Ziel dieses Bandes ist es, die Aktualität der Kritischen Theorie Adornos, Horkheimers und Habermas' für die heutige Zeit auszuloten. Es geht einerseits darum, die erkenntnistheoretischen Grundlagen der Kritischen Theorie neu zu überdenken, andererseits darum, neue Varianten dieser Theorie auf Gesellschaft, Kultur und Politik anzuwenden. Vor allem Bereiche wie Wissenschaftstheorie und Medienwissenschaft haben in den letzten Jahrzehnten neue Entwicklungen durchgemacht und fordern den kritischen Geist heraus. Mit Beiträgen u.a. von Roger Behrens, Wolfgang Detel, Udo Göttlich, Hans-Herbert Kögler, Gerhard Schweppenhäuser, Heinz Steinert, (...) Christine Resch und Tanja Thomas. (shrink)

This introduction discusses the contemporary relevance of Jürgen Habermas’ social theory following the publication of his recent work, Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie. It deals with his key topics and interventionist style of thinking. The essence of Habermas’ critical theory is its unwavering commitment to the utopia of communicative reason.

Bernard Harcourt analyses the rise and institutionalization of strategies of counterinsurgency and its migration from the battlefields in Asia to the United States. They have produced a counterrevolution, without there ever having been a genuine insurgency or a revolution. For Harcourt the counterrevolution is the tyranny of our age.

In his new book, The Ruthless Critique of Everything Existing: Nature and Revolution in Marcuse’s Philosophy of Praxis (2023), Andrew Feenberg offers a critical reconstruction of the latter’s oeuvre that brings into focus the topicality and poignancy of his thinking. To this end, he examines significant aspects of Marcuse’s writings in an effort to determine the philosophical foundations and pioneering perspectives of his thought. He contends that Marcuse’s philosophy is now more relevant than ever because it profoundly critiques science and (...) technology and urgently advocates the protection of nature from their destructive consequences. It calls into question the operationality and efficiency of control and monitoring, which are becoming more and more prevalent today. In this regard, as Feenberg argues, Marcuse’s approach is largely predicated on a rehabilitation of the everyday experience inspired by phenomenology, on the principle of potentiality highlighted by Aristotle and Hegel, and on Freud’s conceptions of Eros and the death drive, as well as his theory of the imagination. Marcuse endeavored to ascertain more precisely how existence is historically and socially situated and how a transformative practice may emerge. (shrink)