Critical Theory: The Frankfurt School

Marxism is a critical perspective based off of the ideas of Karl Marx, with Marx’s most famous work being the Communist Manifesto. This book illustrates

Critical Theory: Social and economic oppression of a group of individuals who eventually recognize their oppression and strive change in order to eliminate the oppression.

Critical race theory recognizes that in a society, the racism is inevitable which leads to the exploitation of people of inferior races in the hand of people of superior race. The theory recognizes that the power structure in the society leads to the exploitation of coloured people by white people.

The first step is to separate what one believes from that one knows, and to separate what is from what must be. (Hinchey, 5) By doing this, one is able to begin to deconstruct the assumptions about the system in which we operate, which allows the individual to see the system as custom instead of irrefutable law. The next step in critical theory is

Marx, Durkheim, and Weber together comprise the historical core of the sociological tradition. While they each come from very different perspectives and offer profound contributions to the field, they each have tried to address problems associated with the advent of modernity. The economy is a fundamental part of contemporary society because it’s a social institution. It also contributes to every aspect of

Critical theory, on the other hand, as propounded by Robert Cox is a rejoinder to Neo-realism. According to Mark Rupert, Neo-Realism “only describes patterns in the operation of power among States without inquiring as to the social relations through which that power is produced.” Critical theory assumes that power is not given in the form of accumulated material capabilities; in fact, it is a product of social processes. Robert Cox adopted a method of “historical structures” in which “state power ceases to be sole explanatory factor and becomes part of what is to be explained”.

Subsequent theories of class have been chiefly concerned with revising, refuting, or providing an alternative to Marxism . Early in the 20th century, German sociologist Max weber questioned the importance of social classes in the political development of

Critical thinking’s meaning to me is a very well-disciplined thinking process of an individual who skillfully, analyzing and evaluating. A process from information gathered from information given to an individual. It also is coming from communication, observations and past experiences that the individual has experienced from the past. Critical thinking allows you to think and ask yourself the right questions so that you can reach the best conclusion.

Long before our time, two prominent German philosophers emerged at the forefront of ideology and thinking. These two men were Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche who pioneered the idea of truths, religion, reality, etc. Karl Marx’s essay, “The German Ideology,” otherwise known as Marxism, focused upon the materialistic processes that brought life into our world and the abuse of the burgeouse on the proletariat. This theory later went on to found the core beliefs of communism and played a fundamental role in the world. His theory raised questions of equality, justice, and division of labor which became

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels collaborated to produce The German Ideology, which was one of the classic texts generated by the two. Even though The German Ideology stands our as one of the major texts produced by the two, it was never published during Marx’s lifetime. This was a clear expression of the theory of history by Marx and its associated materialist metaphysics. One of the main reasons this text is a classic text by these philosophers is the fact that it introduces students to the basic tenets of the philosopher’s approach. Notably, Karl Marx produced The German Ideology in 1846 as a critique of George Friedrich Hegel and his followers in Germany. The philosophers sought to differentiate their concept of socialism from existing ones and exhibit how socialism emerges ordinarily from the social conflicts embedded in capitalism.

The theorists use Marxism as the central pillar to ‘fix’ and develop the orthodox approach into Neo-Marxist though. However, as Karl Marx saw alienation of the working class by the bourgeois in the growing industrialized west and uprising of the former class against the latter as a remedy to the problem of the capitalist state, the proponents of the Frankfurt school essentially sought emancipation and transformation from the oppressing and alienating capitalism into a ‘real democracy”

Critical thinking is the purposeful and reflective judgment about what to believe or what to do in response to our observations, experience, verbal or written expressions, or arguements. It involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed, concerning a given inference or argument, determining whether there is

Karl Marx and Max Weber both were German economist. Karl Marx and Max Weber said about capitalism and social class. However their theories have different concepts. Max Weber and Karl Marx had a variance of view over what was the driving force behind changes in society.

Just like Marx, Max Weber is a German sociologist and philosopher and his ideas have always influenced the society in many ways. He is referred to as one of the founding fathers of modern sociology. He has given many ground breaking theories like theory of bureaucracy and theory of social class. His theories are important because he helped us to understand the nature of society. He disagreed with the Marxian understanding of class and Auguste Comte's theory of positivism.

According to this theory, critical awareness requires recognition that the social status of an individual, including educational and economic prospects and opportunities, is largely result from its race, gender, and class so the critical theorists want to raise the consciousness of these people dealing with education, knowledge, the school, and teaching and learning. Furthermore, they see the curriculum into 2 parts: the official curriculum which requires teaching subjects and specific skills, and the Hidden curriculum which imposes approved behaviors and attitudes on students through the school environment. They believe that teachers should empower themselves, because they can transform schools into democratic public spheres.