I thought it was the idea that humanity is enslaved by culture, but it's supposedly more than that.
Use food analogies if you must.
kill whitey
>>80670330
I know that's an outcome, but what is it arguing?
>>80670759
literally nothing is true and correct
you can break down anything by criticizing it enough
translation:social norms are bad stick a dildo up your ass and give a dog a blowjob
>>80671281
But isn't that just nihilism, or is that just the idea that nothing matters?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8wQceQq_Y
Unrelated:
There's a principle that says that if you post a link to a youtube vid or a blog instead of writing down the arguments yourself, you don't really believe in that argument.
While I partly agree to this principle, I'd rather introduce you to Bill Whittle since he can explain better.
>>80670149
Critical theory: be critical and questioning of everything, even yourself
T. Liberal arts student
Seriously that's pretty much it. I prefer post structuralism myself.
Basically it's first intellectually paralyzing yourself with moral relativism
>"well yeah they shit in their roads and eat human hearts but what makes our culture any better than theirs?"
the next is attacking and criticizing each and every aspect of western culture
>"that's racists/sexist/misogynist/homophobic/transphobic/islamophobic/xenophobic/patriarchal etc."
forget that these two aspects seem to contradict each other (apparently you can't criticize the most backwards societies on earth but not wanting trannies in your bathroom makes you literally hitler wtf)
It's true, that there's no objective meaning in the world. No gods or high moral truths, they're all human inventions. But the masses need meaning, they need structure, or they fall into nihilism and degeneracy. This is why Jews are pushing hard on programs and education that reveal the meaninglessness of the world. Every strong society needs an upper caste of people who acknowledge the emptiness of the world, but strive to create meaning anyway. Who create structure, morals, truth, out of the nothingness of the world, to lead the masses towards the future.
A strong racially aware Fascist state to guard the common man from the toxicity of nihilism. To pull the wool over their eyes, to keep them productive and in line.
>>80672950
Kill yourself retard.
>>80672923
Lol no you can criticise shit cultures and you can critique shit like queer theory or cultural appropriation for using absolutist, modernist language with critical theory.
I got deep into that shit in college.
You're right if you believe it, but nothing is right so why believe it?
It's a paradox and one I would recommend everyone studies.
It was part of a huge revelation for me that has opened my eyes to some crazy ways the universe works. (don't look at the stars too much, things aren't supposed to move up there)
>>80672147
He doesn't exactly explain what it is though, he just sort of explains what it does and how it was used.
It seems that, essentially the concept isn't a theory, but a strategy of placing down an argument and criticize everything involving it until people believe it's true.
>>80674021
Yeah I just listened to it and it was garbage. Just Frankfurt School conspiracy bullshit.
Anyone in this thread who has mentioned moral relativity or the rejection of objective truth is on the right track. Anyone who thinks its a communist plot to kill whitey is overdosing or red pills.
>>80672950
Sounds like just having a national philosophy would keep a society from nihilism.
>>80674328
But is it simply moral relativism? That seems like a separate concept though I guess it would come from the same people.
Morale Relativism is bullshit though, even a fedora tipping atheist can see morality has a human basis.
But I guess Marxists truly believe humanity is a blank slate.
>>80674021
>>80674328
Ok, then what good is it for?
I agree on moral relativity, but the rejection of OBJECTIVE truth?
Maybe in the context of flat earth versus sphere earth.
I assume the context of objective truth in critical theory are statistics about crime, IQ, etc.
Are those the objective truths you recommend questioning and/or rejecting?
>>80671534
Nihilism isn't that nothing matters, it's that nothing has any higher spiritual purpose. So either make up your own or be a bitch, most "nihilist" go for the latter.
>>80674923
Just read the wiki article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
And to be honest, I've managed to confuse myself and include post structuralism.
>>80671281
>literally nothing is true and correct
If you have two apples and collect two more, you now have four apples. Fact.
>you can break down anything by criticizing it enough
Please do so to my previous statement.
>>80675869
>Mathematics is made up by privileged white men and instead of doing math we should be open to other cultural methods of thinking that are more emotional and less rational.
How's this? Seems like something they'd say.
>>80674923
I'm just saying that he didn't quite explain what critical theory was, he just said it was used to attack the core idea of an American and divided people into identity politics. It was indeed more of an explanation of frankfurt infiltrating America to try and spark the revolution Marx wanted rather than explain what the concept is.
>agreeing on moral relativism
it's bullshit, humans aren't blank slates, as animals we have functions, instincts and drives that shape our morality. I can claim a culture is superior objectively.
>rejection of objective truth
Go more into this, because I'm trying to figure out what they man by this. In science there is no absolute truth due to the uncertainty principle, but repeatably tested queries result in truths.
Does critical theory deny objective truth in such instances even if they've been proven?
>>80670149
>I thought it was the idea that humanity is enslaved by culture, but it's supposedly more than that.
Well, if you accept that culture enslaves humanity, then culture must be destroyed in the name of human freedom. So Critical Theory is, by implication, dedicated to the destruction of all cultures.
The founding practitioners of Critical Theory sought to blend Marx's style of social critique with Freudian Psychoanalysis. They considered traditional cultures and values to be nothing more than the collective neuroses of society. Just as Freudian Psychoanalysis sought to deconstruct individual neuroses, proponents of Critical Theory sought to use Marxist social critiques as a tool to deconstruct peoples' cultures and value systems.
>>80677093
So if they believe cultures are inherently wrong because humans are misguided then why claim all cultures are relative?
Clearly they'd have the idea that X culture (that uses le marxism) is superior?
>>80676334
On objective truth.
I've stated it too simply. Critical theory isn't about rejecting imperical facts like the number of apples someone has as another anon suggested. It's about removing the idea that objective truths can be revealed from social science. To relate this to a more everyday scenario, don't just 100% accept any documentary you watch because even if everything is in rings true, it's not the full story and someone could make a just as true documentary on the same topic and reach different conclusions.
>>80675869
> If you have two apples and collect two more, you now have four apples. Fact.
We really shouldn't focus on the answer to the question so much as we should focus on validating the process by which the child reaches an answer. So long as the child can explain the process, it doesn't really matter if they answer four or five. Focusing on the answer only discourages children from participating, particularly vulnerable students such as women, people of color, and the neuroatypical.
>>80675869
what you define as an apple is arbitrary. The collective unit of apples could be 3 of what you call a single apple, in which case it is actually 1.3333 of the apple label that you have.
>>80677432
It's important to remember that in a philosophical sense "Marxism" is dialectical analysis of a problem. It does not refer to "communism".
This is the primary point where right wingers get into conspiracy land because they see the word Marx and get all triggered and sense all of philosophy as a communist plot, instead of realising its just an academic exercise like algebra or Bayesian statistics
>>80677735
To explain myself here: critical theory would not be about disproving 2+2=4. It would be about convincing people to reject that basic fact and instead focus all their attention on pablum and unsolveable social issues, confusing the person until they can do nothing but virtue-signal.
Picture your leftist friends; they're an excellent example of applied critical theory as used by the American left. The minute tranny bathrooms became an issue, every single one of them jumped in lock-step to fanatical support for the leftist worldview. Not a single one hesitated or expressed any reservations; not a single one had considered the issue a week before. But now the new code says that trannies can use any bathroom they want and anyone who expresses the slightest disbelief is Hitler. Likewise, the NRA is a terrorist organization, Confederate war memorials are evil, and the Crusades are worse than the Jihads. No introspection needed, because the argument is never a positive argument in favor of a position, just a criticism of the other position and those who hold it.
It works best when the population has been trained to respond appropriately.
>>80677521
I'm going to need an example, especially something where critical theory is applied to denounce something considered "an objective truth" in this context.
Saying "don't take this doc 100%" just sounds like common sense
>>80670149
Critical Theory is the practical application of Cultural Marxism.
Critical Theory seeks to change who is considered oppressed and who is an oppressor.
In old communism, the 'proletariat' (poor working class people) were considered the oppressed and the 'bourgeoisie' (rich people), were considered the oppressors.
Critical Theory changes oppressors to be those in the West who are part of a 'majority', and the oppressed to be those who are part of a 'minority'.
For example, in the West, white people are the majority therefore they are oppressors. The solution? Multiculturalism.
Christians are the majority, the solution? Islam and Atheism.
Heterosexuals are the majority. The solution? Pansexualism.
You get the drift.
The end goal is the marginalization of traditional Western culture. And as a side effect it creates a mix of minorities all fighting over who is most oppressed.
There was an awesome video on youtube from a channel called Thorium, however this channel no longer exists.
>>80678326
Indeed it isn't to disprove 2+2=4 it's saying well that's one way of thinking about it but it could be different and I don't have an answer, but I'm sure you're wrong.
>>80678839
Meant to say that Cultural Marxism is the practical application of Critical Theory.
Also, men are the majority. The solution? Affirmative action
>>80670149
If you really want to know, read Ayn Rand.
You'd be surprised by how much Ayn Rand and Karl Marx agree.
>>80678326
So it is a strategy and not an actual mode of thought?
Isn't there already rhetorical term (I.E strawman) for never forming an argument, simply criticizing your opposition until their argument appears pointless?
>>80677432
In Freudian Psychology a neurosis develops as a consequence of repressed urges, so in Critical Theory human's aren't misguided, they are repressed by society. This repression, or oppression to use the Marxist term, is what leads to the social ills like crime, poverty, and war. This is why Freud's theories dovetail nicely with Marx's, because Marx was all about how oppressed the masses were. The Critical Theorists argued that fixing these social ills required deconstructing the systems of oppression which cause them. This is a big part of why the postmodern left thinks that crime, poverty, and violence are caused by "systems of oppression" like sexism and racism, and why they think deconstructing those "systems of oppression" and achieving "social equality" for "oppressed groups" is a precursor to solving social problems.
>Clearly they'd have the idea that X culture (that uses le marxism) is superior?
Culture is a product of tradition; it's irrational. Marxism is an ideology; it claims to be a rational system. A proper Marxist society would't indulge irrational cultural traditions.
>>80675869
Do you understand how an ideology or mathematical function can end up in schools? Like a current one. Have you studied education now and its history?
>>80678839
>seeks to change
but that doesn't really explain what it is, all of that simply sounds like "cultural marxists argue ___ to push their agenda" and doesn't explain what critical theory, which apparently is an entire mode of thought, is.
I want to now what it is, what is the idea of it?
>>80679305
In logic, no. It's sufficient to disprove another's argument. In practical terms, criticizing without a viable alternative is just annoying. But it works if you get enough people to run with it.
It claims to be a mode of thought but I don't think it actually works that way. Better to class it as a strategy, the way you did.
As applied by the American left, they actually do pose alternatives, it's just that those alternatives become targets for criticism and destruction years down the line. Gay marriage, for example, was pushed by people who explicitly dislike Christianity and Christian ideas about marriage, as much to attack Christianity as to empower gays or whatever. We were told there was no slippery slope. The left is now putting out its feelers about benign pedophilia and pushing the tranny issue hard. The new definition of marriage will be attacked again, with the eventual goal of eliminating the family entirely. Safe Spaces, to use another example, are an outgrowth of Free Speech Zones, another movement that was pushed as a stealthy way to limit free speech to certain areas and make hate speech rules more acceptable. Free speech zones have served their purpose and will soon be eliminated in favor of safe spaces and more hate speech regulation. The so-called gun show loophole was originally a deliberate compromise between pro-gun and anti-gun that preserved Constitutional interpretation of the commerce clause and state power. The left proposed the idea to compromise; now they attack it as a right-wing bogeyman.
>>80679628
I explained the mechanism of it. If you want to delve further, you must then learn about who conjured the idea. It was conjured by a group called the Frankfurt School. Made up of people such as Herbert Marcuse. I suggest you read his books. But basically, he believed that protecting minorities from oppression was more important than preserving rights for the majority. He is an extremist and his views were widely adopted within modern academia. The teachings of the Frankfurt School can be found all over the liberal arts. Critical Theory is the mechanism Herbert and Co created to create the social change he wanted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School
>>80680204
but anything can be criticized to pointlessness, you wouldn't believe the amount of times I've argued someone into throwing the "muh nihilism" cop out.
If you keep arguing against something without a motive or incentive to argue with it then you're not really arguing at all.
I guess critical theory is a rhetorical device in of itself, with emotion being the motive.
>>80681178
The result of applying this thought process to every thing(which Socrates did) is the heart of Critical Theory and the belief system of it.
