The writings of the Frankfurt school, in particular of Horkheimer,
Adorno, Marcuse, and Jurgen Habermas, caught the imagination of the
radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s and became a key element
in the Marxism of the New Left.
Partly due to their rise to prominence during the political
turmoil of the 1960s, the work of these critical theorists has been
the subject of continuing controversy in both political and
academic circles. However, their ideas are frequently
misunderstood.
In this major work, now available from Polity Press, David Held
presents a much-needed introduction to, and evaluation of, critical
theory. Some of the major themes he considers are critical theory’s
relation to Marx’s critique of political economy, Freudian
psychoanalysis, aesthetics and the philosophy of history. There is
also an extended discussion of critical theory’s substantive
contribution to the analysis of capitalism, culture, the family,
the individual, as well as its contribution to epistemology and
methodology.
Table of Content
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
Part I: Critical Theory: The Frankfurt School:.
1. The formation of the Institute of Social Research.
2. Class, Class Conflict and the Development of Capitalism:.
Critical theory and political economy.
3. The Culture Industry:.
Critical theory and aesthetics.
4. The Changing Structure of the Family and the Individual:.
Critical theory and psychoanalysis.
5. The Critique of Instrumental Reason:.
Critical theory and philosophy of history.
6. Horkheimer’s Formulation of Critical Theory:.
Epistemology and method 1.
7. Adorno’s Conception of Negative Dialectics:.
Epistemology and method 2.
8. Marcuse’s Notions of Theory and Practice:.
Epistemology and method 3.
Part II: Critical Theory: Habermas:.
9. Introduction to Habermas.
10. Discourse, Science and Society.
11. Interests, Knowledge and Action.
12. The Reformulation of the Foundations of Critical Theory.
Part III: The Importance and Limitations of Critical
Theory:.
13. An Assessment of the Frankfurt School and Habermas.
14. The concept of critical theory.
About the author
David Held is Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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