POLT 230 - The Odyssey of Critical Theory

FC SSCI

4 credits
Critical theory names a tradition of thinking which seeks to understand the world in order to change it for the better. This course provides a survey of this tradition of thought beginning from the influential critiques of the Enlightenment by Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche. We then move to twentieth century critical theories of the Frankfurt School, with a focus on the writings of Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse. The course will trace the shifts within critical theory’s long odyssey, while interrogating the possibilities and limits of this tradition today. Recommended preparation: previous exposure to political theory, Marxist theory, and/or European intellectual history.

This course is appropriate for new students.