Scott reviewed The dialectical imagination by Martin Jay (Weimar and now ;)
Review of 'The dialectical imagination' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I was very impressed by Martin Jay's work, but it's downfall is that fact that his book, like much of the Frankfurt School's own work, was more inaccessible than it needed to be. I also think his respect for his subjects led him to not be critical enough to point out the flaws in their theories. The Frankfurt School was supposedly all about praxis and social change, but more so than not didn't do much of either. However, they certainly have had a huge impact on academia and social theory, so their legacy is important to understand. And here's what I wrote for class:
In the years after World War One and the Russian revolution, Marxist thinkers in Europe faced an existential reckoning. As Stalin implemented “socialism in one country” and fascism spread throughout Europe, it was clear that prospects for a workers’ revolution was increasingly unlikely. Furthermore, Marxism was …
I was very impressed by Martin Jay's work, but it's downfall is that fact that his book, like much of the Frankfurt School's own work, was more inaccessible than it needed to be. I also think his respect for his subjects led him to not be critical enough to point out the flaws in their theories. The Frankfurt School was supposedly all about praxis and social change, but more so than not didn't do much of either. However, they certainly have had a huge impact on academia and social theory, so their legacy is important to understand. And here's what I wrote for class:
In the years after World War One and the Russian revolution, Marxist thinkers in Europe faced an existential reckoning. As Stalin implemented “socialism in one country” and fascism spread throughout Europe, it was clear that prospects for a workers’ revolution was increasingly unlikely. Furthermore, Marxism was being vulgarized by thinkers focusing on economism and the idea that the means of productions determined the superstructure of society. In attempting to grapple with these new developments, Marxist theorists turned to a variety of tools, which have had a lasting impact in how scholars interpret the world today.
One such tool was Marx’s rediscovered Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Young Marx’s philosophical manuscripts and their concern with human nature provided a Marx-based rebuttal to vulgar Marxists and their focus on scientific materialism. As Martin Jay points out, it also affirmed arguments made previously by Georg Lukács and Karl Korsch. The scholars of the Frankfurt School were similarly interested in moving Marxism into a negative, critical theory. Critical theory was a means to rejuvenating Marxism and creating social change. It was concerned with reason, praxis and nonidentity. The means were a dialectical analysis to push society in a more rational direction. As embodied by praxis, both theory and action were required, holding out a proposition of a better future while negating the present.
An interesting move in the Frankfurt School’s theory was the addition of psychoanalysis as a tool to understanding human’s “essential nature.” In particular, Freud’s theories on psychosexual development helped explain the actions of the bourgeoisie and, for Marcuse, provided a route to liberation through ending genital repression.
