Social Construction and Social Critique

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Dozenten

Beschreibung

What does it mean to say that gender, race, or some other category of human beings is ‘socially constructed’? According to the analytic feminist and anti-racist philosopher Sally Haslanger, those who debate such matters often make a pair of related but equally unwarranted assumptions. On one hand, it is assumed that if such categories are socially constructed, they cannot be real. On the other hand, it is assumed that if they are indeed real, they must be in some sense natural, unchanging, or inevitable.

In her 2012 collection of essays entitled Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique, Haslanger explores the idea that gender and race are both socially constructed and undeniably real, yet not necessarily natural, unchanging, or inevitable. Not only are such categories real, argues Haslanger, but they are often the product of and themselves lend support to unjust social structures and practices. To achieve social justice, then, the realities of gender and race must be resisted. Effective resistance of the kind imagined by Haslanger, in turn, requires a deeper understanding of seminal topics in the philosophical sub-disciplines of ontology, epistemology, and the philosophy of language.

In this seminar, we will read and discuss selected chapters from Haslanger’s book as well as short selections from a few other authors. All students who wish to receive credits will be required to give a presentation and submit short written questions or remarks on the texts several times throughout the semester. Those who need a graded ‘Schein’ (5ECTS) will be additionally required to write a 10-12 page term paper in either German or English. Further details will be discussed in the first session.

Those who would like more information about the topics that will be discussed in the seminar or who would like to get a head start are encouraged to read the introductory chapter of Haslanger's book, which I've uploaded in the Stud.IP folder for the first session. Do not worry if you don't understand everything there - one major point of the seminar is to figure it out together.

Weitere Angaben

Ort: 69/E15: Do. 10:00 - 12:00 (10x), 66/E01: Do. 10:00 - 12:00 (3x)
Zeiten: Do. 10:00 - 12:00 (wöchentlich), Ort: 69/E15, 66/E01
Erster Termin: Donnerstag, 06.04.2017 10:00 - 12:00, Ort: 69/E15
Veranstaltungsart: Seminar (Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen)
ECTS-Punkte: 4/5

Studienbereiche

• Veranstaltungen > Philosophie > Aufbaumodul Theoretische Philosophie
• Veranstaltungen > Philosophie > Aufbaumodul Theoretische Philosophie: „Erkenntnis & Wirklichkeit“
• Veranstaltungen > Philosophie > Lehrangebote für weitere Studiengänge > Kognitionswissenschaft
• Schnupperstudium > Schnupper Uni > Philosophie
• Frühstudium > Philosophie
• Uni für Alle > Philosophie