Critical Social Theory

by Simpson, Gary M.

• ISBN13: 9780800629168
• ISBN10: 0800629167
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Pub

Summary

Simpson ably introduces critical social theory, the German-born intellectual movement that has spawned sharp criticisms of modernity, its use of reason, and our highly technological, bureaucratic culture. Chapter 1 recounts the emergence of critical social theory within the Frankfurt School of Social Research and the theological stirrings that the Frankfurt project sparked, especially in Benjamin and Tillich. Chapter 2 explores Jurgen Habermas's reconception and expansion of critical social theory, especially his ideas about hermeneutics, praxis, and communicative action. Finally, in chapter 3 Simpson shows how theologians have employed critical social theory in fundamental, systematic, and practical theology, and he offers his own constructive proposal for their future interaction. Simpson's book will be invaluable for understanding this important intellectual development.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Paul Lakeland
Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xii
Part One. Critical Social Theory and Christian Imagination--Genesis and Engagement
Horkheimer: The Idea of Critical Social Theory	3	(24)
The Genesis of Sociology	5	(3)
Traditional ``Positivist'' Theory	8	(9)
Toward ``Critical'' Theory	17	(10)
Tillich: Christian Engagement with Critical Social Theory	27	(28)
An Interpretive Conflict	27	(6)
Engagement in Critical Reverence	33	(2)
Rational Criticism and Prophetic Imagination	35	(11)
The Form of Grace and the Protestant Congregation	46	(4)
The Critique of Oracular Prophetism	50	(5)
Part Two. Enter Habermas--The Communicative Imagination
Criticism: The Transformation of Critique	55	(17)
Abandoning a Core Conviction	56	(3)
The Critique of Instrumental Reason	59	(7)
The Transformation of Critique	66	(6)
Theory: The Theory of Communicative Reason and Action	72	(29)
The Modern Philosophy of the Subject	74	(4)
The Linguistic Turn	78	(9)
The Communicative Paradigm	87	(7)
Communicative Ethics	94	(7)
Society: Civil Society and Deliberative Democracy	101	(24)
A Democratic Public Sphere	102	(4)
Lifeworld and Systems	106	(8)
Growing Deliberative Democracy	114	(11)
Part Three. Prophetic Reason and Communicative Imagination
Civil Society and Congregations as Prophetic Public Companions	125	(21)
Harvesting the Fruits of Our Inquiry	125	(9)
Setting the Table	134	(12)
Notes	146	(23)
Glossary	169	(4)
Index	173