Critical Theory Today: Revisiting the Classics
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Post-Continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources
Post-continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources NELSON MALDONADO-TORRES It is no accident that the global geographical framework in use today is essentially a cartographic celebration of European power. After centuries of imperialism, the presumptions of a worldview of a once-dominant metropole has become part of the intellectual furniture of the world…. Metageography matters, and the attempt to engage it critically has only begun. Martin W. Lewis and Kären W. Wigen, The Myth of Continents.1 or several decades now the contours of legitimate philosophy have been drawn by advocates of F so-called analytic and continental philosophies. Analytic philosophy is often referred to as a style of thinking centered on the question of whether something is true, rather than, as continental philosophy, on the multiple factors that constitute meaning.2 Analytic philosophy is also said to be closer to the sciences, while continental philosophy has more affinity with the humanities.3 One of the reasons for this lies in that while analytic philosophy tends to dismiss history from its reflections, continental philosophy typically emphasizes the relevance of time, tradition, lived experience, and/or social context. Fortunately, this situation is slowly but gradually changing today. A variety of intellectuals are defying the rigid boundaries of these fields. Some of the most notable are Afro- American, Afro-Caribbean, and Latina/o scholars using the arsenal of these bodies of thought to analyze and interpret problems related to colonialism, racism, and sexism in the contemporary world.4 These challenges demand a critical analysis of the possibilities and limits of change within the main coordinates of these different styles or forms of philosophizing. -
A Critique of the Learning Brain
A CRITIQUE OF THE LEARNING BRAIN JOAKIM OLSSON Department of Philosophy Master Thesis in Theoretical Philosophy (45 ECTS) Autumn 2020 Supervisor: Sharon Rider Examiner: Pauliina Remes Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 A Brief Overview ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Method, Structure and Delimitations ............................................................................... 4 2. BACKGROUND ON THE LEARNING BRAIN ............................................................. 8 2.1 The Learning Brain and Its Philosophical Foundation .................................................... 9 2.2 Cognitivism’s Three Steps: Mentalism, Mind-Brain Identity and Computer Analogy . 14 3. A CRITIQUE OF COGNITIVISM .................................................................................. 24 3.1 A Critique of Mentalism ................................................................................................ 24 3.1.1 The Exteriorization of the Mental ........................................................................... 25 3.1.2 The Intentionality of Mind Seen Through Intentional Action ................................ 32 3.2 A Critique of the Mind-Brain Identity Theory .............................................................. 54 3.3 A Critique of the Computer Analogy ............................................................................ -
Theory, Totality, Critique: the Limits of the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity
Studies in 20th Century Literature Volume 16 Issue 1 Special Issue on Contemporary Spanish Article 11 Poetry: 1939-1990 1-1-1992 Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity Philip Goldstein University of Delaware Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/sttcl Part of the German Literature Commons, and the Modern Literature Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Goldstein, Philip (1992) "Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity," Studies in 20th Century Literature: Vol. 16: Iss. 1, Article 11. https://doi.org/ 10.4148/2334-4415.1297 This Review Essay is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in 20th Century Literature by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity Abstract Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity by Douglas Kellner. Keywords Frankfurt School, WWII, Critical Theory Marxism and Modernity, Post-modernism, society, theory, socio- historical perspective, Marxism, Marxist rhetoric, communism, communistic parties, totalization, totalizing approach This review essay is available in Studies in 20th Century Literature: https://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol16/iss1/11 Goldstein: Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Cr Review Essay Theory, Totality, Critique: The Limits of the Frankfurt School Philip Goldstein University of Delaware Douglas Kellner, Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity. -
The Critique of Real Abstraction: from the Critical Theory of Society to the Critique of Political Economy and Back Again
The Critique of Real Abstraction: from the Critical Theory of Society to the Critique of Political Economy and Back Again Chris O’Kane John Jay, CUNY [email protected] There has been a renewed engagement with the idea of real abstraction in recent years. Scholars associated with the New Reading of Marx, such as Moishe Postone, Chris Arthur, Michael Heinrich, Patrick Murray, Riccardo Bellofiore and others,1 have employed the idea in their important reconstructions of Marx’s critique of political economy. Alberto Toscano, Endnotes, Jason W. Moore and others have utilized and extended these theorizations to concieve of race, gender, and nature as real abstractions. Both the New Reading and these new theories of real abstraction have provided invaluable work; the former in systematizing Marx’s inconsistent and unfinished theory of value as a theory of the abstract social domination of capital accumulation and reproduction; the latter in supplementing such a theory. Yet their exclusive focus on real abstraction in relation to the critique of political economy means that the critical marxian theories of real abstraction -- developed by Alfred Sohn- Rethel, Theodor W. Adorno and Henri Lefebvre -- have been mostly bypassed by the latter and have largely served as the object of trenchant criticism for their insufficient grasp of Marx’s theory of value by the former. Consequently these new readings and new theories of real abstraction elide important aspects of Sohn-Rethel, Adorno and Lefebvre’s critiques of real abstraction; which sought to develop Marx’s critique of political economy into objective-subjective critical theories of the reproduction of capitalist society.2 However, two recent works by 1 Moishe Postone’s interpretation of real abstraction will be discussed below. -
Postmodern, Poststructural, and Critical Theories from the Research and the Social World As Inde- As They Are Taken up by Feminist Researchers
04-Hesse-Biber-3-45053.qxd 6/23/2006 12:13 PM Page 71 4 POSTMODERN,POSTSTRUCTURAL, AND CRITICAL THEORIES SUSANNE GANNON BRONWYN DAVIES WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF no reality, only representations. These characteri- zations are variously imputed to postmodernism POSTMODERN,POSTSTRUCTURAL, or poststructuralism, which are conflated with AND CRITICAL THEORIES? each other and sometimes understood as an indis- criminate assemblage of French feminism, decon- In this chapter, we explore postmodern, post- struction, Lacanian psychoanalysis, Foucaultian structural, and critical theories and discuss how analysis, Rorty’s conversationalism and cultural they affect feminist research. These labels are studies. (p. 4) sometimes taken to refer to the same thing and are sometimes taken up in oppositional ways. Postmodernism is a term often used by critics Further, what each of these names refers to is who believe postmodernism is undermining the not an orderly, agreed on, and internally consis- most fundamental assumptions necessary for tent set of ideas. What they mean depends on the social science and feminist research. Against vantage point from which the speaking or writ- this monster they try “to shore up the primary ing is being done. Among those who wear each premises, to establish in advance that any theory of these labels there are many interesting and of politics requires a subject, needs from the productive divisions, which are ignored when start to presume its subject, the referentiality they are lumped together under one collective of language, the integrity of the institutional noun. Butler (1992) points out, description it provides” (Butler, 1992, p. 3). Through exploring these commonalities and A number of positions are ascribed to postmod- oppositionalities, we will make visible some of ernism, as if it were the kind of thing that could be the ideas and practices that emerge in the writing the bearer of a set of positions: discourse is all and research to which these names are given. -
Derridean Deconstruction and Feminism
DERRIDEAN DECONSTRUCTION AND FEMINISM: Exploring Aporias in Feminist Theory and Practice Pam Papadelos Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Discipline of Gender, Work and Social Inquiry Adelaide University December 2006 Contents ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................III DECLARATION .....................................................................................................IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................V INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 THESIS STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW......................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1: LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS – FEMINISM AND DECONSTRUCTION ............................................................................................... 8 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 8 FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF PHILOSOPHY..................................................................... 10 Is Philosophy Inherently Masculine? ................................................................ 11 The Discipline of Philosophy Does Not Acknowledge Feminist Theories......... 13 The Concept of a Feminist Philosopher is Contradictory Given the Basic Premises of Philosophy..................................................................................... -
135 Towards Critical Aspects of Confucianism Ľubomír Dunaj
Ethics & Bioethics (in Central Europe), 2016, 6 (3–4), 135–145 DOI:10.1515/ebce-2016-0016 Towards critical aspects of Confucianism1 Ľubomír Dunaj Abstract This paper consists of two parts. The first deals with the issue of whether it is possible to coherently employ the term ‘critical Confucian’ in general, i.e. whether it is a paradox or oxymoron. It will be argued that Confucianism should not be identified with any particular ideology and, therefore, can be critical. This critical potential, in turn, can be developed by bringing it into dialogue with Critical Theory. As such, the second part indicates, in an introductory way, some possible overlaps between Confucianism and Critical Theory by comparing Heiner Roetz’s and Axel Honneth’s respective interpretations of these traditions. Keywords: Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Critical theory, Global ethics Introduction There are several reasons why Western social and political philosophers should begin to inquire into non-Western ethical, social and political thought. One of them is connected to the increase of global interactions in recent decades, which demand global solutions for a wide range of social and environmental problems. As a rising superpower, China arguably occupies the most important position among non-Western countries. Consequently, it is necessary to understand the most influential philosophical traditions of such an important ‘global player’, as well those of the so called Far East Asian civilizations – in order to arrive at a better grasp of the dynamics of the globalized world. Another important reason why Western scholars should be interested in China is the fact that Chinese culture is one of the axial civilizations and its spiritual and philosophical heritage therefore belongs to the oldest in world history, alongside Greek (with its Near East’s “progenitors”) and Indian civilizations.2 Indeed, traditional Chinese philosophy offers many indigenous notions and ideas, which are still alive in Chinese social and political discourse and enjoy growing attention. -
48. Hermeneutics and Critical Theory
48. Hermeneutics and Critical Theory Nicholas Smith One of the achievements of Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method was to make plausible the idea that hermeneutics constitutes a distinct body of thought, an intellectual tradition whose history of successes, stalemates and defeats, heroes and villains, could be recounted in a single coherent narrative (Gadamer 1993). But the popularity of this idea, both in the sense of the number of people who came to accept it and the number who came to identify with the hermeneutic tradition itself, was due as much to a number of books published in the decades following the appearance of Truth and Method which either re-staged the central episodes of this history by way of the reproduction of canonical texts, or defended the newly reconstructed tradition against rival contemporary ones (Bleicher 1981; Hoy 1978; Mueller-Vollmer 1986; Ormiston and Schrift 1990; Thompson 1981; Warnke 1987). Indeed, the popularising anthologies of the hermeneutic tradition typically left off where the more systematic defenses of hermeneutics typically began: namely, with the sketches for a critical theory of society then being outlined by Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel. These pieces were read either as the opening up of a new, politically progressive chapter in the history of hermeneutics – as the dawning of a ‘critical hermeneutics’, no less – or as representing a fundamental challenge to hermeneutics by exposing fatal flaws in its capacity to orient genuinely critical 1 reflection. Either way, Habermas’s and Apel’s responses to Truth and Method, and Gadamer’s subsequent rejoinders to them, made it seem obvious to many intellectuals in the 1960s and 1970s that the self-understandings of philosophical hermeneutics and the critical theory of society were intimately bound up with each other.1 That connection is not so obvious today. -
MA Thesis Yu-Hsuan
The University of Chicago The New Left vs. Liberal Debate in China: How Ideology Shapes the Perception of Reality By Yu-Hsuan Sun July 2021 A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters of Arts Degree in the Masters of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) Faculty Advisor: Marco Garrido Preceptor: Wen Xie Abstract: The tragic June 4th Crackdown on the Tiananmen Student Movement dealt a devastating blow to the hope of China’s democratization. In the 1980s, the majority of young Chinese students expressed overwhelming support for the democracy movement and the New Enlightenment thought trend which preceded the 1989 protests. The homogeneity of the 80s intellectual sphere, however, is a stark contrast to the intense debate between the “New Left” and “Liberal” camps in China which began in the late 1990s. My paper seeks to answer the question: “Why did China’s intellectual homogeneity dissolve so quickly in the 90s?” And more importantly, “What is at stake in those debates between intellectual camps?” To answer these questions, I argue that ideological differences among Chinese intellectuals fundamentally change their perception of China’s post-1989 reality. After the Tiananmen Movement, Deng Xiaoping intensified China’s economic reforms as an answer to both the internal and external crises to his political power after June 4th. While this new wave of reforms brought about unprecedented economic growth and commerce in China, it also created looming social problems such as inequality and corruption. However, these social issues generated polarizing responses from Chinese intellectuals who offered contradicting explanations to these social and economic issues. -
Preserving the Radical Potential of Critical Legal Studies Through a Reexamination of Frankfurt School Critical Theory
Florida State University Law Review Volume 26 Issue 3 Article 3 1999 From Criticism to Critique: Preserving the Radical Potential of Critical Legal Studies Through a Reexamination of Frankfurt School Critical Theory Jason E. Whitehead [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Jason E. Whitehead, From Criticism to Critique: Preserving the Radical Potential of Critical Legal Studies Through a Reexamination of Frankfurt School Critical Theory, 26 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 701 (1999) . https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr/vol26/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida State University Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW FROM CRITICISM TO CRITIQUE: PRESERVING THE RADICAL POTENTIAL OF CRITICAL LEGAL STUDIES THROUGH A REEXAMINATION OF FRANKFURT SCHOOL CRITICAL THEORY Jason E. Whitehead VOLUME 26 SPRING 1999 NUMBER 3 Recommended citation: Jason E. Whitehead, From Criticism to Critique: Preserving the Radical Potential of Critical Legal Studies Through a Reexamination of Frankfurt School Critical Theory, 26 FLA. ST. U. L. REV. 701 (1999). FROM CRITICISM TO CRITIQUE: PRESERVING THE RADICAL POTENTIAL OF CRITICAL LEGAL STUDIES THROUGH A REEXAMINATION OF FRANKFURT SCHOOL CRITICAL THEORY JASON E. WHITEHEAD* I. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... -
Martin Buber's Biblical Critique of Carl Schmitt
American Political Science Review, Page 1 of 14 doi:10.1017/S0003055418000680 © American Political Science Association 2018 Theopolitics Contra Political Theology: Martin Buber’s Biblical Critique of Carl Schmitt CHARLES H. T. LESCH Vanderbilt University his article recovers Martin Buber’s important but neglected critique of Carl Schmitt’s political theology. Because Buber is known primarily as an ethicist and scholar of Judaism, his attack on T Schmitt has been largely overlooked. Yet as I reveal through a close reading of his Biblical commentaries, a concern about the dangers of political theology threads through decades of his work. Divine sovereignty, Buber argues, is absolute and inimitable; no human ruler can claim the legitimate power reserved to God. Buber’s response is to uncover what he sees as Judaism’s earliest political theory: a “theopolitics,” where human beings, mutually subject to divine kingship, practice non-domination. But Buber, I show, did not seek to directly revive this religious vision. Instead, he sought to incorporate the spirit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055418000680 . of theopolitics, as embodied by Israel’s prophets, into modern society. The result is a new and significant perspective on liberal democracy and political theology. “Underneath the new forms of living of the people-become- democracies, significant questions have arisen over the settled, which plants fig trees, lays out vineyards, builds place of religious discourse in the public sphere (Audi towns, and learns to treasure the value of guaranteed security, 2011; Eberle 2002; March 2009; Rawls [1999] 2002; there persists the old, nomadicizing resistance against the Smith 2010; Stout 2004; Weithman 2006) and the fea- dependency of an autocratic man and his clan.” sibility of building social solidarity on purely secular and —Martin Buber, Kingship of God ([1936] 1967, 161) rational foundations (Habermas [2005] 2008; Lesch https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms 2018, forthcoming). -
Post-Structuralism Dialogue Between Postmodernism and the Catholic Tradi- and the So-Called Russian Formalists
Post-Structuralism dialogue between postmodernism and the Catholic tradi- and the so-called Russian formalists. Among the most tion is ongoing and has already borne copious fruit. important representatives of post-structuralist philosophy are Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), Gilles Deleuze (1925– SEE ALSO DECONSTRUCTIONISM;DIFFERENCE;LOGOCENTRISM;RE- 1995), Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), Jacques ALISM;RELATIVISM. Lacan (1901–1981), Michel Foucault (1926–1984), and Slavoj Žižek and his school. Though many of the BIBLIOGRAPHY representatives have French backgrounds, their theories De Schrijver, Georges. “Postmodernity and the Withdrawal of have had influence all over the world, especially in the the Divine: A Challenge for Theology.” In Sacramental Pres- areas of philosophy of language, ETHICS, NEOPRAGMA- ence in a Postmodern Context, edited by Lieven Boeve and TISM, literary theory, and gender studies. In the United Lambert Leijssen, 39–64. Louvain, Belgium: Leuven University Press, 2001. States, the works of Richard Rorty (1931–2007) and Judith Butler are often associated with post-structuralism. John Paul II. Fides et ratio. [Encyclical Letter on the Relation- ship between Faith and Reason]. September 14, 1998. http:// What distinguishes structuralism from post-structuralism www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/docu is not always easy to identify, but as a general rule post- ments/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html. structuralists see their theories as based on structuralism’s Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on philosophy of language (Saussure) and anthropology Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Mas- (Lévi-Strauss), but they apply those insights to a wider sumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.