PHIL 465: European Social Theory

Fall 2012
Location: Kresge 2-345
Time: Tuesdays 1pm-3:50pm
Instructor: Mark Alznauer
Office: 3-167
Office Hours: Wednesdays 11-1pm

CLASS DESCRIPTION: In The German Ideology, Marx and Engels argue that morality,
religion, and other ideological phenomena, are not independent causal factors in history
but follow in some sense from the development of material production and intercourse.
The foundations of modern sociological theory were developed in dialogue with a certain
reading of Marxs historical materialism and involved an attempt to challenge his account
of the role of political and ideological factors in the maintenance of social structures and
in the explanation of historical change. In this course, we will examine the philosophic
issues raised by these theories of history. We will start by examining G.A. Cohens
masterful reconstruction of Marxs theory of historical materialism and the marxological
and philosophical controversies it gave rise to. We will then turn to several classic texts
by Durkheim and Weber in order to assess both why they rejected historical materialism
and what they intended to put in its place. We will spend particular attention to their
alternative accounts of the role of moral and religious values in the transition to
modernity.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: To understand the philosophic implications of classic
sociological approaches to the role of values in history and society.

TEACHING METHOD: Seminar

EVALUATION METHOD:

1. Weekly submission to the discussion board (see blackboard site): These short
comments will be due by 6am on Tuesday of each week, and must deal with the
readings for that days class. They must be between 300 and 600 words. These
comments will not be graded, but you must make the required submissions in
order to pass the course. These comments will likely be used also in the course.
Ideally, you would use this opportunity to analyze an argument, pose a challenge
to one of the readings, point out some feature of the text we might not notice
otherwise, etc. You are welcome to respond to each other as well. Keep in mind
that if you do so, you should be extraordinarily charitable to your classmates as
this is a private forum.
2. Seminar paper: About 4500 words, and absolutely no longer than 5500. Students
taking the class P/N are exempt from this requirement.





READING LIST:

Karl Marxs Theory of History: A Defense (Expanded Edition)
G. A. COHEN
Princeton University Press, 2000 (0-691-07068-7)

The Rules of Sociological Method
EMILE DURKHEIM
Ed. Steven Lukes
Trans. W. D. Halls
Free Press, 1982

Sociology and Philosophy
EMILE DURKHEIM
Trans. D. F. Pocock
Routledge, 2010

From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology
MAX WEBER
Ed. H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills
Routledge, 2007 (978-0415436663)
(Note: The older, Oxford edition (1946) is perfectly fine though out of print.)


Week 1: The Debate over Justice in Marxism

Required:
1. Allen Wood, The Marxian Critique of Justice (JSTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2265053)
2, Ziyad I. Husami, Marx on Distributive Justice (JSTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2264878)
3. Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program (blackboard)
Recommended:
1. Allen Wood, Marx on Right and Justice: A Reply to Husami (JSTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2265036)
Additional:
1. G.A. Cohen, Review of Karl Marx by A.W. Wood, Mind 92, (July 1983)
2. N. Geras, The Controversy About Marx and Justice,
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/geras.htm
3. Charles W. Mills, Marxism, Ideology, and Moral Objectivism in From
Class to Race, pp. 59-88.
4. Stephen Lukes, Marxism and Morality, esp. pp. 48-59.
5. James Bohman, Making Marx an Empiricist,
http://anselmocarranco.tripod.com/id13.html

Week 2: The Idea of Analytical Marxism

Required:
1. G.A. Cohen, KMTH, Introduction, Ch. II, III, & IV
2. Charles W. Mills, Is it immaterial that theres a material in historical
materialism? in From Class to Race, pp. 37-57 (blackboard
Recommended:
1. Sean Sayers, Marxism and the Dialectical Method in Radical Philosophy
(36):4-13 (1984): http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/philosophy/articles/sayers/cohen.pdf
Additional:
1. E. Balibar, Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism

Week 3: The Debate over the Primacy Thesis

Required:
1. G.A. Cohen, KMTH, Ch. VI
2. Joshua Cohen, Review of KMTH (JSTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2026062?seq=1)
3. G.A. Cohen and Will Kymlicka, Human Nature and Social Change in the
Marxist Conception of History in History, Labor, and Freedom (blackboard)
Recommended:
1. G.A. Cohen, KMTH, Ch. VII
Additional:
1. Allen E. Buchanan, Marx, Morality, and History: An assessment of recent
analytical work on Marx, in Ethics 98 (October 1987) pp. 104-136:
http://www.angelfire.com/psy/freekdehaan/0-150-2.pdf.

Week 4: The Debate over Functional Explanations

Required:
1. G.A. Cohen, KMTH, Ch. IX.
2. Jon Elster, "Marxism, Functionalism, and Game Theory," in Debates in
Contemporary Political Philosophy, pp. 23-40 (blackboard)
3. G.A. Cohen, "Reply to Elster on "Marxism, Functionalism, and Game Theory"
http://www.jstor.org/stable/657102.
Recommended:
1. 1. G.A. Cohen, KMTH, Ch. X, esp. 285-93.
2. Erik Olin Wright, Andrew Levine, and Elliot Sober, Marxism and
Methodological Individualism in Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy,
pp. 54-66 (blackboard)
Additional:
1. G.A. Cohen, Functional Explanations, Consequence explanations, and
Marxism in Inquiry XXV (1982)
2. Jon Elster, Further Thoughts on Marxism, Functionalism and Game Theory
in Analytical Marxism, pp. 202-220.
3. R. K. Merton, Manifest and Latent Functions in Social Theory and Social
Structure.




Week 5: The Methodology of Bourgeois Sociology

Required:
1. Durkheim, On Social Facts in The Rules of Sociological Method (blackboard)
2. Durkheim, Preface to the Second Edition in The Rules (blackboard)
3. Durkheim, The Materialist Conception of History in The Rules (blackboard)
4. Weber, The Nature of Social Action in Weber: Selections (blackboard)
5. Weber, Socialism in Max Weber: Selections (blackboard)
Recommended:
1. J. N. Watkins, "Ideal Types and Historical Explanation" (JSTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/685472)
Additonal:
1. Jon Elster, Rationality, economy, and society pp. 21-41 in The Cambridge
Companion to Weber.
2. R. Bendix, Two Sociological Traditions in Scholarship and Partisanship:
Essays on Max Weber, pp. 282-298.
3. Alfred Schutz, The Statement of Our Problem: Max Webers Basic
Methodological Concepts in The Phenomenology of the Social World
4. Wolfgang J. Mommsen, Capitalism and Socialism: Webers Dialogue with
Marx, in The Political and Social Theory of Max Weber.

Week 6: Durkheims Functionalism and Holism

Required:
1. Durkheim, Division of Labor in Society: Conclusion in On Morality and
Society, pp. 134-46.
2. Durkheim, Suicide, Book 3, chapter 1 (handout)
3. Durkheim, The Explanation of Social Facts from Rules (handout)
Recommended:
1. Philip Pettit, "Functional Explanation and Virtual Selection" (JSTOR:)
Additional:
1. Merton, Manifest and Latent Functions in
2. Alasdair MacIntyre, "Positivism, Sociology and Practical Reasoning: Notes on
Durkheims Suicide", in Alan Donagan, Anthony N. Perovich Jr. & Michael V.
Wedin eds., Human Nature and Natural Knowledge: Essays Presented to
Marjorie Grene on the Occasion of her Seventy-Fifth Birthday, Kluwer, 1986.

Week 7: Durkheim and Morality

Required:
1. Durkhiem, The Determination of Moral Facts from Sociology and
Philosophy (blackboard)
2. Durkheim, Value Judgments and Judgments of Reality from Sociology and
Philosophy (blackboard)
Recommended:
1. Durkheim, Dualism of Human Nature in On Morality and Society esp. pp.
157-63.
Additional:
1. Ernest Wallwork, Durkheim
2. Raymond Aron, Durkheim and Morality in Main Currents of Sociological
Thought
3. Robert Bellah, Introduction, Emile Durkheim on Morality and Society
4. J. Habermas, The Paradigm Shift in Mead and Durkheim, in The Theory of
Communicative Action, Vol. 2.
5. Hans Joas, The Problem of the Emergence of a New Morality as the
Underlying Theme in Durkheims Work in The Creativity of Action

Week 8: Weber on Value-Neutrality

Required:
1. Weber, The objectivity of knowledge in social science and social policy
(blackboard)
2. Weber, Science as a Vocation in FMW, pp. 129-156.
Recommended:
1. Weber, The meaning of value freedom in the sociological and economic
sciences (blackboard)
Additional:
1. Leo Strauss, Natural Right and the Distinction between Facts and Values, in
Natural Right and History, pp. 35-80.
2. Wolfgang Schluchter, Value Neutrality and the Ethics of Responsibility in
Max Webers Vision of History
3. Hans Henrik Bruun, Science, Values, and Politics in Max Webers
Methodology, esp. Ch. 1.

Week 9: Webers Theory of Rationalization

Required:
1. Weber, The Social Psychologies of the World Religions, FMW, pp. 267-301.
2. Weber, Religious Rejections of the World, FMW, pp. 323-59
3. Wolfgang Schluchter, The Paradox of Rationalization: On the Relation of
Ethics and World in Max Webers Vision of History, pp. 11-64 (blackboard)
Additional:
1 Wolfgang Schluchter, The Rise of Western Rationalism: Max Webers
Developmental History
2. Alan Sica, Rationalization and Culture in The Cambridge Companion to
Weber, pp. 42-58
3. J. Habermas, Max Webers Theory of Rationalization in The Theory of
Communicative Action, Vol. 1.
4. Guenther Roth, Rationalization in Max Webers Developmental History in
Max Weber, Rationality and Modernity, ed. Sam Whimster and Scott Lash.

Week 10: Webers Ethic of Responsibility

Required:
1. Weber, Politics as a Vocation, in FMW, pp. 77-128.
Recommended:
1. W. Hennis, Voluntarism and Judgment: Max Webers Political Views in the
Context of his Work in Max Weber: Essays in Reconstruction (blackboard)
2. Hans Henrik Bruun, Science, Values, and Politics in Max Webers
Methodology, Ch. 5 (blackboard)
Additional:
1. Peter Lassman, The rule of man over man, in The Cambridge Companion to
Weber, pp. 83-98.
2. Wolfgang Mommsen, Personal Conduct and Societal Change, in Max Weber,
Rationality and Modernity, ed. Sam Whimster and Scott Lash.