Toward a Good Society: From Domination to Freedom

• In Event: Theory Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3

Abstract

Social theory, long the domain of philosophy, imagined and debated critiques of society, often tied to visions of the desirable. For Plato in the Republic, he feared that democracy might enable politicians with powerful oratory might sway less educated less critical masses-think Trump. Aristotle similarly criticized Athenian democracy. Much of philosophy St. Aquinas and St. Thomas, resting upon these traditions envisioned the ideal “city of God. ” Trade with the Levant provided the rising bourgeoisie with the legacies of ancient Greece. There followed Mirandola who saw agency and freedom as a gift from God to enable human dignity while at the same time More envisioned Utopia, anticipating Marx. With Enlightenment, many philosophers Rousseau, Diderot, and eventually Kant and Hegel envisioned a good society based on reason, equality and dignity that would enable freedom. These traditions informed sociological theory especially Durkheim and Tonnies who emphasized the erosion of social solidarity in modern, Gesellschaft society. Much of our sociological tradition has been more affirmative than critical E. G. The legacy of Parsons, Merton etc. This tradition ignored the larger the context, industrial capitalism. At that time, even sociologists critical of Parsons, like C Wright Mills or Alvin Goldner, critical of society, and even its elite, dared not move to a Marxist position. Today, however, the crises of capitalism and its culture/character have become more evident, fascism requires a larger perspective, namely the Frankfurt School . Thus, this tradition offers a comprehensive theory of modern capitalism, informed by Weber’s account of rationality, Simmel’s discussions of money and the city, as well as incorporating a Freudian theory. The work of Erich Fromm, Theodor Adorno, and Max Horkhiemer enables us to better understand the nature of contemporary capitalism as well as its culture, and its social character that reproduce a pathology of normalcy.

Author

• Lauren Langman