Introduction: Suffering
1. Critique
2. Self
3. Society
4. Art
5. Religion
Conclusion: Philosophy, Critical Theory and the Present
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Martin Shuster is Professor of Philosophy and the Isaac Swift Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In addition to many journal articles, public essays, and edited volumes, he is the author of Autonomy after Auschwitz: Adorno, German Idealism, and Modernity (2014), New Television: The Aesthetics and Politics of a Genre (2017), and How to Measure a World? A Philosophy of Judaism (2021).
“From its roots in the Weimar Republic to our own troubled times, critical theory has offered some of the most sophisticated and influential accounts of modern society’s challenges. This lucid and powerfully argued book introduces new readers to this tradition while providing plenty of interesting perspectives for more seasoned ones.” – Espen Hammer, Temple University
“Under the guise of an introduction, Shuster has in fact provided a sustained and multifaceted argument for identifying needless suffering as the cynosure from which radiates the multifarious philosophical and sociological productions attributed to Frankfurt School Critical Theory. This immensely informative and at times refreshingly quirky study will prove enlightening to the curious novice and provocative to the seasoned scholar.” – Henry W. Pickford, Duke University
“This book is an invaluable resource for students new to the ideas of the Frankfurt School. Providing a lucid and engaging introduction to difficult thinkers and obscure concepts, Martin Shuster shows why critical theory matters today and what lessons it may hold for the future.” – Robyn Marasco, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY
