World Of Literature

Michel Foucault is one the most influential thinkers of the 20th century who studied extensively the relations of power and knowledge structures. In this episode we will take a look at his classic work Discipline and punish to start our inquiry to postmodernism.

We take a look at Bruno Latour to end our inquiry to modern sociology.   Actor-network theory is best known for its claim that objects should be viewed as having the capacity of being actors. We will dive into this claim and much more. We will take a look at Latours criticism of critical sociology and introduce ourselves to the alternative approach and view of society and social suggested by Latour in this work.

In this episode we will take a look at Viviana Zelizers work regarding the social meaning of money. What kind of differentiations do people make between monies and how do people use money to sustain, form, negotiate and redefine social relations.  Viviana Zelizer has done a extensive career in the field of economical sociology focusing on the connection of markets and morality. In this work she examines the different ways monies are involved in our interpersonal lives and their social and  symbolic attachments beyond the arithmetic.  Support the show

In this episode we will take a look at Castells most influential work: The rise of the network society.   Castells has been very influential in many fields including sociology. In this work he argues that industrial society has changed into a network society changing society in fundamental ways.  Throughout the episode we will examine the characteristics of network society and talk about its consequences.    ''Networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies"Support the show

In the first episode in our inquiry to knowledge, we will take a look at a classic work by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman: The social construction of reality.  This work gave us the concept of social construct which has been one the most influential theoretical approaches ever since. In this episode we will dive into the concept and answer critical questions, such as: what is a social construct and how is it created?

Dan P. McAdams is a psychologist known for his contribution to the field of narrative psychology, a field of psychology which concerns itself with the psychological value of stories in constructing our existence.  In this work, McAdams examines how we construct our identity through a personal story, a narrative, to create a sense of self. We will examine how this story is created and how it might be constructed to close our inquiry to self.

In the second episode to our inquiry to the concept of self, we will be taking a look at Erving Goffmans classic work, The presentation of self in everyday life. We will examine how Goffman saw that people express and manage their presentations of their self in social interactions, which he examined using dramaturgical analysis. By making an analogy between theater and real life, Goffman opens a window to just how much we resemble actors and performers in our daily interactions with each others.

George Herbert Mead was a social psychologists, who's seen as one of the founders of an approach called symbolic interactionism. Mead didn't (unfortunately) publish any books during he's own lifetime. However, he's ideas are represented in Mind, Self & Society, which is constructed through various sources, such as notes taken by his students attending he's  lectures.    Mind, Self & Society has established itself as a essential work of social science. In the work he sketches out his theory of the self, which Mead saw as a product of socialization. Even thought the work has faced its criticism, it is still a great intellectual achievement, which guarantees to wake up some hibernating  braincells.

Émile Durkheim was a french sociologist who's works have left a tremendous mark on how we interpret, approach and analyze society. In this episode, we will take a look at his work, On Suicide, one of the greatest works of sociology.    In this episode we will stumble on concepts such as social facts and anomie as we take a look at how Durkheim approached the issue of suicide. Is suicide a produce of the individual, something to be explained as a consequence of internal forces, or is the individual affected by something outside of him, by something external, that encourages self-destructive behavior? 

Max Weber belongs to the names that create the foundation of sociology. In this classic work, Weber examines the relation between reformation and the creation of the spirit of capitalism. Along the work he sets out a idealistic perspective to examine historical progression of society and broadens the sociological perspective by introducing a way to connect two seemingly distinct societal phenomenons to each other. 

Arthur Schopenhauer belongs to the list of great thinkers that roamed the world in the 19th century.  Schopenhauer can be described as the main figure of philosophical pessimism or at least one of them. Why? Well, existence seems to be a glass half-empty, if the glass ever even had anything.In this work, Arthur Schopenhauer builds on Immanuel Kants transcendental idealism, as he argues that the noumenal world, which by Kant was deemed impossible to know, is reacheable. What Kant described as thing-in-itself, Schopenhauer recognizes as will. Well, what exactly is this will that Schopenhauer talks about and how does it affect us?"At bottom it is one being that perceives itself and is perceived by itself, but whose being-in-itself cannot consist either in perceiving or in being perceived"

C. Wright Mills is one of the best known sociologists of the 20th century. Hes works analyzed power and different structures of society. However, hes idea of sociological imagination has become a core idea of sociology and could be described as sociology 101. In this episode we will examine what sociological imagination as a concept means and how did it differ from other sociological approaches of its time. "‘Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."

Civilization and Its Discontents is one of the best known works of Freuds. Its also one of his most comprehensive works as much of his theories were introduced and created before it. Thus it seems that in this work Freud isnt so much discovering anything new, instead his using his ideas and works to analyze a larger structure. What Freud analyzes in this work is not the mind of an individual but rather the "mind" of the culture. How does it work? How can it exist? Why can we live in such large communities? What is the psychological foundation of society?    "We cannot see the necessity that forces culture along this path and gives rise to its antagonism to sexuality. It must be due to some disturbing influence not yet detected by us."

Rapid development of technology, Russian revolution, World War I, rapid development of psychology and medicine. A lot happened in the early parts of the 20th century, a lot that raised eyebrows towards the future. What does it hold inside for humankind? There were optimistic hope and then there was skepticism. Aldous Huxleys Brave New World probably belongs to the ladder approach.   Brave New World is a dystopian social science fiction novel that has developed to be a must read for everyone. It depicts a futuristic state where people have become voluntary slaves of dopamine and happiness. Life is nothing but comfort. But at what price? The whole structure of values has been turned upside down. Monogamy, god, loyalty, bravery, family, love, nobility, empathy and most importantly meaning seems to have lost their value and vanish. So we ask: what is a life of just happiness and what does it cost?    “But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”

"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." This sentence alone has had a deep influence on feminist theory. Who wrote it? Simone de Beauvoir, a french existentialist, a philosopher, the writer of Second Sex, the classic work of feminism.    In this classic, Beauvoir seeks to find the answer to how did women gain the role of the other, or in different words, why is there inequality between the sexes? Is there psychological, biological, historical explanations for her conditions? Why has these conditions been accepted by women or generations of women? Is it nature or nurture? As we go through this journey we will stumble on the concept of the other, to historical materialism and Freud, to the idea that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,  the first time that the idea of sex-gender distinction was formulated.     “Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth.”

Why do we do what we do? A question asked by many and to which have been responded in different ways. Maybe we are driven by the pleasure principle, by our feelings, by our conscience, or as Skinner suspected, by reinforcements.  B. F. Skinner was an american psychologist, a pioneer of the behaviorist position. His output on the field of psychology is unquestioned. His work is teached, read and listened in every corner of the world and for good reason. Following the footsteps of early behaviorists, such as Pavlov and Watson, Skinner developed the behaviorist position and left a great mark in science and contributed greatly on how we understand and observe behavior. In this episode, we will take a look at the position of radical behaviorism and look at concepts such as operant conditioning, reinforcements, verbal behavior and much more as we sum up Skinners contributions to psychology through his work, About Behaviorism.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a genevan philosopher, was a great influence on the movement known as Enlightenment. Through his political, educational and economic ideas, he gained a lot of admiration, and nowadays hes works are recognized as essential parts of the western history of philosophy.    Before Emile or Social contract, Rousseau wrote his work, Discourse on inequality or as its also commonly known, the Second discourse, as he entered into the competition held by the Academy of Dijon. The question that the participants needed to answer in their essay was the following: What is the origin of inequality among people, and is it authorized by natural law? The essay he wrote for the competition has become a philosophical classic (even though it didnt get the first place in the competition) known as the Discourse on the origin of inequality. Building on his previous ideas, that the human being is benevolent by nature, Rousseau seeks to explain what is it that exactly causes inequality and maltreatment that exist between persons. What is it that makes the person corrupt?         "In fact, the real source of all those differences, is that the savage lives within himself, whereas the citizen, constantly beside himself, knows only how to live in the opinion of others; insomuch that it is, if I may say so, merely from their judgment that he derives the consciousness of his own existence."

Think of psychology and its foundation. What comes to mind? Probably names such as Freud, Jung, Pavlov, Vygotsky, but this list is by no means valid without the name of Jean Piaget. The swiss psychologist, the creator of the theory of cognitive development, object permanence and schemas, is arguably the greatest psychologist of history.  His 1926 work, The Childs Conception Of The World, examines how the child reasons with the world. How does the child actually perceive causality, law and external reality? How does the child distinguish between the self and the external? Is the childs mind similar to adults or does the child perceive the reality and the world much different then the more experienced mind of an adult? 

George Orwell, one the most influential thinkers and writers of the 20th century is best known for his work 1984 along with Animal Farm. 1984 describes the dystopian world of Oceania where people have been deprived from all liberty by Big Brother, the leader of Oceania. There is no such thing as privacy, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of choice or freedom at all. People are watched all the time, their language is restricted, there is no individuality, instead everybody is a product of constant ideological propaganda. Eventually Winston decides to stand up against Big Brother, but is he doomed to fail?   1984 takes us to the world of tyranny and demonstrates the necessity for liberty. As we go through the classic work of Orwell, we take a look at concepts such as newspeak, 2 minutes hate, thought police and see why things like speaking your mind freely is not obvious and why it should be cherished and protected. “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”

Exit West, published in 2017, is the fourth novel of British Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. The critically acclaimed work of Hamid follows two young lovers who escape their home which develops to be a battleground between the rebels and the government. As they migrate throughout the world they face the difficulties of life that come along with the label of refugee. From nationalism to moral dilemmas to existential crises to death, the two have no shortage of problems to face and to solve. But one simply doesn't fall to the flames of hell to rise from those flames as the same person as they were before falling. Difficulties change, mold and often define who we are.  How does these difficulties mold, change and define Nadia and Saeed?      “but that is the way of things, for when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.” 

Immanuel Kant was a prussian philosopher who's regarded as one the central figures of Englightenment. His output on ethics, metaphysics and epistemology have cemented hes place as one of the greats and for many he truly is the greatest to ever live. His magnum opus, Critique of Pure Reason, takes on the difficult task of trying to discover the answer to the mind boggling question: what can we know?   Throughout this journey we will stumble on concepts and ideas such as pure intuitions, a priori, a posteriori, worlds of noumena and phenomena and ding an sich as we build the foundation of transcendental idealism.  "Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind."

On liberty by John Stuart Mill is a classic philosophical work of libertarianism and a demand for freedom of thought, conscience, speech, ideas, tastes and pursuits. On liberty, John Stuart Mill examines and argues why the freedom of the individual is the best recipe for making a functioning and prospering society. He defends the classic harm principle: people should be free to act however they wish unless their actions cause harm to others. He takes a look at what are the proper limitations of liberty and why those limitations are rare and few as the freedom of the individual is not only for the better of all but a necessity.  “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” 

Go ask Alice, the diary of anonymous writer published in 1971, has developed to be a classic in the field of young adult literature. Theres over 5 million copies sold of it worldwide and its anti-drug message and cautionary tale is as relevant as it has ever been. The diary reveals the story of a teenager who gets introduced to the world of drugs while she battles with normal pains of growing up such as search of identity, search of sexuality, search of independence and the search for a place in the high school social structure. Add to those drugs and as a consequence she faces the difficulties of addiction, bad company, and sees what kind of a dark hole lies beneath the glamorous and pretty surface of the world of drugs along with facing the problems she already had. What does the world beneath look like and what does it do to ones character? Most importantly, how do you recover? Can you recover at all?  “I'm afraid to hope but I can't help it, and the idea of hoping in this most hopeless of all places makes me want to cry.”

Thus spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche is a book for all and book for none. Although marketing flop when published in 1883, it has developed to be one of the most essential works of philosophy. Its known for, well, being bit weird but insightful. The book is not only a philosophical work, its also Nietzsches attempt to show what a truly great writer he was. The book is full of allegories, word-plays, metaphors, making the book difficult but also bit ambiguous which might not have been such a great thing given that the nazis hijacked his ideas and justified their ideology through it (Nietzsche wasn't a nazi, nazis just interpreted his works wrong as did Nietszches sister). Nietzsche was a man of controversy or still is. His best know for his idea, God is dead. What does it mean?  Well, during our journey through the world of Thus spoke Zarathustra we will answer this question and take a look at such ideas as master-slave morality, transvaluation of all values, the last man, Übermensch or overman and the will to power.  "But when Zarathustra was alone, he spoke thus to his heart: "Could it be possible! This old saint has not heard in his forest that God is dead!"

Think however you want about Sigmund Freud, theres no denial about the importance of he's input on the field of psychology. The interpretation of dreams was published in 1899 and although it didn't gain much attention at first, it eventually took off and is now probably the best known work of psychology.  Sigmund Freud takes a dive into the world of dreams which he saw as the window to our unconsciousness, a pathway to get to the hiding part of ourselves. Freud seeks to understand how the unconsciousness express itself in dreams, how dreams should be analyzed and interpreted, what they tell to us and why do they need to be analyzed? Why the meaning needs to be hidden?   "The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind."

Today we will be taking a look at one the most controversial piece of works ever produced in the history of literature: Communist manifesto.  Communist manifesto is a work that still divides opinions among people. Others argue it to be the root of all evil, never to be experimented again after what happened in the Soviet Union and China. Others argue that there has never been a communist state in the history of mankind but just tyrannies shrouded as communist. How did the world, society, capitalism, class and history looked through the lenses of Marx and Engels? What kind of answers did they provide for the issues created by industrial revolution? What is it that makes it one of the most controversial, loved and hated pieces of literature ever produced?  “Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win." 

A look back at late Michel Foucalts work History Of Sexuality, 1976.  History Of Sexuality explores and analyzes how sexuality shaped, was studied, was watched, was examined after the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism. Why did the amount sexual discourses explode? What kind of forces and institutions agitated towards those discourses? Why are we obsessed with sexuality to a point, where it holds the same value that the ancient greek philosophers perceived the soul to have? How is sexuality related to our societies structures and related to its well-being? What is biopower, scientia sexualis or biopolitics?    "What is peculiar to modern societies is not that they consigned sex to shadow existence, but that they dedicated themselves to speaking of it ad infinitum, while exploiting it as the secret."