Overview
'The critical theory of the Frankfurt School continues to be an important influence on many disciplines, ranging from philosophy and social theory to cultural studies and art history. David Rasmussen has collected key classical texts that provide introductions, overviews, and critical interrogations of dominant theorists and positions of the Frankfurt School.
This is a valuable resource that students of contemporary theory should find of use and import'
Professor Doug Kellner
George F. Kneller Philosophy of Education Chair, Social Sciences and Comparative Education, UCLA
This is a major assessment of the Frankfurt School and of Critical Theory. Volume I looks at the origins of the School in the 1920's through to the 1940's focussing on the key themes - the critique of German idealism, reading of Marx, use of the dialectical methods - and the key thinkers - Horkheimer, Benjamin, Adorno, and Marcuse. In Volume II, the ideas of "critique ", of reason, and of rationality are examined - this includes work on the early Frankfurt School as well as issues like society and technology. The focus of Volume III is the literature on subjectivity, ethics, and politics - reviewing socialisation and solidarity; situatedness; morality; and the public sphere. The final volume looks at the future of Critical Theory - the role of social criticism, the relation to postmodernism, to psychology, to aesthetics, feminism and the family, and to religion.
Rich, textured, and systematic - this is a completely up-to-date overview of Critical Theory which will be the standard reference for libraries and scholars of Social Theory
Synopsis
Editors Rasmussen and Swindel provide a detailed introduction to this collection of 79 articles and excerpts from significant larger works, presented in four volumes. Volume 1 is concerned with historical perspectives and includes selections on general historical background and on Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, and Marcuse. The second volume is devoted to theoretical foundations, including an assortment of philosophical perspectives as well as essays on reason and rationality, critique and methodology, and theoretical issues. Volume 3, on subjectivity, ethics, and politics, arranges selections in sections on critical theory and the self; ethics; politics, culture, and economics; and the public sphere. The future of critical theory is the main focus of the final volume, with selections on social criticism, postmodernism, psychology, aesthetics, feminism and the family, and religion. There is no index, but the thematic arrangement of the selections will presumably suffice for those seeking the background and food for thought that this sampling of the literature provides. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR