FRANKFURT SCHOOL
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1337 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
A group of German philosophers and sociologists who took up “Marx's highly political exemplar of critical theory” and reformulated it “into a research program at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research which began its work in the 1920's. The three main contributors to the early work of the ”Frankfurt school“ were HORKHEIMER, ADORNO and MARCUSE”(M. JACKSON, 2000, p. 30-31)
I. CRAIB, as quoted by Jackson states: “…the Frankfurt theorists are concerned with the way the system dominates: with the ways in which it forces, manipulates, blinds or fools people into ensuring its reproduction and continuation”(Ibid)
After the nazi period and Template:Ency entity, the Frankfurt School resumed its activities, and its work was continued by the German philosopher J rgen HABERMAS. It started to gather a growing influence, particularly in France with P. BOURDIEU (1989, 2000, 2001) M. FOUCAULT, J.F. LYOTARD, F. DERRIDA, and others.
M. Jackson offers a quite interesting panorama about the influence of the Frankfurt School in contemporary social theory, even if its work cannot be plainly identified as systemic (2000, p. 30-42)
He observes anyhow that the latest phase to date of german social thought “is found in LUHMANN's highly technocratic, all-embracing and despairing version of systems theory . In this, instrumental reason is completely triumphant as everything is subject to the rational requirements of the societal system”.
And “Humanity is dragged in the wake of the system”(Ibid, p. 36). A comparison with insect societies seems rather ominous.
See also
Sociality, Stigmergy, Swarm intelligence