ABSTRACT
The chapter tracks, and reflects upon, how first- and second-generation Frankfurt School critical theorists have responded to the question of relativism. The problem of relativism, it is argued, has haunted the Marxist tradition to which critical theory belongs. In classical Marxism, beliefs, insofar as they are considered ideological, are relativized to their social context of origin. In early critical theory, the focus was largely on “immanent critique,” the attempt to offer rational social critique by appealing to existing norms and standards. In later versions of critical theory, especially that of Jürgen Habermas, the orientation has been more strongly towards notions of universal validity, transcending all local standards. It is argued that, while early critical theory powerfully targeted specific social ills, it suffered from an inability to extricate itself fully from contextualism. Later critical theory, on the other hand, in its effort to transcend contextual constraints, stands in danger of forfeiting the critical impulse that animated the early generation.
