Critique and utopia. From Kant to the Frankfurt School

This book has two main objectives: the first is to propose a new and different classification of the forms of critique as developed by the so-called Frankfurt School (or School of Frankfurt), closely related to the classic authors of this School; the second is to outline the profile of an innovative version of critique, the utopian critique, which is offered as a complement to the others. The two objectives are respectively pursued in the two parts of the volume, which present a natural logical connection. The reasons that led me to propose a utopian form of critique derive from the perception of a certain incompleteness of its prevalent forms, that is, a limited propositional capacity, which contrasts with the inescapable practical attitude of critical thought. Thus, the classification of the forms of critique that I propose aims to frame the attempt to integrate these with the dimension of utopia, often evoked but very rarely articulated constructively. I did not intend to make an exhaustive historical reconstruction of the concept of critique in Frankfurt theory, but only to highlight some recurring models of the critical method, in order to identify some limits and articulate a method that seems to me to be underdeveloped but useful for an effective critique.