THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACY OF CRITICAL THEORY: ORIGINS, TRANSFORMATIONS, AND INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUES

Authors : Mete Han Arıtürk

Pages : 724-746

Doi:10.69878/deuefad.1687669

View : 42 | Download : 324

Publication Date : 2025-10-27

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article examines the intellectual legacy of the Frankfurt School and Critical Theory, focusing on its origins, transformations, and intergenerational dialogues. The School\\\'s primary objective is to philosophically analyze and critique the social pathologies and contradictions engendered by modern capitalist societies. Influenced by philosophers like Kant, Hegel, and Marx, as well as psychoanalysis and Weberian rationalization debates, the School addressed historical context, capitalism\\\'s cultural forms, and new types of social subjectivity. The article traces the evolution from the first generation\\\'s critique of modernity and domination (Horkheimer, Adorno), through the innovations of the second generation with Habermas\\\'s theory of communicative action, to the contributions of the third generation, particularly Axel Honneth\\\'s theory of recognition. It highlights Honneth\\\'s effort to center the struggle for recognition within Critical Theory—addressing the perceived shortcomings of previous generations (especially the pessimism of the first generation and the moral experiences overlooked by Habermas\\\'s theory)—and provide a new normative foundation. The theory of recognition reveals the moral dimensions underlying social conflicts and emancipatory struggles, emphasizing the importance of intersubjective relations.
Keywords : Frankfurt Okulu, Eleştirel Teori, Toplumsal Patoloji, Tanınma Teorisi, Kapitalizm

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