The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory

Buy The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory here.

Critical Theory constitutes one of the major intellectual traditions of the twentieth century, and is centrally important for philosophy, political theory, aesthetics and theory of art, the study of modern European literatures and music, the history of ideas, sociology, psychology, and cultural studies. In this volume an international team of distinguished contributors examines the major figures in Critical Theory, including Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Benjamin, and Habermas, as well as lesser known but important thinkers such as Pollock and Neumann. The volume surveys the shared philosophical concerns that have given impetus to Critical Theory throughout its history, while at the same time showing the diversity among its proponents that contributes so much to its richness as a philosophical school. The result is an illuminating overview of the entire history of Critical Theory in the twentieth century, an examination of its central conceptual concerns, and an in-depth discussion of its future prospects.

See also

The Cambridge Companion to Freud

Erich Fromm's Revolutionary Hope: Prophetic Messianism as a Critical Theory of the Future

Buy Erich Fromm's Revolutionary Hope here.

"Socialism ... is essentially prophetic Messianism ..." So Erich Fromm writes in his 1961 classic Marx's Concept of Man. World-renowned Critical Theorist, activist, psychoanalyst, and public Marxist intellectual, Erich Fromm (1900-1980) played a pivotal role in the early Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and influenced emancipatory projects in multiple disciplines. While he remains popularly well known as author of such best-selling books as Escape from Freedom and The Art of Loving, Fromm's contribution to Critical Theory is now being rediscovered. Fromm's work on messianism in the 1950s-1970s responded to earlier debates among early twentieth century German Jewish thinkers and radicals, including Hermann Cohen, Rosa Luxemburg, Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem, and Georg Lukács. The return to Fromm, as well as growing interest in Jewish messianism's influence on the Frankfurt School, makes this book timely. Fromm's bold defense of radical hope and trenchant critique of political catastrophism are more relevant than ever.

The Sane Society - Quotes by Erich Fromm

Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide

Buy Introducing Critical Theory here.

What might a ‘theory of everything’ look like? Is science an ideology? Who were Adorno, Horkheimer or the Frankfurt School? The decades since the 1960s have seen an explosion in the production of critical theories. Deconstructionists, poststructuralists, postmodernists, second-wave feminists, new historicists, cultural materialists, postcolonialists, black critics and queer theorists, among a host of others, all vie for our attention. Stuart Sim and Borin Van Loon’s incisive graphic guide provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing ideas and provides an essential historical context, situating these theories within tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. They present the essential methods and objectives of each theoretical school in an incisive and accessible manner, and pay special attention to recurrent themes and concerns that have preoccupied a century of critical theoretical activity.

Erich Fromm - The Sane Society

Buy The Sane Society here.

- Free delivery worldwide

Following the publication of the seminal Fear of Freedom, Erich Fromm applied his unique vision to a critique of contemporary capitalism in The Sane Society. Where the former dealt with man's historic inability to come to terms with his sense of isolation, and the dangers to which this can lead, The Sane Society took his theories one step further. In doing so it established Fromm as one of the most controversial political thinkers of his generation. Anaylsing how individuals conform to contemporary capitalist and patriarchal societies, the book was published to wide acclaim and even wider disapproval. It was a scathing indictment of modern capitalism and as such proved unwelcome to many. Unwelcome because much of what Fromm had to say was true. Today, as we settle into the challenges of the 21st century, Fromm's writings are just as relevant as when they were first written. Read it and decide for yourself - are you living in a sane society?

The Sane Society - Quotes by Erich Fromm

Erich Fromm is one of the major figures in the field of psychoanalysis. He devoted himself to consultant psychology and theoretical investigation for many years. He was the author of numerous books, including "Fear of Freedom" and "Psychoanalysis and Zen", before his death in 1980.

Erich Fromm - The Automaton Citizen and Human Rights

Erich Fromm lectures on 'The Automaton Citizen and Human Rights', at the American Orthopsychiatric Association (1966). Fromm discusses the importance of psychiatry and clinical psychology in examining the individual's experience of alienation in modern consumer society. For Fromm, alienation is fundamentally opposed to the basic human right 'to be one's self'. As regards psychology, Fromm claims 'that the psychiatrist and the clinical psychologist have an important task - that is, not to be over-impressed by individual sickness but to think of man as a total being, and of applying their basic findings to the pathology of normalcy which threatens to undermine the very rights which we are so proud of having achieved.'

Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide

Buy Introducing Critical Theory here. - Free delivery worldwide

What might a ‘theory of everything’ look like? Is science an ideology? Who were Adorno, Horkheimer or the Frankfurt School? The decades since the 1960s have seen an explosion in the production of critical theories. Deconstructionists, poststructuralists, postmodernists, second-wave feminists, new historicists, cultural materialists, postcolonialists, black critics and queer theorists, among a host of others, all vie for our attention. Stuart Sim and Borin Van Loon’s incisive graphic guide provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing ideas and provides an essential historical context, situating these theories within tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. They present the essential methods and objectives of each theoretical school in an incisive and accessible manner, and pay special attention to recurrent themes and concerns that have preoccupied a century of critical theoretical activity.

Borin Van Loon has worked on numerous Introducing titles. He is a freelance illustrator, surrealist painter and collagist who produced the comic strip ‘The Severed Head’ for The Chap magazine.

See also

Introducing Continental Philosophy: A Graphic Guide