The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist critical theory, social research, and philosophy. In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across Max Horkheimer (February 14 1895 &ndash July 7 1973 was a German Philosopher and Sociologist, and a founder and guiding thinker of Critical Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist Jürgen Habermas (ˈjʏʁgən ˈhaːbɐmaːs born June 18, 1929 is a German Philosopher and Sociologist in the tradition of Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area Neo-Marxism is a loose term for various Twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across Social research refers to Research conducted by Social scientists (primarily within Sociology and Social psychology) but also within other disciplines Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The grouping emerged at the Institute for Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung) of the University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany when Max Horkheimer became the Institute's director in 1930. The Institute for Social Research ( German: Institut für Sozialforschung) is a research organization covering topics such as Sociology The Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (also known as Frankfurt University) was founded in 1914 as a Citizens' University which means that while it was Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Max Horkheimer (February 14 1895 &ndash July 7 1973 was a German Philosopher and Sociologist, and a founder and guiding thinker of Critical Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The term "Frankfurt School" is an informal term used to designate the thinkers affiliated with the Institute for Social Research or influenced by them. It is not the title of any institution, and the main thinkers of the Frankfurt School did not use the term to describe themselves.

The Frankfurt School gathered together dissident Marxists, severe critics of capitalism who believed that some of Marx's followers had come to parrot a narrow selection of Marx's ideas, usually in defense of orthodox Communist or Social-Democratic parties. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where A Political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of Communism through a communist form of Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Influenced especially by the failure of working-class revolutions in Western Europe after World War I and by the rise of Nazism in an economically, technologically advanced nation (Germany), they took up the task of choosing what parts of Marx's thought might serve to clarify social conditions which Marx himself had never seen. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German They drew on other schools of thought to fill in Marx's perceived omissions. Max Weber exerted a major influence, as did Sigmund Freud (as in Herbert Marcuse's Freudo-Marxist synthesis in the 1954 work Eros and Civilization). Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (maks 'veːbɐ (21 April 1864 &ndash 14 June 1920 was a German political economist and sociologist who was considered Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Herbert Marcuse ( July 19, 1898 &ndash July 29, 1979) was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a member of Freudo-Marxism is a loose designation of several twentieth-century Critical theory schools of thought that sought to synthesize the Philosophy and Political economy Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Eros and Civilization is one of Herbert Marcuse 's best known works Their emphasis on the "critical" component of theory was derived significantly from their attempt to overcome the limits of positivism, crude materialism, and phenomenology by returning to Kant's critical philosophy and its successors in German idealism, principally Hegel's philosophy, with its emphasis on negation and contradiction as inherent properties of reality. Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Attributed to Immanuel Kant, the critical philosophy movement sees the primary task of Philosophy as Criticism rather than justification of knowledge criticism In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called In Logic and Mathematics, negation or not is an operation on Logical values for example the logical value of a Proposition In Classical logic, a contradiction consists of a logical incompatibility between two or more Propositions It occurs when the propositions taken together yield Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" A key influence also came from the publication in the 1930s of Marx's Economic-Philosophical Manuscripts and The German Ideology, which showed the continuity with Hegelianism that underlay Marx's thought. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (also referred to as The Paris Manuscripts) are a series of notes written between April and August 1844 The German Ideology (1845 was a book written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels around April or early May 1845. Marcuse was one of the first to articulate the theoretical significance of these texts. Erich Fromm, an under-represented member of the school, is credited with bringing it a psychoanalytic focus. Erich Pinchas Fromm ( March 23, 1900 &ndash March 18, 1980) was an internationally renowned social psychologist, psychoanalyst However, members Adorno and Horkheimer attempted to belittle Fromm's contributions, even though a central theme, "The Authoritarian Character," developed directly from Fromm's research on the subject. ^[1]

Contents 1 Critical theory 2 The First Phase 3 The Second Phase 4 The Third Phase 5 Major Frankfurt school thinkers and scholars 6 Critics of the Frankfurt School 7 In Popular Culture 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

Critical theory

Critical theory, in sociology and philosophy, is shorthand for critical theory of Marxism, referring to both his original work and social movements and political parties. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language It is a label used by the Frankfurt School, i. e. , members of the Institute for Social Research of the University of Frankfurt, their intellectual and social network, and those influenced by them intellectually to describe their own work. The Institute for Social Research ( German: Institut für Sozialforschung) is a research organization covering topics such as Sociology The work of the School is oriented toward radical social change, in contradistinction to "traditional theory," i. e. theory in the positivistic, scientistic, or purely observational mode. Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience In literature and literary criticism and cultural studies, by contrast, "critical theory" means something quite different, namely theory used in criticism. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. Cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines Political economy, Communication, Sociology, Social theory, Literary theory In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across

The original critical social theorists were Marxists, and there is some evidence that in their choice of the phrase "critical theory of society" they were in part influenced by its sounding less politically controversial than "Marxism". Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Nevertheless there were other substantive reasons for this choice. First, they were explicitly linking up with the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, where the term critique meant philosophical reflection on the limits of claims made for certain kinds of knowledge and a direct connection between such critique and the emphasis on moral autonomy. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg The term critique derives from the Greek term kritik, meaning "disgusting judgment" usually of the value of something In an intellectual context defined by dogmatic positivism and scientism on the one hand and dogmatic "scientific socialism" on the other, critical theory meant to rehabilitate through its philosophically critical approach an orientation toward revolutionary agency, or at least its possibility, at a time when it seemed in decline. Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek, plural) is the established Belief or Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience The term scientism can be used as a neutral term to describe the view that Natural science has authority over all other interpretations of life such as philosophical

Second, in the context of both Marxist-Leninist and Social-Democratic orthodoxy, which emphasized Marxism as a new kind of positive science, they were linking up with the implicit epistemology of Karl Marx's work, which presented itself as critique, as in Marx's "Capital: A Critique of Political Economy". Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge That is, they emphasized that Marx was attempting to create a new kind of critical analysis oriented toward the unity of theory and revolutionary practice rather than a new kind of positive science. Critique in this Marxian sense meant taking the ideology of a society (e. g. "freedom of the individual" or "equality" under capitalism) and critiquing it by comparing it with the social reality of that very society (e. g. subordination of the individual to the class structure or real social inequality under capitalism). It also, especially in the Frankfurt School version, meant critiquing the existing social reality in terms of the potential for human freedom and happiness that existed within that same reality (e. g. using technologies for the exploitation of nature that could be used for the conservation of nature).

The First Phase

The intellectual influences on and theoretical focus of the first generation of Frankfurt School critical theorists appear in the following diagram:

The Institute made major contributions in two areas relating to the possibility of rational human subjects, i. Not to be confused with the subiectum or Hypokeimenon in Aristotelianism e. individuals who could act rationally to take charge of their own society and their own history. A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology The first consisted of social phenomena previously considered in Marxism as part of the "superstructure" or as ideology: personality, family and authority structures (its first book publication bore the title Studies of Authority and the Family), and the realm of aesthetics and mass culture. A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence In Politics, authority ( Latin Auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to Potestas and Imperium Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Studies saw a common concern here in the ability of capitalism to destroy the preconditions of critical, revolutionary political consciousness. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where The politics of consciousness Consciousness typically refers to the idea of a being who is self-aware This meant arriving at a sophisticated awareness of the depth dimension in which social oppression sustains itself. It also meant the beginning of critical theory's recognition of ideology as part of the foundations of social structure. In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across The Institute and various collaborators had a gigantic effect on (especially American) social science through their work The Authoritarian Personality, which conducted extensive empirical research, using sociological and psychoanalytic categories, in order to characterize the forces that led individuals to affiliate with or support fascist movements or parties. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies Empirical research is any research that bases its findings on direct or indirect Observation as its test of Reality. Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology The study found the assertion of universals, or even truth, to be a hallmark of fascism. In Metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common namely characteristics or qualities The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality The Authoritarian Personality hypothesis which proceeded from this contributed greatly to the emergence of the counterculture. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or

The nature of Marxism itself formed the second focus of the Institute, and in this context the concept of critical theory originated. The term served several purposes - first, it contrasted from traditional notions of theory, which were largely either positivist or scientific. Second, the term allowed them to escape the politically charged label of "Marxism. " Third, it explicitly linked them with the "critical philosophy" of Immanuel Kant, where the term "critique" meant philosophical reflection on the limits of claims made for certain kinds of knowledge and a direct connection between such critique and the emphasis on moral autonomy. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg In an intellectual context defined by dogmatic positivism and scientism on the one hand and dogmatic "scientific socialism" on the other, critical theory meant to rehabilitate through such a philosophically critical approach an orientation toward revolutionary agency, or at least its possibility, at a time when it seemed in decline.

Finally, in the context of both Marxist-Leninist and Social-Democratic orthodoxy, which emphasized Marxism as a new kind of positive science, they were linking up with the implicit epistemology of Karl Marx's work, which presented itself as critique, as in Marx's "Capital: a critique of political economy", wanting to emphasize that Marx was attempting to create a new kind of critical analysis oriented toward the unity of theory and revolutionary practice rather than a new kind of positive science. In the 1960s, Jürgen Habermas raised the epistemological discussion to a new level in his "Knowledge and Human Interests" (1968), by identifying critical knowledge as based on principles that differentiated it either from the natural sciences or the humanities, through its orientation to self-reflection and emancipation. Jürgen Habermas (ˈjʏʁgən ˈhaːbɐmaːs born June 18, 1929 is a German Philosopher and Sociologist in the tradition of

Although Horkheimer's distinction between traditional and critical theory in one sense merely repeated Marx's dictum that philosophers have always interpreted the world and the point is to change it, the Institute, in its critique of ideology, took on such philosophical currents as positivism, phenomenology, existentialism, and pragmatism, with an implied critique of contemporary Marxism, which had turned dialectics into an alternate science or metaphysics. In Logic an interpretation gives meaning to an artificial or Formal language or to a sentence of such a language by assigning a denotation (extension Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence Pragmatism generally considered to have originated in the late nineteenth century with Charles Peirce, who first stated the Pragmatic maxim. The term critique derives from the Greek term kritik, meaning "disgusting judgment" usually of the value of something In classical Philosophy, dialectic (διαλεκτική is controversy the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating Propositions Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science The Institute attempted to reformulate dialectics as a concrete method, continually aware of the specific social roots of thought and of the specific constellation of forces that affected the possibility of liberation. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Accordingly, critical theory rejected the materialist metaphysics of orthodox Marxism. Orthodox Marxism is the term used to describe the version of Marxism which emerged after the death of Karl Marx and acted as the official philosophy of the For Horkheimer and his associates, materialism meant the orientation of theory towards practice and towards the fulfillment of human needs, not a metaphysical statement about the nature of reality.

The Second Phase

The second phase of Frankfurt School critical theory centres principally on two works that rank as classics of twentieth-century thought: Horkheimer's and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944) and Adorno's Minima Moralia (1951). Max Horkheimer (February 14 1895 &ndash July 7 1973 was a German Philosopher and Sociologist, and a founder and guiding thinker of Critical Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist Dialectic of Enlightenment (German Dialektik der Aufklärung) is the core text of Critical Theory explaining the socio-psychological status Minima Moralia Reflexionen aus dem beschädigten Leben (Minima Moralia Reflections From Damaged Life is a seminal text in Critical Theory. The authors wrote both works during the Institute's American exile in the Nazi period. Exile means to be away from one's home (ie city state or country while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return While retaining much of the Marxian analysis, in these works critical theory has shifted its emphasis. The critique of capitalism has turned into a critique of Western civilization as a whole. Indeed, the Dialectic of Enlightenment uses the Odyssey as a paradigm for the analysis of bourgeois consciousness. The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Horkheimer and Adorno already present in these works many themes that have come to dominate the social thought of recent years: the domination of nature appears as central to Western civilization long before ecology had become a catchphrase of the day. Social thought provides general theories to explain actions and behavior of society as a whole encompassing sociological, political, and philosophical Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance

The analysis of reason now goes one stage further. Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking The rationality of Western civilization appears as a fusion of domination and of technological rationality, bringing all of external and internal nature under the power of the human subject. Rationality as a term is related to the idea of Reason, a word which following Webster's may be derived as much from older terms referring to Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt In the process, however, the subject itself gets swallowed up, and no social force analogous to the proletariat can be identified that will enable the subject to emancipate itself. The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian Liberty, the freedom to act or believe without being stopped by unnecessary force Hence the subtitle of Minima Moralia: "Reflections from Damaged Life". In Adorno's words,

"For since the overwhelming objectivity of historical movement in its present phase consists so far only in the dissolution of the subject, without yet giving rise to a new one, individual experience necessarily bases itself on the old subject, now historically condemned, which is still for-itself, but no longer in-itself. Objectivity is both an important and very difficult concept to pin down in philosophy Experience as a general concept comprises Knowledge of or skill in or Observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or The subject still feels sure of its autonomy, but the nullity demonstrated to subjects by the concentration camp is already overtaking the form of subjectivity itself. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial Subjectivity refers to a subject's perspective particularly feelings beliefs and desires "

Consequently, at a time when it appears that reality itself has become ideology, the greatest contribution that critical theory can make is to explore the dialectical contradictions of individual subjective experience on the one hand, and to preserve the truth of theory on the other. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality Even the dialectic can become a means to domination: "Its truth or untruth, therefore, is not inherent in the method itself, but in its intention in the historical process. " And this intention must be toward integral freedom and happiness: "the only philosophy which can be responsibly practised in face of despair is the attempt to contemplate all things as they would present themselves from the standpoint of redemption". Political freedom is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression Happiness is an Emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to Bliss and intense Joy. How far from orthodox Marxism is Adorno's conclusion: "But beside the demand thus placed on thought, the question of the reality or unreality of redemption itself hardly matters. "

Adorno, a trained musician, wrote The Philosophy of Modern Music, in which he, in essence, polemicizes against beauty itself -- because it has become part of the ideology of advanced capitalist society and the false consciousness that contributes to domination by prettifying it. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE-ROMEOS*************** Theory The concept flows from the theory of Commodity fetishism &mdash that people experience social relationships as value relations between things e Avant-garde art and music preserve the truth by capturing the reality of human suffering. Hence:

"What radical music perceives is the untransfigured suffering of man. . . The seismographic registration of traumatic shock becomes, at the same time, the technical structural law of music. It forbids continuity and development. Musical language is polarized according to its extreme; towards gestures of shock resembling bodily convulsions on the one hand, and on the other towards a crystalline standstill of a human being whom anxiety causes to freeze in her tracks. . . Modern music sees absolute oblivion as its goal. It is the surviving message of despair from the shipwrecked. "

This view of modern art as producing truth only through the negation of traditional aesthetic form and traditional norms of beauty because they have become ideological is characteristic of Adorno and of the Frankfurt School generally. It has been criticized by those who do not share its conception of modern society as a false totality that renders obsolete traditional conceptions and images of beauty and harmony.

The Third Phase

From these thoughts only a short step remained to the third phase of the Frankfurt School, which coincided with the postwar period, particularly from the early 1950s to the middle 1960s. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 With the growth of advanced industrial society under Cold War conditions, the critical theorists recognized that the structure of capitalism and history had changed decisively, that the modes of oppression operated differently, and that the industrial working class no longer remained the determinate negation of capitalism. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types This led to the attempt to root the dialectic in an absolute method of negativity, as in Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man and Adorno's Negative Dialectics. One-Dimensional Man is a work by Herbert Marcuse, first published in 1964. Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist During this period the Institute of Social Research re-settled in Frankfurt (although many of its associates remained in the United States), with the task not merely of continuing its research but of becoming a leading force in the sociological education and democratization of West Germany. Democratization ( British English: Democratisation) is the transition to a more democratic Political regime. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( This led to a certain systematization of the Institute's entire accumulation of empirical research and theoretical analysis.

More importantly, however, the Frankfurt School attempted to define the fate of reason in the new historical period. While Marcuse did so through analysis of structural changes in the labor process under capitalism and inherent features of the methodology of science, Horkheimer and Adorno concentrated on a re-examination of the foundation of critical theory. Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods rules and postulates employed by a discipline" Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding This effort appears in systematized form in Adorno's Negative Dialectics, which tries to redefine dialectics for an era in which "philosophy, which once seemed obsolete, lives on because the moment to realize it was missed". Negative dialectics expresses the idea of critical thought so conceived that the apparatus of domination cannot co-opt it. Its central notion, long a focal one for Horkheimer and Adorno, suggests that the original sin of thought lies in its attempt to eliminate all that is other than thought, the attempt by the subject to devour the object, the striving for identity. Original sin is according to a doctrine in Catholic theology, humanity's state of Sin resulting from the Fall of Man. In Philosophy, identity (also called sameness) is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics This reduction makes thought the accomplice of domination. Reduction is the process by which one object property concept theory etc Negative Dialectics rescues the "preponderance of the object", not through a naive epistemological or metaphysical realism but through a thought based on differentiation, paradox, and ruse: a "logic of disintegration". Epistemological realism is a philosophical position a subcategory of objectivism, holding that what you know about an object exists independently of your mind Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in a Reality that is completely Ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes linguistic practices beliefs A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a Contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or inversely Adorno thoroughly criticizes Heidegger's fundamental ontology, which reintroduces idealistic and identity-based concepts under the guise of having overcome the philosophical tradition. Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called

Negative Dialectics comprises a monument to the end of the tradition of the individual subject as the locus of criticism. Without a revolutionary working class, the Frankfurt School had no one to rely on but the individual subject. But, as the liberal capitalist social basis of the autonomous individual receded into the past, the dialectic based on it became more and more abstract. Liberalism is a broad array of related ideas and theories of Government that consider individual Liberty to be the most important political goal This stance helped prepare the way for the fourth, current phase of the Frankfurt School, shaped by the communication theory of Habermas. There is much discussion in the academic world of Communication as to what actually constitutes communication

Habermas's work takes the Frankfurt School's abiding interests in rationality, the human subject, democratic socialism, and the dialectical method and overcomes a set of contradictions that always weakened critical theory: the contradictions between the materialist and transcendental methods, between Marxian social theory and the individualist assumptions of critical rationalism between technical and social rationalization, and between cultural and psychological phenomena on the one hand and the economic structure of society on the other. Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements tendencies and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation In Philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey three different but related primary meanings all of them derived from the word's literal In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The Frankfurt School avoided taking a stand on the precise relationship between the materialist and transcendental methods, which led to ambiguity in their writings and confusion among their readers. Habermas' epistemology synthesizes these two traditions by showing that phenomenological and transcendental analysis can be subsumed under a materialist theory of social evolution, while the materialist theory makes sense only as part of a quasi-transcendental theory of emancipatory knowledge that is the self-reflection of cultural evolution. Social Evolution is the title of an essay by Benjamin Kidd, which became available as a book published by Macmillan and co London in 1894 The simultaneously empirical and transcendental nature of emancipatory knowledge becomes the foundation stone of critical theory.

By locating the conditions of rationality in the social structure of language use, Habermas moves the locus of rationality from the autonomous subject to subjects in interaction. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an Effect upon one another Rationality is a property not of individuals per se, but rather of structures of undistorted communication. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way In this notion Habermas has overcome the ambiguous plight of the subject in critical theory. If capitalistic technological society weakens the autonomy and rationality of the subject, it is not through the domination of the individual by the apparatus but through technological rationality supplanting a describable rationality of communication. And, in his sketch of communicative ethics as the highest stage in the internal logic of the evolution of ethical systems, Habermas hints at the source of a new political practice that incorporates the imperatives of evolutionary rationality. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions

Frankfurt School critical theory has influenced some segments of the Left wing and leftist thought (particularly the New Left). In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across The New Left were the Left-wing movements in different countries in the 1960s and 1970s that unlike the earlier leftist focus on union activism instead adopted a Herbert Marcuse has occasionally been described as the theorist or intellectual progenitor of the New Left. The New Left were the Left-wing movements in different countries in the 1960s and 1970s that unlike the earlier leftist focus on union activism instead adopted a Their critique of technology, totality, teleology and (occasionally) civilization is an influence on anarcho-primitivism. Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of Civilization. Their work also heavily influenced intellectual discourse on popular culture and scholarly popular culture studies. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Popular culture studies is the Academic discipline studying popular culture

Major Frankfurt school thinkers and scholars

• Theodor W. Adorno
• Walter Benjamin
• Erich Fromm
• Jürgen Habermas
• Axel Honneth
• Max Horkheimer
• Siegfried Kracauer
• Otto Kirchheimer
• Leo Löwenthal
• Herbert Marcuse
• Oskar Negt
• Franz L. Neumann
• Franz Oppenheimer
• Friedrich Pollock
• Alfred Schmidt
• Alfred Sohn-Rethel
• Karl A. Wittfogel

Critics of the Frankfurt School

Several camps of criticism of the Frankfurt School have emerged. Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( July 15, 1892 &ndash September 27, 1940) was a German - Jewish Marxist Erich Pinchas Fromm ( March 23, 1900 &ndash March 18, 1980) was an internationally renowned social psychologist, psychoanalyst Jürgen Habermas (ˈjʏʁgən ˈhaːbɐmaːs born June 18, 1929 is a German Philosopher and Sociologist in the tradition of Axel Honneth is a professor of philosophy at the University of Frankfurt Germany and director of the Institut für Sozialforschung ( Institute for Social Research) Max Horkheimer (February 14 1895 &ndash July 7 1973 was a German Philosopher and Sociologist, and a founder and guiding thinker of Critical Siegfried Kracauer ( February 8, 1889, Frankfurt am Main &ndash November 26, 1966, New York) was a German Leo Löwenthal (November 3 1900 &ndash January 21 1993 was a German Sociologist usually associated with the Frankfurt School. Herbert Marcuse ( July 19, 1898 &ndash July 29, 1979) was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a member of Oskar Negt (ˈneːkt born August 1 1934 in Kapkeim, East Prussia) is a Philosopher and Social theorist in the tradition Franz Leopold Neumann ( May 23, 1900 &ndash September 2 1954) was a German left-wing Political activist and labor Franz Oppenheimer (born 30 March 1864 in Berlin; died 30 September 1943 in Los Angeles) was a German Sociologist Friedrich Pollock ( May 22, 1894 &ndash 1970 was a German Social scientist and Philosopher. Alfred Schmidt (born May 19 1931 in Berlin) is a German philosopher and sociologist Alfred Sohn-Rethel ( January 4, 1899 – April 6, 1990) was a Marxist Economist and Philosopher especially interested Karl August Wittfogel ( 6 September 1896 &ndash 25 May 1988) was a German-American Historian and Sinologist Some critics state that the intellectual perspective of the Frankfurt School is a romantic, elitist critique of mass culture with a contrived neo-Marxist guise. Academic elitism is a charge sometimes levied at Academic institutions and academics more broadly use of the term " Ivory tower " often carries with it Neo-Marxism is a loose term for various Twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements Another criticism, originating from the Left, is that critical theory is a form of bourgeois idealism that has no inherent relation to political practice and is totally isolated from any ongoing revolutionary movement.

Both of these criticisms were captured in Georg Lukács's phrase "Grand Hotel Abyss" as a syndrome he imputed to the members of the Frankfurt School. György Lukács (pronounced in IPA dyɶrdyə ˈlukɑtʃ) ( April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Karl Popper believed that the school did not live up Marx's promise of a better future:

"Marx's own condemnation of our society makes sense. Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor For Marx's theory contains the promise of a better future. But the theory becomes vacuous and irresponsible if this promise is withdrawn, as it is by Adorno and Horkheimer. "^[2]

Other notable critics of the Frankfurt School include Henryk Grossman, Umberto Eco and Mike Godwin. Henryk Grossman alternative spelling Henryk Grossmann ( April 14 1881 - November 24 1950) was a Polish-German economist and historian Umberto Eco (born 5 January 1932 is an Italian Medievalist, semiotician, Philosopher, literary critic and Novelist, best Michael Wayne Godwin (born October 26, 1956) is an American attorney and Author.

In Popular Culture

Hardcore band Orchid have several songs featuring references to the ideas of The Frankfurt School, including "Snow Delay at the Frankfurt School" (from the Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! 10") and "Tigers" (from their final Gatefold LP). Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the Screamo sound Orchid combined a Modern aesthetic with Hardcore punk, releasing several now-hard-to-find In "Tigers," the lyrics mention Adorno and Marcuse by name.

See also

• Cultural studies
• Cultural Marxism
• Freudianism
• Marxism
• Neo-Gramscianism
• Praxis school
• Critical social work

Notes

References

• Andrew Arato & Eike Gebhardt (eds. ) "The Essential Frankfurt School Reader" (ISBN 0-8264-0194-5)
• Seyla Benhabib "Critique, Norm, and Utopia: A Study of the Foundations of Critical Theory" (ISBN 0-231-06165-X)
• Tom Bottomore. Seyla Benhabib (born 1950 Istanbul) is a Turkish Jewish professor of Political science and philosophy at Yale and director of the Thomas Burton Bottomore (1920-1992 was a British Marxist Sociologist. "The Frankfurt School and its Critics" (ISBN 0-415-28539-9)
• Stephen Eric Bronner and Douglas MacKay Kellner (eds. ) "Critical Theory and Society: A Reader" (ISBN 0-415-90041-7)
• Richard A. Brosio. "The Frankfurt School: An Analysis of the Contradictictions and Crises of Liberal Capitalist Societies"
• George Friedman. George Friedman is an American Political scientist and author The Political Philosophy of the Frankfurt School, Ithaca & New York, Cornell University Press, 1981 ISBN 0-8014-1279-X.
• David Held. "Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas" (ISBN 0-520-04175-5)
• David Ingram and Julia Simon-Ingram. "Critical Theory: The Essential Readings" (ISBN 1-55778-353-5)
• Martin Jay. Martin Jay (born 1944 is the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History at the University of California Berkeley. The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute for Social Research 1923-1950, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996 ISBN 0-520-20423-9.
• Marxists Internet Archive. The Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxistsorg) is a volunteer based non-profit organization that maintains a multi-lingual Internet Archive The Frankfort School and "Critical Theory." www. marxists. org
• Neil McLaughlin - Origin Myths in the Social Sciences: Fromm, the Frankfurt School and the Emergence of Critical Theory [1]
• Jeremy J. Shapiro. "The Critical Theory of Frankfurt", in: Times Literary Supplement, No. 3, Oct. 4, 1974, 787. (Material from this publication has been used or adapted for the present article with permission).
• Rudolf J. Siebert. "The Critical Theory of Religion: The Frankfurt School" (ISBN 0-8108-4140-1)
• Rolf Wiggershaus. The Frankfurt School: Its History, Theories and Political Significance, Cambridge, Mass. , The MIT Press, 1995 ISBN 0-262-73113-4.

External links

• Critical Theory
• History of the Institute of Social Research
• Illuminations - The Critical Theory Project
• Introduction to the Frankfurt School
• The Frankfurt School (Marxists Internet Archive)
• Excerpts from "Eros and Civilization"
• Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt

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