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Worcamp Liminality, or There and Back Again (and the extraordinary experiences that happen in between)
Sedláčková, Tereza ; Grygar, Jakub (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
Bachelor thesis "Workcamp Liminality, or There and Back Again (and the extraordinary experiences that happen in between)" deals with initiation in contemporary society. It elaborates on initiation of transition between childhood and adulthood, which is made possible through the secular rituals of transition. A research on one workcamp is used to analyse this type of initiation. Three-phase concept rites de passage of Arnold van Gennep, focusing on the middle, liminal, stage and its course as described by Victor Turner is used in the analysis. The aim of this paper is to outline some examples of travelling, which may take the form of rites de passage, and through research on one specific workcamp show that it is possible to encounter the liminal and initiating characteristics of travelling there. According to the theories of Victor Turner emergence of communitas is perhaps the clearest indication of liminal stage (or rite de passage and initiation). Turner's understanding of communitas is very important especially for the empirical part of the text. Methodological work is based on participant observation in the field and semi-structured interviews with workcamp participants conducted during the workcamp. This work shows that under specific circumstances, the workcamp environment can facilitate...
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How to understand society? Hermeneutical perspective on sociology and its knowledge
Horák, Vít ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Ďurďovič, Martin (referee) ; Hroch, Jaroslav (referee)
The thesis strives to introduce and outline a new understanding of sociology based on the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. The aim of the thesis is to differentiate the hermeneutical approach from the scientific and from the interpretative paradigm in particular. Hermeneutics does see sociology neither as a science nor as a science of specific (interpretative, hermeneutical, understanding or critical) type, which must be cleared out in the context of the sociological metatheory. I explain the key differences between scientific and hermeneutic point of view according to the works of Martin Heidegger and H.-G. Gadamer. Heidegger is instructive for me in the way he reveals the metaphysical roots of modern science. He discloses science as a specific and historical dependent understanding of the world and the man within it. Gadamer's hermeneutics then proclaims understanding as a universal and more fundamental aspect of human being-in-the-world and expounds it with the notion of language, dialogue, the hermeneutical circle, the logic of question and answer, tradition or sensus communis. After differentiating hermeneutics from existing sociological streams of thought I try to use Gadamer's concepts to conceive of society and sociology. I propose to understand society as a historical...
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Adorno's critique of mass culture in light of Hegel's aesthetics.
Kvapil, Matouš ; Paulíček, Miroslav (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
Often now talking about the decline or disaffection of arts, which is often associated with negative influences of mass culture. I try to explore these negative influences of mass culture, especially in music. For this purpose I use criticism of mass culture by Theodor W. Adorno, one of the representatives of the Frankfurt School. Music by its criticism loses its original purpose. It gets parasitic and fetish character, disappearing from it all individuality and spirituality and becomes a mere commodity made for consumption only. Through the Aesthetics by G.W.F. Hegel I will shortly introduce the philosophical conception of arts and I'll try to look into the original nature and purpose of arts, as it Hegel describes. Then I valorize the mutual relation of both conceptions and show that the characteristics of mass culture are incompatible with the true nature and purpose of arts. At the end I will try to point out perhaps too skeptical and resolute sight that Adorno in his critique presents. I will try to show that despite all the negative effects of mass culture, there is still room for a serious production and music can still be made true to its original nature and purpose. Keywords music, arts, culture, aesthetics, mass culture, cultural industry, Hegel, Adorno
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Comparartion of L. Feuerbach and D. Durkheim in Relation to Religion
Kašpar, Oldřich ; Šanderová, Jadwiga (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
This dissertation is a comparison of L. Feuerbach and E. Durkheim and their approach to religion. Specifically, it describes their books, "The Essence of Christianity", and "Elementary Forms of Religious Life". My aim is to discover topics across both authors who study religious systems agree in spite of differing theoretical background. Initially, both authors are analyzed separately, and later they are brought together in the converging section. The main issues discussed in the converging part are the approach to the origins of god and faith, the approach to soul, and the approach to the interconnection of religion and society. This comparison shows that through completely different arguments the authors are able to come to an agreement about the influence of religion on an individual or a social group. Furthermore, it discusses the fusing of religious systems and society. Durkheim thinks this interconnectedness is functional and it may lead to cohesion of small social groups. Feuerbach argues that the redirection of faith from man to god can lead to alienation, yet still he agrees with Durkheim that it is an important social phenomenon that bounds together individuals and society. Feuerbach represents philosophical investigation, while Durkheim's approach is more sociological, resembling partly...
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Gender in media practice. Male and Female in advertisements
Říhová, Aneta ; Remr, Jiří (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
Bachelor thesis discusses the issue of men and women portrayal in advertisement; with the main focus set on contemporary television advertisement in Czech Republic. Topic is firstly described from the theoretical point of view, which sets the foundations for the research itself and introduces the reader to the current knowledge in this field. The following study is carried out on two different levels. Content analysis, which is used for breaking down of the essential parts of advertisement, clearly exposes the fact of gender stereotype remnants, even though the shift in certain equalizing aspects is noticeable; analysis is done upon a selected set of advertisements from regular broadcasts during the spring of 2011. Different angle towards the issue is approach using in-depth interviews with selected respondents. This method allows describing the overall understanding of women and men in advertisement by receivers of television advertisements; age of members of the set ranges from 25 to 45 years, women and men with different education were equally represented, providing for absolutely unique views from all individuals. The perception of said matter is strongly influenced by sex and interest in media issues of those respondents.
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The Role of Non-human Actors in the Construction of Scientific Fact in Bruno Latour's Conception
Patáková, Markéta ; Horák, Vít (advisor) ; Hlaváček, Karel (referee)
The main topic of this thesis is the construction of a scientific fact as a special case of construction of reality. Bruno Latour is connected to this in several perspectives through which will this thesis capture his position. It describes his concept of science, originating from his laboratory studies, and its later embedding under the actor-network theory. In both cases, the emphasis lays on withdrawal from explanation through complex invisible forces, used by contemporary sociology. Latour refuses to explain a scientific fact through reference to outside world and society. According to him, attention should shift to the local and empirically approachable level. On this level there are collectives of human and non-human actors, who act together. Latour's conception of the construction of a scientific fact is put to test by the critique from sociology of knowledge. The strong program of sociology of knowledge understands the scientific fact as a joint product of reality and society. Non-humans (principally laboratory technology) play a key role in this dispute. Sociology of knowledge does not include them in their analysis, because they are not taken as social actors. Technology is on the other hand a core element in the construction of scientific fact in Latour's conception. Readers of this thesis will...
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The Development of Orientalism and its Form in the Contemporary World
Přibáňová, Tereza ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
The bachelor thesis deals with problems of orientalism, which is considered primarily in Edward Said's definition as a power discourse in which knowledge about the Orient is created. Even today, Westerners have to rely solely on mediated information about Orient, which can be quite misleading. The thesis first defines different meanings of orientalism and the categories of West and East. The thesis presents development of orientalism in its pre- modern and modern or academic form, including criticism of Said's concept. Critique of orientalism is currently included in postcolonial criticism, therefore there is a chapter on postcolonial criticism as well, which includes part about relationship of sociology to this issue. In conclusion is discussed occidentalism, which is often seen as the opposite of orientalism, but it isn't entirely accurate. Also is analyzed the contemporary form of orientalism, which is associated mainly with attitude of the Western world (mainly U.S.) to the Islamic countries.
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The Case of Memetics
Knedla, Dalibor ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on the controversial topic of memetics. Memetics is rather new science which links sociology, biology and psychology together. The central aim of memetics is to explain the cultural transfer, using the Darwinian concepts of evolution. The thesis is divided into three chapters. Each chapter deals with the different perspective of the memetic theory. The first chapter describes the theory itself and foundations of the theory, the second chapter describes problematic issues within the theory and finally, the third part describes the status of memetics on the scientific field. Keywords Memetics, meme, genetics, gene, Darwin, universal darwinism, Dawkins, culture, evolution
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Purpose and rationality in the theory of action: Max Weber, Talcott Parsons and an outline of an alternative
Horák, Vít ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Urban, Jan (referee)
Submitted thesis examines the role of the notion of end (purpose) in the theory of action and how reaching an end can be considered as rational. Underlying motive is an intuition of the Frankfurt school that identified modern society as irationally rational. By supplementing the notion of end with a dimension of its latitude - the spectrum of possibilities that are open for an action - I try to diferentiate it and enable a multi-dimensional conception of purposeful action in which creative and reactive aspects of an action can be separated. Inside this conception I try to make the abovementioned oxymóron intelligible without relying on moral maxims to which would be the action subordinated. To the this goal I progress from a discussion of the hermeneutical metatheoretical principles through a critical analysis of Weber's and Parsons' theory of action. I go through Weber's concept of understanding (verstehende) sociology, the question of access into the perspective of others, the notion of meaning (purpose), end, and rationality and Parsons' discussion of the possibilitties of analytical theory in sociology and the concept of "unit act".
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Rationality of Human Action and Preferences
Horák, Vít ; Sojka, Milan (advisor) ; Mlčoch, Lubomír (referee)
The thesis criticizes the subjectivist-teleological principals of economics. Economics intended to work with the individual preferences without normative, or any other, bias. The neutrality is, however, distorted by deep assumption of the economic thought - the a priori causality between the preferences and action. The teleological perspective as it was introduced by Karel Engliš was sharply delimitated with respect to causality. Neoclassical and Austrian school, however, do mix causality and finality in their conceptions of action and preferences. My thesis strives to describe this mistake. It is also possible to formulate the theme of the thesis as criticism of the assumption of certain a priori rationality of human action. I try to clear up the notion of rationality, show the possibilities of its meaning and point out at the radicalism of any assumed causality it may encompass. I use the critical conclusions to outline a preference framework that would not repeat the identified mistakes, which would, however, set out from the subjectivist-teleological perspective as well.
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