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A critical theory is any approach to humanities and social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to attempt to reveal, critique, and challenge or dismantle power structures.[1] With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from social structures and cultural assumptions than from individuals.[citation needed] Some hold it to be an ideology,[2] others argue that ideology is the principal obstacle to human liberation.[3] Critical theory finds applications in various fields of study, including psychoanalysis, film theory, literary theory, cultural studies, history, communication theory, philosophy, and feminist theory.[4]
Critical Theory (capitalized) is a school of thought practiced by the Frankfurt School theoreticians Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, and Max Horkheimer. Horkheimer described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".[5] Although a product of modernism, and although many of the progenitors of Critical Theory were skeptical of postmodernism, Critical Theory is one of the major components of both modern and postmodern thought, and is widely applied in the humanities and social sciences today.[6][7][8]
In addition to its roots in the first-generation Frankfurt School, critical theory has also been influenced by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci. Some second-generation Frankfurt School scholars have been influential, notably Jürgen Habermas. In Habermas's work, critical theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism and progressed closer to American pragmatism. Concern for social "base and superstructure" is one of the remaining Marxist philosophical concepts in much contemporary critical theory.[9] The legacy of Critical Theory as a major offshoot of Marxism is controversial. The common thread linking Marxism and Critical theory is an interest in struggles to dismantle structures of oppression, exclusion, and domination.[10] Philosophical approaches within this broader definition include feminism, critical race theory, post-structuralism, queer theory and forms of postcolonialism.[11][12]
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- ^ "Critical theory". Britannica. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ Disco, Cornelis. "Critical theory as ideology of the new class: Rereading Jürgen Habermas." Theory and Society (1979): 159-214.
- ^ Geuss, Raymond (1981). The Idea of a Critical Theory. Cambridge University Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 0521240727.
The very heart of the critical theory of society is its criticism of ideology. Their ideology is what prevents the agents in the society from correctly perceiving their true situation and real interests; if they are to free themselves from social repression, the agents must rid themselves of ideological illusion.
- ^ "The Left Hemisphere". Verso. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ Horkheimer 1982, 244.
- ^ Ritzer, George (2008). "Sociological Theory". From Modern to Postmodern Social Theory (and Beyond). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. pp. 567–568.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Aggerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Critical Theory and Society: A Reader. Routledge. 1990.
- ^ Outhwaite, William (2009) [1988]. Habermas: Key Contemporary Thinkers (2nd ed.). Polity. pp. 5–8. ISBN 978-0745643281.
- ^ Fuchs, Christian (2021). "What is Critical Theory?". Foundations of Critical Theory. Routledge. pp. 17–51. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139196598.007.
- ^ Bohman, James; Flynn, Jeffrey; Celikates, Robin. "Critical Theory". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 ed.).
- ^ "Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 18 May 2023.