Introduction to Critical Theory

The writings of the Frankfurt school, in particular of Horkheimer,Adorno, Marcuse, and Jurgen Habermas, caught the imagination of theradical movements of the 1960s and 1970s and became a key elementin the Marxism of the New Left. Partly due to their rise to prominence during the politicalturmoil of the 1960s, the work of these critical theorists has beenthe subject of continuing controversy in both political andacademic circles. However, their ideas are frequentlymisunderstood. In this major work, now available from Polity Press, David Heldpresents a much-needed introduction to, and evaluation of, criticaltheory. Some of the major themes he considers are critical theory'srelation to Marx's critique of political economy, Freudianpsychoanalysis, aesthetics and the philosophy of history. There isalso an extended discussion of critical theory's substantivecontribution to the analysis of capitalism, culture, the family,the individual, as well as its contribution to epistemology andmethodology.