Abstract

As the subtitle of Benhabib’s Critique, Norm, and Utopia indicates, the issue of normative foundations in critical theory is its central theme. The book divides into two parts: the first, containing an exposition of Hegel and Marx, traces the origins of the concept of critique, the second deals with the transformation which that concept undergoes in the Frankfurt School. Benhabib’s interest is not simply historical; rather, she is interested in “the reconstruction of the history of theories from a systematic point of view”.