The Early Frankfurt School

This chapter starts by introducing the historical period in which the Institute for Social Research was founded. The School’s intellectual debts are acknowledged: to Freud, Marx, Weber, and Lukács. The discussion then moves on to explore the key concepts associated with the early Frankfurt School: the difference between ‘Traditional’ and ‘Critical’ Theory, reification, instrumental rationality, the Culture Industry, and Freudo-Marxism. Having outlined these important concepts, the focus shifts to explore how Critical Theory has shaped social theory over the years. The very idea of a ‘Critical Theory’, as presented by the Frankfurt School, is stressed, and is connected to the plethora of Critical Theories we see today. The challenges of using the early Frankfurt School today are then engaged, with the discussion questioning the implicit teleology in much of their earlier work. The androcentrism of much early Frankfurt School scholarship is also addressed. The final section of the chapter discusses how ideas from the early Frankfurt School are deployed today. In this context the focus is on Science and Technology Studies (STS), and Andrew Feenberg in particular.

Critical Theory and Philosophy · Psychology