specific types of linguistic and social behavior are illustrated here by specific
examples. Chapters five through seven relate these analyses to the method-
ological and philosophical underpinnings of critical theory. The final chapter
and the postscript round out the discussion by evaluating the status of recent
critical theory with respect to first-generation critical theory (looking back)
and poststructuralism, postmodernism, and feminism (looking ahead). The
issues treated here are more difficult and abstract, for they concern questions
of method (causal explanation versus understanding of meaning) and ques-
tions of ultimate grounding (conceptual difficulties implicit in ideology cri-
tique, and the transcendental/contextual status of reason itself). The aim is
to prepare the student in advance for these philosophical discussions by first
examining specific social problems and then addressing the presuppositions
underlying their possible conceptualization, explanation, and critical evalua-
tion.

An introductory book of this nature has to be extremely selective in its
choice of subject matter. For the sake of brevity, I have chosen to focus
primarily on what are unquestionably the four major representatives of critical
theory: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, and Jürgen
Habermas. Here, too, I have restricted my discussion to major texts. My
reason for doing so is pedagogical. The texts on which I have chosen to
comment are those which are most representative of critical theory and, in
some cases, most accessible to a general audience. The extensive inclusion
of Marcuse's work on Freud and technology seemed appropriate since these
texts are among critical theory's clearest contributions to these important
topics. By contrast, less discussion was devoted to Adorno's work even though
it represents what is arguably critical theory's most original and subtle analysis
of rationality and philosophy. In this case, the difficulties his texts pose for
even the most seasoned scholar recommended against a fuller treatment of
his philosophy. On the other extreme, I have discussed Habermas's thought
at great length. Aside from reflecting a personal bias, this decision can be
justified on the grounds that his thought represents the ripest manifestation
of the various tensions animating critical theory. His treatment of the theory/
practice problem as well as the dialectic of enlightenment harks back to his
predecessors while looking ahead to contemporary challenges to critical the-
ory posed by poststructuralism, postmodernism, and feminism.

Critical Theory and Philosophy thus provides an excellent accompani-
ment to those texts which would likely be taught at the undergraduate level. A companion anthology Critical Theory: The Essential Readings, also avail-
able from Paragon House, contains selections from many of the key works
discussed in the book.

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