[FRA:] critical theory syllabus reviewed

[Ralph Dumain]

Thanks to all for their suggestions.

The culture industry theme is an obvious one, one I've heard is used for 
general audiences without prior background, and I suppose this is so 
because the mass media and popular culture are central to everyone's lives.

I wanted to delay getting into this subject matter until later, but perhaps 
I am wrong.  I see the point of beginning from everyday life.

My conception was to begin with F.S. texts, and then reference background 
ideas of Kant, Hegel, etc. as the need occurs, in as economical a fashion 
as possible.  I suppose this could be done with lists of works or sections 
of works, encyclopedia articles, etc.

There is an odd paradox in my perspective on this project.  My target 
audience is people with varying prior knowledge of philosophy, and with 
varying knowledge of critical theory beginning with zero.  But it is very 
difficult to discuss critical theory with people unprepared for it, given 
the difficulty of so many primary texts.  Philosophically trained people 
who know only analytical philosophy have proven to be dispositionally 
incapable of grappling with critical theory.  People without preconceived 
notions may prove to be more receptive, on the one hand, but on the other, 
they may have difficulty with abstruse materials.  The paradox stems from 
my wish to begin with a perspective on philosophy, interdisciplinary 
research, and the critical vs. traditional approach to theory, in relation 
to social class and the division of labor.  This is not beginning with 
everyday life, but with general and abstract questions about philosophy, 
science, and their relation to social structure.  Perhaps I am being 
unrealistic.

We also have in mind Adorno's later lectures on philosophy, specifically 
the two volumes in English on Kant.  We find these works both profound and 
accessible.  I have not yet consulted Adorno's lectures on metaphysics, but 
I have the volume, and it's next on my reading list.

At 02:10 AM 2/9/2006 +0000, simon smith wrote:
>In message <Pine.LNX.4.64.0602081713240.17231 at hermes-2.csi.cam.ac.uk>, 
>Josh Robinson <jmr59 at hermes.cam.ac.uk> writes
>>On Wed, 8 Feb 2006, Ralph Dumain wrote:
>>
>>>This also reminds me of the problem of prerequisites.  How to approach 
>>>this material without a prior grounding in Kant, Hegel, and Marx at the 
>>>very least, plus perhaps Freud.
>>
>>Don't. Without at least some sort of grounding in at least the first 
>>three, it's difficult to see how students would get a great deal out of 
>>such an introduction.
>
>That's partly why my own approach would be to start with the essays that 
>deal most intimately with everyday life - 'The Culture Industry: 
>Enlightenment as mass deception'; selected pieces from 'Minima Moralia'; 
>and 'The Fetish Character of Music' and work outwards from there, finding 
>and drawing attention to Marx, Freud, Hegel and Kant as they appear relevant.
>
>Since reading Adorno always involves the skill of suspending in the mind 
>things not immediately or fully comprehended, some disorientation is 
>inevitable, so I don't see the need for the obvious 'introductory texts' 
>like 'Traditional and Critical Theory' and such, especially as this is a 
>'local, informal, introductory reading group'. That can surely come later.
>
>I recommended Hullot-Kentor's "Right Listening and a New Type of Human 
>Being" because it confronts head on the matter of Adorno's relationship to 
>American culture, the culture of the 'New Type of Human Being' to which 
>all of us, with Europe dragging very hard behind, belong. The essay uses 
>Adorno quite deliberately to 'raise the inner hackles' of its readers, and 
>I think would make an excellent provocation to discussion.
>
>--
>Simon Smith