Critical theory: Difference between revisions

A '''critical theory''' is any approach to [[humanities]] and [[social philosophy]] that focuses on society and culture to attempt to reveal, critique, and challenge [[power structure]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Critical theory |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-theory |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> With roots in [[sociology]] and [[literary criticism]], it argues that [[social problems]] stem more from [[social structure]]s and [[cultural assumptions]] rather than from individuals.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} Some hold it to be an ideology,<ref>Disco, Cornelis. "Critical theory as ideology of the new class: Rereading Jürgen Habermas." Theory and Society (1979): 159-214.</ref> others argue that [[ideology]] is the principal obstacle to human liberation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geuss |first=Raymond |url=https://archive.org/details/ideaofcriticalth0000geus/page/2/mode/2up |title=The Idea of a Critical Theory |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1981 |isbn=0521240727 |pages=2–3 |quote=The very heart of the critical theory of society is its criticism of ideology. Their ideology is what prevents the agents in the society from correctly perceiving their true situation and real interests; if they are to free themselves from social repression, the agents must rid themselves of ideological illusion.}}</ref> Critical theory finds applications in various fields of study, including [[psychoanalysis]], [[film theory]], [[literary theory]], [[cultural studies]], [[history]], [[communication theory]], [[philosophy]], and [[feminist theory]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Left Hemisphere |url=https://www.versobooks.com/products/2321-the-left-hemisphere |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Verso |language=en}}</ref>

 

 

Horkheimer described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to [[Emancipation|liberate]] human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".<ref>Horkheimer 1982, 244.</ref> Although a product of [[modernism]], and although many of the progenitors of Critical Theory were skeptical of [[postmodernism]], Critical Theory is one of the major components of both modern and postmodern thought, and is widely applied in the humanities and social sciences today.<ref name="Ritzer, George Pg. 567-568">{{cite book |last=Ritzer |first=George |chapter=Sociological Theory |title=From Modern to Postmodern Social Theory (and Beyond) |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] Higher Education |location=New York, New York |date=2008 |pages=567–568}}</ref><ref name="Agger" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Critical Theory and Society: A Reader |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1990}}</ref>