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Sports at all levels have been racked by one moral controversy after another. It is almost a truism that socialization into sports nowadays has as much to do with becoming adept at breaking and bending rules, not to mention other forms of cheating and violence, as it does with the furtherance of athletic excellence. Surprisingly, although critical social theorists of sports have had plenty to say about these and other shortcomings of contemporary sports, little of what they say touches on their specifically moral character. Habermas's critical theory of society is a notable exception, claiming, as it does, that if one wants to understand contemporary social practices such as sports, one cannot turn their back on the moral ideals and values that drive them. The author puts Habermas's theory to the test here, examining how successful it is in shedding light on the moral dilemmas that presently plague sports.

1. On Religious Ethics and Social Criticism -- Part I. Humanism, Human Dignity, and Social Criticism -- 2. Which Criticism and Whose Humanism? -- 3. Christian Humanism on the Individual and Human Dignity -- 4. Social Criticism & Islamic Ethics After 9/11: How Muslim Anthropologies Matter -- Part II. Religious Ethics, Practical Ethics, and Social Criticism -- 5. Inhuman Weapons: Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles and the Moral Salience of Culture to Their Use in Central Asia -- 6. Prophetic Social Criticism, Solidarity, and Just War -- 7. Moral Distress and the Intrapsychic Hazards of Medical Practice -- 8. Recognition on Demand: A Study of Religion in Conscience Protection Clauses -- 9. The Grieving Storyteller: Grief Narratives as a Source of Moral Reflection -- Part III. Religious Ethics, Methods, and Social Criticism -- 10. Political Hostility and Respect for Human Dignity -- 11. Normativity and Solidarity.

"A crisis of faith confronted many Canadian Protestants in the late nineteenth century. With their religious beliefs challenged by the new biological sciences and historical criticism of the Bible, they turned from personal salvation to the dire social problems of the industrial age. The Regenerators explores the nature of social criticism in this era and its complex ties to the religious thinking of the day, showing how the path blazed by nineteenth-century religious liberals led not to the Kingdom of God on earth, but, ironically, to the secular city."--

Self-management socialism displayed ambiguities and vagueness in handling social controversy and public life in general, giving rise to numerous peculiarities particular to this social phenomenon in Yugoslavia. While a Leninist interpretation of democracy in socialism constituted the background of Edvard Kardelj's recipe for "socially responsible criticism," Yugoslavia and Slovenia were at the same time under the influence of western liberal concepts. Considering the political and ideological contexts of late socialism, the article discusses the systemic way of dealing with social criticism between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s, while trying to determine the impact of these circumstances on the subsequent evolvement of democratisation. Prior to the major social shifts of the second half of the 1980s, the "pluralism of self-management interests" could be articulated in practice primarily in a way that did not force it into competition with the Party. In those cases when this nevertheless occurred, the leading political establishment preferred to leave it to its "proxies" to deal with the transgressors, while itself taking on arbitrary positions that displayed some of the key features of the late-socialist regime in Slovenia.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, culture was often considered to be nothing but a meaningless 'smattering of Latin and Greek'. In this work, first published in 1869, Matthew Arnold (1822–88) redefines culture as a striving for 'the best that has been thought or said', and as a contrast to 'philistinism' and the over-valuation of the practical. Critical of the uninspiring lifestyles of many of his religious and non-religious contemporaries, he raises the controversial issue of how to lead a good life, aesthetically, intellectually and morally. He introduces a middle road between classical and Judaeo-Christian ideals ('Hellenism' and 'Hebraism') which promotes the state over the individual, a position that has often prompted his critics to consider him an authoritarian thinker. A fascinating piece of social and political criticism, and an adjunct to Arnold's poetry, this work was both controversial when it was first published, and enormously influential thereafter

Draws on previous research on social criticism conducted by Charles Taylor (eg, see IRPS No. 50/89c01206), in which he posits that human beings are self-interpreting animals, & that this self-understanding requires a framework from which all thinking & action proceeds. It is argued that the task of a social philosopher is to study social actions in light of the moral framework on which they are based. As different cultures develop & bring to fruition different human capacities & potentials, it is only by coming to understand the frame of reference within which other cultures operate that social critics can recognize human potentials that have been previously unknown. It is concluded that the strength of the Taylorian system of analysis is its insistence on cultural pluralism without sacrificing a social criticism based on strong evaluation. 73 References. M. Wagner

Feminist philosophers and social theorists have engaged in an extensive critique of the project of modernity during the past three decades. However, many feminists seem to assume that the critique of religion essential to this project remains valid. Radical criticism of religion in the European tradition presupposes a theory of religion that is highly ethnocentric, and Marx's theory of religion serves as a case in point.

The relationship between the postmodern & feminist accounts of philosophy & social criticism is discussed in reference to the potential for a mutually beneficial form of postmodern feminism. Both postmodernists & feminists have attempted to develop new frameworks of social criticism that do not rely on traditional philosophy. Postmodernists have emphasized the philosophy aspect of this goal, while feminists have focused on social criticism. It is argued that both discourses have developed complementary strengths & weaknesses, & cooperation between the disciplines could elucidate & overcome their internal shortcomings: a postmodern critique of feminism could reveal its essentialist tendencies, while a feminist critique of postmodernism could expand its political relevance. Following an examination of these weaknesses utilizing the work of Jean Francois Lyotard & various feminist theorists, the defining characteristics of postmodern feminism are depicted as (1) recognition of the importance of historical narratives & societal macrostructures; (2) historical & cultural sensitivity; & (3) an emphasis on alliances between differences rather than universal homogeneity. 33 References. T. Sevier

The character and style of a text describes and reflects the cultural structure and nature of the author's mind. This work attempts to describe social criticism and the interpretation of Hamka—the eminent Indonesian exegete—in the Al-Azhar (a fairly recent encyclopedic Quran commentary) of the verses which are legitimized as the verses of polygamy. This study finds that Hamka's interpretation of "polygamy verses" is influenced by the social dynamics of his birthplace, Minangkabau. Hamka criticized religious and adat leaders for the polygamy tradition in Minangkabau. Paradigmatically, Hamka contributed a unique tradition in the dynamics of the interpretation of the Quran in Indonesia where interpretation becomes a social critic. This study reaffirmed the statements that the contestation in interpreting texts is a reflection of social and political contestation and not merely theoretical contestation and that each product of text interpretation expresses empirically the socio-political conditions of the interpreters. This work offered the idea that the interpretation of the Quran with a social approach is to voice criticism of the application of the text to be an alternative to continue in contextualizing the Quranic messages.