The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Theory

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: What Is Critical Theory?

   • Michael J. Thompson

   Pages 1-14

3. The Hegelian-Marxist Roots of Critical Theory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Critical Theory and Resistance: On Antiphilosophy and the Philosophy of Praxis

      • Stephen Eric Bronner

      Pages 17-42

   3. Marx’s Influence on the Early Frankfurt School

      • Chad Kautzer

      Pages 43-65

   4. Lukács’ Theory of Reification and the Tradition of Critical Theory

      • Konstantinos Kavoulakos

      Pages 67-85

   5. Totality, Reason, Dialectics: The Importance of Hegel for Critical Theory from Lukács to Honneth

      • Omar Dahbour

      Pages 87-108

   6. Why Students of the Frankfurt School Will Have to Read Lukács

      • Andrew Feenberg

      Pages 109-133

4. Critical Epistemology and the Aims of Social Research

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135

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   2. Critical Theory and the Historical Transformations of Capitalist Modernity

      • Moishe Postone

      Pages 137-163

   3. Critical Theory as Radical Comparative–Historical Research

      • Harry F. Dahms

      Pages 165-184

   4. The Frankfurt School and the Critique of Instrumental Reason

      • Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker

      Pages 185-206

   5. Materialism in Critical Theory: Marx and the Early Horkheimer

      • David A. Borman

      Pages 207-229

   6. Critique as the Epistemic Framework of the Critical Social Sciences

      • Michael J. Thompson

      Pages 231-252

5. The Sociology of Culture and Critical Aesthetics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253

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   2. Theories of Culture in the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory

      • Christoph Henning

      Pages 255-278

   3. Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory

      • James Freeman

      Pages 279-289

   4. Art and the Concept of Autonomy in Adorno’s Kant Critique

      • Max Paddison

      Pages 291-308

   5. Judging by Refraining from Judgment: The Artwork and Its Einordnung

      • Gerhard Richter

      Pages 309-327

   6. Aesthetics as the Precondition for Revolution

      • Dirk Michel-Schertges

      Pages 329-348

This handbook is the only major survey of critical theory from philosophical, political, sociological, psychological and historical vantage points. It emphasizes not only on the historical and philosophical roots of critical theory, but also its current themes and trends as well as future applications and directions. It addresses specific areas of interest that have forged the critical theory tradition, such as critical social psychology, aesthetics and the critique of culture, communicative action, and the critique of instrumental reason. It is intended for those interested in exploring the influential paradigm of critical theory from multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives and understanding its contribution to the humanities and the social sciences.

• critical theory
• philosophy
• political history
• political science
• political theory
• politics
• social philosophy
• social science
• sociology

• Political Science, William Paterson University, Wayne, USA

  Michael J. Thompson

Michael J. Thompson is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science, William Paterson University, USA.

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