A Brief Look at Critical Theory

Critical Theory: Social and economic oppression of a group of individuals who eventually recognize their oppression and strive change in order to eliminate the oppression.

With regards to the validity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a person who believes in the religious position of fideism would base their entire argument on a passage of the Bible. For instance, they might quote, “‘For my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”1 In turn, they would reach an interpretation of these verses which presents the Lord as a possessor of vastly more knowledge than mankind. This is why His thoughts and methods are above our discernment because we cannot always understand them. The strength of this philosophical ideology is that it places the

In the education world, the topic of critical pedagogy will be introduced to many. Before one can discuss critical pedagogy, one must know the meaning of it. Critical pedagogy is known to many as the study of oppression in education. It includes how issues of sex, race, gender, culture, and other social factors shape education. Critical pedagogy is also known by many as how teaching and learning takes place. An example of critical pedagogy is when students are able to ask why and respond or challenge questions that are asked in a free manner. When thinking of critical pedagogy, one must think of going beyond the first level of the meaning of a word, topic, or issue.

Critical theory is divided into three sub-theories: Max Horkheimer’s emancipatory normative and critical thinking playing a role in the formation of democracy; Herbert Marcuse’s metaphilosophy and use of reasoning. The central aim of Horkheimer’s critical theory was the formation of a democratic state where the society constitutes of rational individuals with conscious control over the matters of both public and private life. He asserted in the Traditional and Critical theory (Ingram), individuals should become producers of their social life in totality. This is the path set up for others to follow to question the anti-democratic trend in then fascist society. Hence, Critical theory took on different turn focusing on the close bond between the state and the market in capitalism. This is an expansion of Marxian criticism of the

John Schmidt is an employee who injured his hand doing the movement of a piece of wood through a table saw while in the production shop. John claims that the company is to bless because the machine was not safe for use. His manager, foreman and the Safety Department are all involved in the investigation. A Critical Analysis in process to determine who was at fault and what measures could have prevented issue occurrence and the precautions which can be implemented to prevent a reoccurrence.

The Critical paradigm reflects my worldview, and is a rational lens to perceive reality. The Critical paradigm is concerned with patterns of dominance and power relations, which ultimately results in alienation. In the past, I have been marginalized and I would not inflict that pain on anyone. My goal in life is educate and raise awareness, and to emancipate those who are oppressed due to power imbalances. These specific goals of mine closely align with the Critical theory. My own views correspond with the the Meta-Theoretical considerations of this theory.

Critical theory is an idea that speaks to the individual desire for achieving success as defined by the individual and not the society. It lends itself more to finding out why there are paradoxes in society.

Karl Marx is the first in a series of 19th and 20th century theorists who started the call for an empirical approach to social science. Theorizing about the rise of modernity accompanied by the decline in traditional societies and advocating for a change in the means of production in order to enable social justice. Marx’s theories on modernity reveals his beliefs of modern society as being influenced by the advancement of productive forces of modern industry and the relationships of production between the capitalist and the wage laborers. The concept of modernity refers to a post-feudal historical period that is characterized by the move away from feudalism and toward capitalism. Modernity focuses on the affects that the rise of capitalism has had on social relations, and notes Karl Marx and Max Weber as influential theorists commenting on this. The quick advancement of major innovations after the Enlightenment period known as modernity stood in stark contrast to the incremental development of even the most complex pre-modern societies, which saw productive forces developing at a much slower pace, over hundreds or thousands of years as compared to modern times, with swift growth and change. This alarming contrast fascinated Marx who traced the spawning of modern capitalism in the Communist Manifesto, citing this record speed as the heat which generated the creation of the global division of labor and a greater variety of productive forces than anytime before. Ultimately,

Along with this, theorists came to determine [or hypothesize] what the next years will be or what will become from the seemingly imperfect world. Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel, although having differences in opinion, based on different times and ‘awareness’, focused on concern for the human condition. As discussed below, these theorists also have some very distinctive similarities and will be explained in detail. In particular, their ideas amount to what can be classified as a ‘diagnosis’ of modernity: what is happening; why it is happening; where will it take humanity; and in some cases where society should go.

The notion of ‘critical’ is primarily associated with the critical theory of the Frankfurt School where social theory should be oriented towards critiquing and changing society.

Critical theory states that the above theory is structurally flawed in that all theory that relates to the social cannot be value free. Anything that impacts people has value and theories that support and propagate the current system are valued by the system rather than the community. Critical theory is based in suspicion of old ideas and seeks to go beyond defining the social. It focuses on finding issues and finding ways to fix those issues. This mentality seeks to challenge power structures and creating a just social world.

Critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form judgements. As individuals’ we think for a purpose based on our point of views created by assumptions leading to implications and consequences. We use information such as data, facts, and experiences to interpret and create a path to answer outstanding questions. Dr. Richard Paul definition of critical thinking is the “ability to think about one’s thinking in such a way as, to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, to recast the thinking in improved forms” (Eichhorn, N.d.). This paper will attempt to analyze the memorandum entitled, The Valedictorian of University of Maryland drops out of school two weeks before graduation, using the eight steps of the Army Management Staff College’s (AMSC) critical thinking model. The AMSC stance on critical thinking includes the capability to characterize the elementary principles of reasoning, which include purpose, question, information, assumption, interpretation, concepts, implications, and point of view. These principles are than assessed using “universal intellectual criteria and standards”, such as clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, and logicalness (Eichhorn, n.d.). The combination reasoning principles, intellectual criteria and standards allow individuals to prevent their taking to become complacent and to ensure that their thinking displays a mastery of strong intellectual knowledge, skills, and

The critical theory came from a study by a group of sociologists at the University of Frankfort in Germany who were also know as the Frankfurt school. The Frankfurt school is known for its scholars that are always after developing the critical theory and popularizing the dialectical method of learning by questioning and interrogating the society’s contradictions, and is mostly associated with the work of max Horkheimer. The school or institute was founded by Marxist scholar carl Grunberg in 1923, and initially financed by another Marxist scholar, Felix Weil. Critical theory as it is known today can be traced to Marx's critique of

Critical realism has been formed out of frustration with positivism and constructivism and the associated limitations of the two concepts. Founded by Bhaskar through a

Critical Theory as a method of inquiry is widely used when questioning power structures. The concern with changing a system, may it be economic, social or political. Higgs and Smith (2015:67). According to Higgs and Smith (2015:67), critical theory originates in the 1930’s through German philosophy. The first people to get involved were mostly concerned with the problems of Nazism. Critical theory, from the start, was not just concerned with trying to resist the Nazis, critical theory believes that all power structures are dangerous and destructive. Critical theory believes that power structures not only drive our economic and social life but