The philosophical and social-theoretical tradition that grew out of the Institute for Social Research, founded in Frankfurt in 1923 and redirected toward what its members called critical theory once Max Horkheimer became director in 1930. Fleeing Nazi Germany, the Institute relocated first to Geneva and then, from 1934, to Columbia University in New York before a further wartime move to Los Angeles, returning to Frankfurt in 1951. Its members combined Marxist social analysis with Freudian psychoanalysis and Weberian sociology to criticize ideology, mass culture and instrumental reason, with Jurgen Habermas leading a second generation from the 1960s onward.
Facts
Founded Date RegionFrankfurt, Germany; in exile 1933 to 1949-1951 chiefly Geneva, New York and Los Angeles 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
In Branch
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Traditions Founded
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Sources
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Informations.v. Critical Theory
Beginning in the 1930s at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, it is best known for interdisciplinary research that combines philosophy and social science with the practical aim of furthering emancipation.
entry: Frankfurt School, founding of the Institute for Social Research
In a narrow sense, "Critical Theory" (often denoted with capital letters) refers to the work of several generations of philosophers and social theorists in the Western European Marxist tradition known as the Frankfurt School.
- In Branch: Political Philosophy
- In Category: Schools of Philosophy
- Associated With: Max Horkheimer
- Associated With: Theodor W. Adorno
In Branch: Philosophy of Technology, entry: Philosophy of Technology, Section 3.2.4
One very influential stream of critical theory directly inspired by Marx is the so-called Frankfurt School born in the 1950s.
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