This course will examine the social and political thought of the Frankfurt School and Habermas. After a brief look at the formation and history of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, the first part of the course will examine some of the major themes of the Frankfurt School's brand of 'critical theory'. Themes will include: Marxism; Weber and the philosophy of history; Freudian psychoanalysis; aesthetics, art and the culture industry; and the notion of a critical theory of society. The work of theorists such as Horkheimer, Adorno and Marcuse will be discussed. The second part of the course will look in more detail at the work of Jurgen Habermas, the latest and most systematic of the thinkers associated with the Frankfurt School. We shall consider Habermas's reformulation of critical theory, his account of knowledge and human interests and his theory of communication.

• Demonstrate knowledge of central thinkers of the Frankfurt School including Habermas.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the intellectual and historical background of the ideas of Frankfurt School thinkers.
• Demonstrate knowledge of major aspects of the ‘critical theory' of the Frankfurt School, including their understanding of history, art and the culture industry, psychoanalysis, societal modernisation and rationalisation.
• Continue to develop strong oral presentation, research, writing, critical and analytical skills.

Essay (45%), second assignment (45%) and tutorial work (10%).

Students will be expected to spend an average of seven hours per week in addition to three contact hours (two hours of lectures, one hour tutorial) in order to prepare for tutorials, conduct research and write the written assignments as well as to prepare for the final examination.

Lectures will be taped.

Two first-year courses in Political Science, or Sociology, or Philosophy or with the permission of the lecturer.

West, D. An Introduction to Continental Philosophy, 1996.

Held, D. Introduction to Critical Theory, 1980.