Critical theory is a doctrine developed by the Frankfurt School.
The concept of critical theory is used in philosophy to refer to the doctrine developed by the so-called Frankfurt School , a movement that was based at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main .
This institute, close to Marxism , was created in 1923 . A group of thinkers started from traditional Marxist theory and, after making a series of criticisms, developed a new theoretical body , described by some authors as neo-Marxist .
Critical theory, in this sense, understood that the economic, political and social context in force in those years was different from that proposed by Marxism. That is why it was proposed to reinterpret the original theory , emphasizing that knowledge is constituted in reality and not through the reproduction of concepts.
Principles of critical theory
One of the principles of critical theory is that it opposes the separation between subject and reality . According to this position, all knowledge depends on the practices of the time and experience . There is, therefore, no pure theory that can be sustained throughout history .
By extension, systematized knowledge and science develop according to changes in social life. Praxis, in this way, is linked to the organization of scientific knowledge that exists at a given historical moment.
Based on these reasonings, critical theory pays special attention to the context of society and opposes closed theories, betting on a dialectical construction of knowledge.
Critical theory was born from traditional Marxism.
References of the doctrine
Leading exponents of critical theory include Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno , Herbert Marcurse , Max Horkheimer , Erich Fromm , and Jürgen Habermas .
In addition to the above, it is important to know another series of data relevant to the Frankfurt School and its critical theory, among which are the following:
-At the moment that the Nazi party consolidates itself in Germany, coming to power, the members of the group find themselves in the need to leave the country. At first they will try to find “refuge” in other countries on the European continent, but, faced with the rise of Hitler and his desire for destruction, they arrive in the United States. This means that the aforementioned group ends up settling in New York.
-During the first works and studies that its philosophers carried out in North American lands, they had the support of important entities such as, for example, the Rockefeller Foundation.
-Critical Theory would not arrive in Spain until the 1960s and it was at that time that some of the most significant works developed by the Frankfurt School began to be translated. Specifically, it was Manuel Sacristán who proceeded to translate in 1962 both “The Criticism of Culture and Society” and “Adorno, Notes on Literature and Prisms.”
-The Critical School that concerns us is considered one of the great currents of thought of what has been the entire 20th century worldwide.
-The aforementioned thinkers are divided into two in that they belong to the first generation of the group (Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse) and the second (Walter Benjamin, Jürgen Habermas and Karl Otto Apel).