%
2. Presentation in class OR essay (6-8 pages) - 15%
3. Outline of the final paper - 15%
4. Final paper - 50%
Regular attendance is required for passing the course!
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
General note: Předmět je určen přednostně pro studenty českých magisterských studijních programů.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2013, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2013/SOC580