Critique is a
method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral
discourse
Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...
. Although critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgment,
[ Rodolphe Gasché (2007]
''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy''
pp. 12–13 quote: it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt.
The contemporary sense of critique has been largely influenced by the
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
critique of prejudice and authority, which championed the emancipation and autonomy from religious and political authorities.
The term ''critique'' derives, via French, from (), meaning "the faculty of judging", that is, discerning the value of persons or things.
Critique is also known as major
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premis ...
, as opposed to minor
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premis ...
or
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to ...
s.
Critique in philosophy
Philosophy is the application of critical thought, and is the disciplined practice of processing the ''theory/praxis problem''. In
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Som ...
contexts, such as law or academics, critique is most influenced by
Kant's use of the term to mean a reflective examination of the validity and limits of a human capacity or of a set of philosophical claims. This has been extended in
modern philosophy to mean a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of a
concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...
, a
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...
, a
discipline, or an approach and/or attempt to understand the limitations and
validity
Validity or Valid may refer to:
Science/mathematics/statistics:
* Validity (logic), a property of a logical argument
* Scientific:
** Internal validity, the validity of causal inferences within scientific studies, usually based on experiments
...
of that. A ''critical perspective'', in this sense, is the opposite of a
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
tic one. Kant wrote:
Later thinkers such as
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
used the word 'critique' in a broader way than Kant's sense of the word, to mean the systematic inquiry into the limits of a
doctrine
Doctrine (from la, Wikt:doctrina, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given ...
or ''set'' of concepts. This referential expansion led, for instance, to the formulation of the idea of social critique, such as arose after
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's theoretical work delineated in his ''
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy'' (1859), which was a critique of the then-current models of economic theory and thought of that time. Further critique can then be applied after the fact, by using thorough critique as a basis for new argument. The idea of ''critique'' is elemental to legal, aesthetic, and literary theory and such practices, such as in the analysis and evaluation of
writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...
s such as pictorial, musical, or expanded textual works.
Critique vs criticism
In French, German, or Italian, no distinction is drawn between 'critique' and '
criticism': the two words both translate as ''critique'', ''Kritik'', and ''critica'', respectively.
[ Gianni Vattimobr>''Postmodern criticism: postmodern critique'']
in David Wood (1990) ''Writing the future'', pp. 57–58 In the English language, according to philosopher
Gianni Vattimo, ''criticism'' is used more frequently to denote
literary criticism or
art criticism, that is, the interpretation and evaluation of literature and art; while ''critique'' may refer to more general and profound writing as
Kant's ''
Critique of Pure Reason''.
Another proposed distinction is that ''critique'' is never personalized nor ''
ad hominem
''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious.
Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some othe ...
'', but is instead the analyses of the structure of the thought in the content of the item critiqued.
This analysis then offers by way of the critique method either a rebuttal or a suggestion of further expansion upon the problems presented by the topic of that specific written or oral argumentation. Even authors that believe there might be a distinction suggest that there is some ambiguity that is still unresolved.
Critical theory
Marx's work inspired the '
Frankfurt School' of
critical theory
A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from s ...
, now best exemplified in the work of
Jürgen Habermas. This, in turn, helped inspire the
cultural studies form of social critique, which treats cultural products and their reception as evidence of wider social ills such as
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
or
gender bias
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
. Social critique has been further extended in the work of
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and ho ...
and of Catholic philosopher
Alasdair MacIntyre.
[Alasdair MacIntyre, ''After Virtue'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dama Press, 1981.] In their different and radically contrasting ways, MacIntyre and Foucault go well beyond the original Kantian meaning of the term ''critique'' in contesting legitimatory accounts of social power. Critique as critical theory has also led to the emergence of
critical pedagogy, exemplified by
Paulo Freire,
bell hooks, and others.
See also
*
Constructive criticism
*
Critical philosophy
The critical philosophy (german: kritische Philosophie) movement, attributed to Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), sees the primary task of philosophy as criticism rather than justification of knowledge. Criticism, for Kant, meant judging as to the p ...
*
Critical theory
A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from s ...
*
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased an ...
*
Criticism
*
Criticism of science
*
Criticism of science journalism
*
Critique of political economy
*
Critique of work
*
Dance critique
Dance criticism in the United States is the act of producing a written or spoken review of a dance performance (often ballet, modern dance, or contemporary dance). It may also refer to the report itself, which may act as an archived review, critiq ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Aesthetics
Criticism