What Does Critical Theory Have to Do with Self-Emancipation

Bibliographic Data

ID4070732
AuthorsWilliam Paris (0000-0002-3912-1796, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume52
Issue2
Pages11-39
Publication date2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew German Critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0094-033X • E-ISSN: 1558-1462
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/0094033x-11793026
OpenAlexW4413418816
LanguageEN
References cited23

This article argues that the basic task of Critical Theory is the self-emancipation of agents via the education of experience. In what follows, the author claims that if we take this seriously, then what distinguishes Critical Theory from other forms of theorization is not only the content but also the form of writing that is conducive to reshaping the experience of agents. In other words, it is necessary to take seriously that an aspect of Critical Theory must be public rather than solely academic if it is to be adequate to the concept of self-emancipation. This means asking why we should have good reasons to think Critical Theory can enable the self-emancipation of others

Critical theory · Emancipation · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Law · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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