Models of social criticism: Alienation, Fetishism, Reification, Colonization
| Title | Μοντέλα κοινωνικής κριτικής: Αποξένωση, φετιχισμός, πραγμοποίηση, αποικιοποίηση / Models of social criticism: Alienation, Fetishism, Reification, Colonization |
| Code | ΜΕΦ115 |
| Faculty | Philosophy |
| Cycle / Level | 2nd / Postgraduate |
| Teaching Period | Winter/Spring |
| Coordinator | Konstantinos Kavoulakos |
| Common | No |
| Status | Active |
| Course ID | 600021800 |
Programme of Study: Philosophy: Texts, Interpretations, Practices
Registered students: 3
| Orientation | Attendance Type | Semester | Year | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istoría tīs Filosofías | Elective Courses beloging to the selected specialization | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Politikī, Īthikī, Díkaio | Elective Courses beloging to the selected specialization | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Academic Year | 2022 – 2023 |
| Class Period | Winter |
| Faculty Instructors | |
| Class ID | 600217578
|
Course Type 2021
Specific Foundation
Mode of Delivery
- Face to face
Digital Course Content
- e-Study Guide https://qa.auth.gr/en/class/1/600217578
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
- Greek (Instruction, Examination)
Learning Outcomes
The course aims at familiarizing students with the main models of social criticism in the 19th and 20th Century through the analysis of relevant philosophical texts. Upon completion of the course, students should
• Have acquired a thorough understanding of the problems of the models of social criticism in modernity.
• Be familiarized with the main representatives of social criticism in the social philosophy of the 19th and 20th Century.
• Be in a position to apply the central concepts of social criticism to contemporary discussions on its philosophical fundaments.
• To be able to formulate critical remarks on such approaches from the standpoint of critical theory but also, reversely, to critique the latter on the basis of other theoretical perspectives.
• To have acquired a good understanding of the problem of the relation between values, knowledge, social ontology, and social critique.
General Competences
- Retrieve, analyse and synthesise data and information, with the use of necessary technologies
- Adapt to new situations
- Work autonomously
- Work in teams
- Generate new research ideas
- Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
- Be critical and self-critical
- Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
During the course we will read and discuss fundamental texts of modern social criticism within the wider critical theory tradition. We will refer to the following issues:
1) The materialist critique and the reformulation of Hegelian dialectics of society and history in the work of Marx.
2) Marx’s early model of a critique of alienated labour.
3) Marx’s later model of the critique of commodity fetishism.
4) The transformation of the model of the critique of fetishism into the critique of the phenomenon of reification in the work of Georg Lukács.
5) Reification and the critique of instrumental reason in critical theory’s classical period (M. Horkheimer and Th. Adorno).
6) The transformation of critical theory’s social criticism in the work of J. Habermas: The model of the colonization of the lifeworld.
7) Αppraisal of the critique of the models of social criticism under discussion and the perspectives for a dialectical critical theory today.
Educational Material Types
- Notes
- Slide presentations
- Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
- Use of ICT in Course Teaching
- Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Course Organization
| Activities | Workload | ECTS | Individual | Teamwork | Erasmus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 12 | 0.5 | |||
| Seminars | 27 | 1.1 | |||
| Reading Assigment | 150 | 6 | |||
| Written assigments | 60 | 2.4 | |||
| Exams | 2 | 0.1 | |||
| Total | 251 | 10.0 |
Student Assessment
Description
Oral presentation and discussion in class. Writing a seminar paper. Two-hours written examination, to consist of one question to be answered in essay form. Comprehending and answering the question will require both knowledge and critical thinking
Student Assessment methods
- Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Summative)
- Written Assignment (Summative)
Last Update
07-10-2025
