Critical Theory and Philosophy “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it” Marx, Theses on Feuerbach

2 Critical Theory’s critique of Philosophy In philosophy, Reason takes the form of “rational subjectivity” in which “man, the individual, was to examine and judge everything by means of the power of his knowledge” (6). There is a relation between the concepts of Reason and freedom. For “such examination and judgement would be meaningless if man were not free to act in accordance with his insight and to bring what confronts him into accordance with reason” (7).

3 Critique of Philosophy: freedom However, the freedom accorded to Reason is individualistic and abstract: “Reason and freedom become the tasks that the individual is to fulfill within himself” (7). Such a view of freedom (based on self- sufficiency) however is problematic—empirically and conceptually. In philosophy, the individual appears “only as an abstract subject, abstract from his full humanity. … The subject thinks within a horizon of untruth that bars the door to real emancipation” (14).

4 The predictive value of Critical Theory Recall, critical theory is concerned with human happiness (flourishing)—to arrive at a rational organization of society through transforming the material conditions of existence (5). A possible objection: What if the ‘predictions’ made by critical theory do not materialize? Has critical theory been defeated? Marcuse: “Little as the theory’s truth is thereby contradicted, it nevertheless appears then in a new light which illuminates new aspects and elements of its object” (10).

5 Critical Theory and predictions Wait a minute—what is a theory supposed to do? Make predictions, right. If the prediction is falsified, shouldn’t the theory be rejected? Logical form: 1. If T, then P 2. ~ P 3. Therefore, ~ T So does Marcuse commit a logical mistake in his comment on p. 10?

6 Critical Theory and predictions First, the logical form of the argument—Popper’s idea of falsification—though valid does not give an adequate account of testing theories. Theories are tested against a background of initial conditions and auxiliary hypotheses. 1. If T and A, then P 2. ~ P 3. Therefore, ~ (T and A) = ~T or ~ A That is, either the theory is false or the assumption is false.

7 Critical Theory and Predictions Perhaps the assumptions made about contemporary society by critical theory are not precise enough … back to the drawing board. For some, this response is unsatisfactory … Because one can always go back to the drawing board (to save the theory at all cost) However, there is another response available.

8 Critical Theory and Truth “The more elements of the theory become reality— not only as the old order’s evolution confirms the theory’s predictions, but as the transition to the new order begins—the more urgent becomes the question of what the theory intended as its goal. … Like philosophy, [critical theory] opposes making reality into a criterion in the manner of a complacent positivism. … When truth cannot be realized within the established order, it always appears to the latter mere utopia. This transcendence speaks not against, but for its truth.” (italics added 10).

9 Critical Theory and Truth What do the phrases ‘theory becoming reality’, ‘realizing truth’ and ‘not turning reality into a criterion’ suggest? In the natural sciences, reality is seen to be independent. It can serve as a criterion for testing hypothesis. E.g. atoms behave the way they do regardless of what we think, say, etc. But is critical theory a scientific theory like chemistry? Why?

10 Critical Theory and Truth Recall that critical theory is concerned with human flourishing, and that requires achieving certain level of economic and technological development, i.e. it must create the environment in which flourishing can take place. That is, individuals have to make truth happen. Marcuse: “the given is a positive fact, an element of the coming society, only when it is taken into the theoretical construction as something to be transformed” (11-12).

11 Critical Theory and the Imagination Marcuse tells us that “scientific predictability does not coincide with the futuristic mode in which the truth exists” (17). The theoretical elements of critical theory “point forward toward future freedom” (11). There is a considerable role for ‘Imagination’ to play: “Without phantasy [i.e. the imagination], all philosophical knowledge remains in the grips of the present” (17).

12 Critical Theory and the Imagination Bourgeois thinking “equates human potentialities with those that are real within the established order” (12). We need to imagine otherwise. The imagined is not an illusion, an error. Marcuse warns, however, “True, in phantasy one can imagine everything. But critical theory does not envision an endless horizon of possibilities” (16). The goal for critical theory is always real freedom, “not to eternal bliss and inner freedom [but] to the already possible unfolding and fulfilment of needs and wants” (17).

13 Critical Theory and Science Fore Marcuse, there is a “fetishism of science” (17). Science is the exemplar of knowledge because of its objectivity. Yet, “scientific objectivity as such is never a sufficient guarantee of truth“ (ibid). Why is that? Perhaps not all ‘truth’ can be reduced to something quantifiable, measurable. How about human flourishing?

14 Critical Theory and Science Yet, in questioning the fetishism of science in today’s society, critical theory is not anti-science. It recognizes that “science had sufficiently demonstrated its ability to serve the development of the productive forces and to open up the new potentialities of a richer existence” (17). Science has a role to play; it cannot be assumed to be the theory of everything

15 The goal of Critical Theory The idea is to make social reality ‘rational’. This goal can be “attained only in social struggle” (12). “This is not the business of philosophy. The philosopher can only participate in social struggles insofar as he is not a professional philosopher” (12). Individuals determine that process. Marcuse warns against the abstract idea of ‘socialist man’ as being the basis for such determination (18).

16 Question of rhetoric Question: critical theory “identifies on one side the cause of freedom and on the other the cause of suppression and barbarism” (12)? Is this dichotomy valid?