Schools of Philosophy
Frankfurt School
Also Known As Critical Theory
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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
RegionFrankfurt, Germany; in exile 1933 to 1949-1951 chiefly Geneva, New York and Los Angeles 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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Sources
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and InformationQuote
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.
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Informations.v. Critical TheoryQuote, s.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.
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and InformationIn Branch: Philosophy of Technology, entry: Philosophy of Technology, Section 3.2.4Quote, 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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