Supervisors info:
Βάνα Νικολαΐδου-Κυριανίδου, Καθηγήτρια Τμήματος Φιλοσοφίας ΕΚΠΑ
Μαρία Χωριανοπούλου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Τμήματος Φιλοσοφίας ΕΚΠΑ
Κωνσταντίνος Ηροδότου, Εντεταλμένος Διδάσκων Τμήματος Φιλοσοφίας ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
This work focuses on the issue of correct reason, as presented in the philosophical works of two major thinkers of critical theory, Max Horkheimer and Jürgen Habermas. The goal is to highlight the perspectives of social emancipation that open up in each case. Initially, there is a brief presentation of the basic principles and the subject of critical theory, as well as an overview of the philosophical theories that influenced it, with references to the works of Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Georg Lukács. Then, two forms of reason are analyzed according to Horkheimer: objective reason, considered an inherent principle of reality, and instrumental reason, perceived as a tool with which we control nature. Against this dichotomy, a third form of reason emerges from Habermas' theory of communicative action: communicative reason, that is, reason based on communication and consensus. Finally, an attempt is made to compare these two theories in terms of their emancipatory determination, that is, their ability to lead us to a free society.
