PHIL 008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Frankfurt School, Max Horkheimer, Political Philosophy

• School: Pasadena City College
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 008
• Professor: Feser

Document Summary

Narrow and broad meaning in philosophy and history of the social sciences. Narrow: frankfurt school (1929-1930; start of institute for social research in. Germany; inaugural lecture horkheimer: critical theory distinguished form traditional theory by practical and normative purposes, aim: explain and transform all circumstances that enslave human beings. Broad: any philosophical approach that shares similar aims. Common ground: providing descriptive and normative bases for social inquiry aimed at decreasing enslavement of and increasing freedom for human beings. Critical theory combines empirical social enquiry and normative philosophical argumentation(ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of history and of science) Parameter conformity study: subjects" obedience to instruction/order to inflict pain/punishments to others. Labels: slight shock, strong shock, intense shock, dangers severe shock, xxx. Instruction: memory study: experiments subject, experimenter, another subject (accomplice) Recall task: pairwise word presented during training period, then word completion task. Wrong response; administering shock, intensified after each new incorrect answer.