Of Critical Theory and Its Theorists

382 Pages·1994·9.242 MB·English

by  Stephen Eric Bronner

OF CRITICAL
THEORY AND
ITS THEORISTS
S T E P H E N E R I C B R O N N E R
No project holds a more prominent place in the development of modern Euro­
pean thought than critical theory. Usually associated with various members of
the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research of the 1920s and 1930s, critical
theory has been enormously influential and quite controversial in its manifold
claims.
Of Critical Theory and its Theorists provides unique interpretations of critical
theory’s most important representatives: Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin,
Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Jiirgen Habermas,
and others.
Inspired by the interdisciplinary character of the original enterprise, Stephen
Bronner ranges across many fields, from philosophy and aesthetics to politics
and anthropology, reconstructing the radical aims of critical theory, and
evaluating its successes, its failings, and its legacy.
Of Critical Theory and its Theorists offers a panoramic view of an exciting trad­
ition, and a bold new perspective, from one of America’s most prominent
analysts of continental politics and philosophy.
“Has the foundation of critical theory been withdrawn with the collapse of
communism? Stephen Eric Bronner argues the opposite: only now, liberated
from marxian dogmatism, can a genuine critique of modern society begin. He
develops his ideas in an immanent and emancipatory confrontation with critical
theory and its proponents. A brilliant book! Don’t miss it!”
Ulrich Beck
Stephen Eric Bronner is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers Univer­
sity. His most recent works are Socialism Unbound and Moments of Decision:
Political History and the Crises of Radicalism. He has also edited The Letters
of Rosa Luxemburg and co-edited, with Douglas Kellner, the collection
Critical Theory and Society.
Cover illustration: Paul Klee. Regie. 1930. watercolour and pen on chalk ground German
Ingres paper on cardboard, 29.5 X 47 cms. reproduced by kind permission of Kunstsammlung
Nordrhein-Westfalen © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
Cover design by Richard Boxall Design Associates.
B
BLACKWELL
Oxford UK 6r Cambridge USA
O f Critical Theory and its Theorists
When the power of synthesis vanishes from the lives of men and when
the antitheses have lost their vital relation and their power of interaction
and gain independence» it is then that philosophy becomes a felt need.
G. W. F. Hegel
O f Critical Theory and its Theorists
STEPHEN ERIC BRONNER
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Copyright ® Stephen Eric Bronner 1994
The right of Stephen Eric Bronner to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
First published 1994
Blackwell Publishers
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Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142
USA
108 Cowley Road
Oxford 0X4 1JF
UK
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the
purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
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without the prior permission of the publisher.
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the
condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired
out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a
similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data
Bronner, Stephen Eric, 1949-
Of critical theory and its theorists/Stephen Eric Bronner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-631-18737-5 (alk. paper). - ISBN 0-631-18738-3 (pbk.:
alk. paper)
1. Critical theory. 2. Philosophy and social sciences.
I. Tide.
B809.3.B76 1994
142—dc20 93-30889
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10 on 12pt Bembo by Photoprint, Torquay, Devon
Printed in Great Britain by T.J. Press, Padstow, Cornwall
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Karl Korsch: Western Marxism and the Origins of
Critical Theory 12
3 Philosophical Anticipations: A Commentary on the
“Reification” Essay of Georg Lukács 32
4 Utopian Projections: In Honor of Ernst Bloch 62
5 Horkheimer’s Road 73
6 Ontology and its Discontents: Unorthodox Remarks
on the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger 102
7 Reclaiming the Fragments: On the Messianic
Materialism of Walter Benjamin 128
8 Political Aesthetics in Retrospect: Reflections on the
Expressionism Debate and its Contemporary Relevance 155
9 Dialectics at a Standstill: A Methodological Inquiry
into the Philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno 180
10 Fromm in America 209
VI Contents
11 Remembering Marcuse 234
12 The Anthropological Break: Herbert Marcuse
and the Radical Imagination 237
13 Left Instrumentalism: A Critique of Analytic
and Rational Choice Marxism 260
14 Jürgen Habermas and the Language of Politics 283
15 Points of Departure: Sketches for a Critical Theory
with Public Aims 321
Index 353
Acknowledgments
There are many people who have played a role in this enterprise. Luis
Eduardo Mendieta generously offered his time, enthusiasm, and invalu­
able commentary on every phase of the enterprise. Samuel Assefa,
Edmund Arens, John Ehrenberg, Michael Forman, Micheline Ishay,
Kurt Jacobsen, Christine Kelly, Douglas Kellner, Eva Grunstein-
Neuman, Jose Maria Rosales, Honglim Ryu, Manfred Steger, and F.
Peter Wagner also provided me with their insights on various chapters
and Alison Truefitt was exceptionally helpful in preparing the manu­
script. I should also take this opportunity to thank Simon Prosser of Basil
Blackwell Publishers for his commitment to the book, and also my wife,
Anne Burns, for her patience and support. Finally, however, I would like
to recall the memory of two very different thinkers who personally
inspired my interest and commitment to the critical project: Ernst Bloch
and Henry Pachter.