| This course continues last semester’s review of major developments in 20th century European thought. Under the heading “critical theory” we will discuss attempts to rethink philosophy – its concepts and its projects – in social and historical terms. Such rethinking is politically driven so far as it is motivated by the thought that achieving a better society requires confronting the dominant forms of social being and knowing. By the same token, reflection on reason and the historical organization of the world puts conventional ideas of politics into question. The course will be organized in four parts: first, the background and preconditions for critical theory as an intellectual project; second, a survey of concerns of the first generation of Frankfurt School thinkers; third, a parallel account of concerns of Habermas, the most important of more recent critical theorists; and fourth, a comparison with Foucault, whose work converges with, but also questions, that of the Frankfurt School in important respects. |