Of critical theory and its theorists

Bibliographic Information

Of critical theory and its theorists

Stephen Eric Bronner

Blackwell Publishers, 1994

  • : hbk
  • : pbk. : alk. paper

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780631187370

Description

Critical theory is the form of social analysis usually identified with the Frankfurt school of critical sociology, which revised and debated the work of Marx and Weber. This volume contributes to the debate surrounding this theory by providing interpretations of its most important representatives - including Adorno, Benjamin, Bloch, Fromm, Horkheimer and Marcuse. Tracing the impact of critical theory upon such diverse fields as cultural analysis, philosophy and politics, Bronner assesses its failings no less than its successes, and asks how it must adapt to meet the challenges of a new era.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A Short History of Critical Theory 2. Korsch 3. Horkheimer 4. Benjamin 5. Adorno 6. Bloch 7. Marcuse 8. Fromm 9. Heidegger 10. Is Critical Theory Postmodern?
Volume

: pbk. : alk. paper ISBN 9780631187387

Description

No project holds a more prominent place in the development of modern European thought than the critical theory. Usually associated with various members of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research of the 1920s and 1930s, critical theory has been enormously influential and quite controversial in its manifold claims. Of Critical Theory and Its Theorists provides unique interpretations of critical theory's most important representatives: Georg Lukacs, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Jurgen Habermas, and others. Inspired by the interdisciplinary character of the original enterprise, Stephen Bronner ranges across many fields, from philosophy and aesthetics to politics and anthropology, reconstructing the radical aims of critical theory, and evaluating its success, its failings and its legacy. Of Critical Theory and its Theorists offers a panoramic view of an exciting tradition, and a bold new perspective, from one of America's most prominent analysts of continental politics and philosophy.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. 2. Karl Korsch: Western Marxism and the Origins of Critical Theory. 3. Philosophical Anticipations: A Commentary on the 'Reification' Essay of Georg Lukacs. 4. Utopian Projections: In Honor of Ernst Bloch. 5. Horkheimer's Road. 6. Ontology and its Discontents: Unorthodox Remarks on the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger. 7. Reclaiming the Fragments: On the Messianic Materialism of Walter Benjamin. 8. Political Aesthetics in Retrospect: Reflections on the Expressionism Debate and its Contemporary Relevance. 9. Dialectics at a Standstill: A Methodological Inquiry into the Philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno. 10. From in America. 11. Remembering Marcuse. 12. The Anthropological Break: Herbert Marcuse and the Radical Imagination. 13. Left Instrumentalism: A Critique of Analytic and Rational Choice Marxism. 14. Jurgen Habermas and the Language of Politics. 15. Points of Departure: Sketches for a Critical Theory with Public Aims. Index.

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