Following Max Horkheimer, I will first attempt to reconstruct an anthropology that essentially wants to be understood as critical social research. I will then pursue the question of humanism in critical theory. In doing so, I want to show that a reference to a normatively substantive humanism does actually exist in critical theory. On the other hand, I want to show that this humanism is anything but unambiguously and systematically formulated but has been reflected and articulated differently by different representatives (...) of critical theory. The two examples I will refer to here are Theodor W. Adorno and Erich Fromm. I will define Adorno’s humanism as ‘dialectical humanism’, whereas Fromm’s humanism could be described as ‘emphatic humanism’. My reading, however, attempts to interrogate the two positions as to their complementarity. Not ‘Adorno or Fromm’, but ‘Adorno and Fromm’ is the motto that guides me. Finally, I will relate this complementary reading of both approaches in such a way that the possibility of a ‘Critical Humanism’ can be derived from it, which above all also wants to be understood as a sociological research program. (shrink)

Los debates en teoría social sobre la modernidad se han distanciado de la idea de convergencia de la que partían las "teorías de la modernización", desarrollando una conciencia de diferencia más sofisticada que no deja de interesarse por las coincidencias y afinidades globales y universales de las "múltiples experiencias" con y en la modernidad global. En el contexto de estos debates se constata que los procesos de modernización son entendidos como dinámicas que reciben su energía de dos fuerzas que, más (...) que antagónicas, se complementan y se pueden resumir en los conceptos "modernidad" e "identidad". Este par de conceptos ha orientado importantes debates políticos y académicos en América Latina. Discutiré el ejemplo de Octavio Paz proponiendo que sus ideas en torno a la modernidad se orientan por los siguientes ejes temáticos: la condition moderne, la conditio humana y la condición mexicana. (shrink)

Octavio Paz is one of the most recognized Latin American writers. His essays offer a sophisticated critique of global modernity. Although his work has advanced many of the arguments that orient our contemporary debates in the social sciences and in philosophy, it has hardly ever been seriously taken into consideration in these disciplines. The volume suggests that this may have been a mistake. Its authors indicate ways in which Paz' essays can be read as substantial contributions to the contemporary debates (...) in various fields. The aim of this book is to present to a non-Spanish speaking audience some of the discussions about Paz' offerings to the ongoing debates. It also wants to make a clear statement: a critique of our contemporary modernity must go hand in hand with a non-exclusive intercultural understanding of Humanism. (shrink)

The generation of meaning is the primary precondition for acting and thinking. The essays in this volume contribute to a discourse on this matter with a decentred, globalized world in mind. The notions civilization, humanism and modernity - far from being exclusively Western ideas - may facilitate joint efforts of reflecting on the universality of current human conditions, particularly since such reflexion is possible from particular cultural perspectives. Modernity presents us with a second Axial Time in which the quest for (...) a plural, but shared, humane world is the challenge. (shrink)