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CSUDH Habermas UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: June 6, 2001
Latest update: November 17, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org

Social Theory Readings
Week of November 19, 2001: Week 12

• Online Readings:
  • Divided We Fall: America's Two Civil Religions Excellent and relatively brief article by Robert Wuthnow
  • Instructions for Thesis Project
  • jeanne's November Novel This is the novel jeanne has undertaken to write in November to match your writing of your thesis project. I think the experience of doing a thesis project, at least one that you do for yourself, in a specifically limited time frame, is an important learning tool for all graduate students.

• Hardcopy Readings:
  Readings in Social Theory, ed. by James Farganis.
  • Chapter 4. The Protestant Ethic and the Sprit of Capitalism by Max Weber. Pp. 107 - 114.

    Note particularly the section on the "production of private wealth." at p. 109.

    Note also Weber's explanation of the justification of unequal distribution of wealth. at p. 111.

  • Chapter 13: Symbolic Interaction: Herbert Blumer and Erving Goffman, pp. 349-368. I'm behind on this one. Will try to catch up.

• Concepts for Conceptual Linking:

  • "utilitarian worldliness" - p.111
  • "begging and religion" - p. 111
  • "labor as a calling" and "capitalism" - p.112

• Some Suggested Measures of Learning:

  Comment on one of the following topics, or do something of your own choosing.

  1. Prepare the discussion topics on Divided We Fall: America's Two Civil Religions By Robert Wuthnow.

  2. Discuss the relationship between Weber's perceptions of religion in our politics and social organization, and the postmodern approaches.

     Consider that Weber drew the connections between religion and capitalism in the early part of the 20th Century.

  3. Do you think we could add the metaphor of Society as the Intended Vehicle of a Chosen People to Rigney's metaphors of social theory?

     Remember that Rigney describes each or the metaphors he discerns as having creative analogies and dangerous pitfalls of misunderstanding when we fail to consider the underlying and unstated assumptions that go with these metaphors.

     Recall that a chosen people suggests "a God," for what would happen if a different God chose a different people? Also consider the possibility that the commandments say "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." But might it not be that we worship the same God under different names, and different myths? Only our strong certainty that we are "right" can assure us, and that "knowingness" leads to hubris.