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Critical Theory

  • Textbook
  • © 2003

Overview

Authors:
  1. Alan How

    1. University College Worcester, UK

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  • Emphasis on value of critical theory today, without underplaying the historical context in which the theory was developed
    Written in plain, flowing prose, laced with a wealth of examples, which successfully make clear the meaning and significance of difficult ideas without talking down to the reader
    Wide potential readership across a number of disciplines

Part of the book series: Traditions in Social Theory (TST)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 1-9

  3. Historical Contours

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11
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    2. Early Days, Early Doubts: From Optimism to Ambiguity

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 13-25

    3. Disillusion and the Emergence of a Nietzschean Streak

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 26-42

    4. The Reconstruction of Critical Theory: From Ideology Critique to Communicative Reason

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 43-59

  4. Substantive Ideas: The First Generation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
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    2. Rationalisation as Reification

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 63-89

    3. Critical Theory, the Family and the Narcissistic Personality

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 90-111

  5. Substantive Ideas: The Second Generation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113
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    2. Overcoming the Impasse: Habermas’s Reconstruction of Critical Theory

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 115-142

    3. Critical Theory and Postmodernism

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 143-167

  6. Conclusion

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169
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    2. Why Read Critical Theory Now?

      • Merja Makinen, Nicolas Tredell
      Pages 171-183

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 184-204
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines the intellectual contribution made by Frankfurt School Critical Theory to our understanding of modern life. Thematically organized and offering a strong mix of historical and contemporary material, it considers the work of both the first and second generation. While the work of the latter is often taken to exceed that of the former, the author suggests that insights gleaned by both, regarding the human subject, offer a significant alternative to post-modern ideas.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University College Worcester, UK

    Alan How

About the author

ALAN HOW is Curriculum Leader for undergraduate sociology and Course Leader for the Masters programme at University College Worcester. His previous book is The Habermas-Gadamer Debate and the Nature of the Social (1995).

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