(Political Philosophy and Public Purpose) Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2019 Edition
by Volker Schmitz (Editor)
The critical theory of the Frankfurt School has undergone numerous and at times fundamental changes over the last ninety years. Since the late 1960s, it has been characterized primarily by Jürgen Habermas’s “communicative turn” and a focus on normative foundations. Today, that “second generation” exists side-by-side with a “third generation” represented most prominently by Axel Honneth’s turn toward recognition, ethical life, and the normative reconstruction of social institutions.
This volume brings together critical voices on thestate and direction of Frankfurt School theory today by examiningHonneth’s theory in light of both current challenges and theintellectual and political ambitions that have shaped the tradition fromits beginning. United in their strong commitment to criticalscholarship, the authors collected here approach Honneth’s work fromdifferent backgrounds, employ a wide variety of methodologies, and writein different genres, ranging from the sober scholarly analysis toprogrammatic and political appeals. The collective aim of thesereflections is not to reject Honneth’s theory but to build upon his workand incorporate his themes of recognition and social freedom into a newproject of critical theory that can prove adequate to the political andsocial crises of our time.
