Skepticism, Modernity and Critical Theory: Critical Theory in Philosophical Context [Paperback]

This book examines the issue of philosophical skepticism in the light of its relevance for the critique of modernity associated with the Frankfurt School. It situates the problem of skepticism in the context of the history of philosophy and explores its significance for the modern crisis of reason manifested in post-Kantian philosophy, which presaged the critical turn toward social theory.PART I: SKEPTICISM AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY Idealism, Metacritique and Ancient Skepticism On the Origins of Modern Scepticism: Descartes, Doubt and Certainty PART II: SKEPTICISM AND IDEALISM The Question of Legitimacy: Skepticism, Law and Transcendental Idealism Hegel and self-completing skepticism PART III: SKEPTICISM AND THE CRITIQUE OF MODERNITY Skepticism, Nihilism and the Crisis of Rationality Negative Dialectics and the Fate of Critical TheoryPHILIP WALSH is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at the State University of New York, College at Cortland, where he teaches social theory. He has published articles on Hegel and Nietzsche and is the co-editor (with Davis Schmeiderman) of the collection Re-Taking the Universe: William S. Burroughs in the Age of Globalization (2004).