Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1945–2015
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1945–2015
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Analytic Philosophy
- Part II Continental Philosophy
- Section Five Central Movements and Issues
- Section Six Continental Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy
- 33 The Concept of Autonomy in the History of the Frankfurt School
- 34 Emerging Ethics
- 35 Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy as First Philosophy
- 36 Critical Environmental Philosophy
- 37 Philosophy of Technology
- 38 Philosophy of Education and the “Education of Reason”
- Section Seven Continental Aesthetics and Philosophy of Religion
- Part III Bridge Builders, Border Crossers, Synthesizers, and Comparative Philosophy
- Part IV Epilogue: On the Philosophy of the History of Philosophy
- References
- Index
33 - The Concept of Autonomy in the History of the Frankfurt School
from Section Six - Continental Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2019
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1945–2015
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1945–2015
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Analytic Philosophy
- Part II Continental Philosophy
- Section Five Central Movements and Issues
- Section Six Continental Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy
- 33 The Concept of Autonomy in the History of the Frankfurt School
- 34 Emerging Ethics
- 35 Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy as First Philosophy
- 36 Critical Environmental Philosophy
- 37 Philosophy of Technology
- 38 Philosophy of Education and the “Education of Reason”
- Section Seven Continental Aesthetics and Philosophy of Religion
- Part III Bridge Builders, Border Crossers, Synthesizers, and Comparative Philosophy
- Part IV Epilogue: On the Philosophy of the History of Philosophy
- References
- Index
Summary
An interest in the meaning and actuality of autonomy is fundamental to the work of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Across its history, from the 1930s to the present, members of the Frankfurt School have construed autonomy variously, and sometimes simultaneously, as an ideological delusion, as a lost possibility, as desirable yet utopian, and as the realizable objective of emancipating social theory. The complex variety of ways in which these characterizations have been reworked, revised, and abandoned have contributed more than anything else to the development of Frankfurt School theory. That development has seen autonomy move from a position of ambivalent significance to one where it now holds a fully positive value.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1945–2015 , pp. 445 - 457Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019