"[A]ll theory (whether it calls itself critical or not) has a vantage-point: that it reveals itself is the distinction of critical theory." [Ioan Davies, "Time, Aesthetics, and Critical Theory," in John O'Neill (ed.), On Critical Theory 58-77, 59 (New York: Seabury Press, 1976)]

"The task of uncovering the cultural assumptions that dominate in a society . . . [is] the task of critical theory." [Thomas McLaughlin, Street Smarts and Critical Theory: Listening to the Vernacular (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996)]

"[E]ach society needs critics and artists to idealize a higher order of freedom than that which has been actually attained." [Ben Agger, "On Happiness and the Damaged Life," in John O'Neill (ed.), On Critical Theory 12-33, at 18 (New York: Seabury Press, 1976)]

Illuminations: Critical Theory Website
collection of articles, excerpts, and chapters from contemporary writers who focus on critical theory

Contemporary Critical Theory
theories of literary criticism

Rage & Hope

Habermas Links

The Philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno

Critical Theory Basics

Liberating the Critical in Critical Theory: Transcending Marcuse on Alienation, Art and the Humanities

Thomas McLaughlin, Street Smarts and Critical Theory: Listening to the Vernacular (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996)

Bibliography

Ben Agger, Critical Social Theories: An Introduction (1998)

Michael Payne, et.al. (eds.), A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory (1998)

Christopher Norris, Against Relativism: Philosophy of Science, Deconstruction, and Critical Theory (1997)

Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Contingencies of Value: Alternative Perspectives for Critical Theory (1988)

Geoffrey Thurley, Counter-Modernism in Current Critical Theory (1983)

Colin N. Manlove, Critical Thinking: A Guide to Interpreting Literary Texts (1989)

Meyer Howard Abrams, Doing Things With Texts: Essays in Criticism and Critical Theory (1991)

Steven Lynn, Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature With Critical Theory (1997)

Ken M. Newton, Interpreting the Text : A Critical Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Literary Interpretion (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990)

Jere Paul Surber, Culture and Critique: An Introduction to the Critical Discourses of Cultural Studies (1998)

David M. Rasmussen (ed.), The Handbook of Critical Theory (1996)

Dwight Eddins (ed.), The Emperor Redressed: Critiquing Critical Theory (1995)

Bruce Henricksen & Thais Morgan (eds.), Reorientations: Critical Theories and Pedagogies (1990)

Dominick LaCapra, Soundings in Critical Theory (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989)

Brian Fay, Critical Social Science: Liberation and Its Limits (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987)

Paul Connerton, The Tragedy of Enlightenment: An Essay on the Frankfurt School (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980)

David Held, Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas (Berkerley: University of California Press, 1980)

Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research, 1923-1950 (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1973)

John O'Neill (ed.), On Critical Theory (New York: Seabury Press, 1976)

Contents Page