The critical theory of the Frankfurt School starts with an explanatory-diagnostic analysis of the social pathologies of the present followed by anticipatory-utopian reflection on possible treatments for these disorders. This approach draws extensively on parallels to medicine. I argue that the ideas of social pathology and crisis that pervade the methodological writings of the Frankfurt School help to explain critical theory’s contention that the object of critique identifies itself when social institutions cease to function smoothly. However, in reflecting on the role that reason and self-awareness play in the second stage of social criticism, I contend that this model is actually better conceptualized through the lens of the psychoanalyst rather than the physician. Although the first generation’s explicit commitment to psychoanalysis has dissipated in recent critical theory, faith in a rationalized ‘talking cure’ leading to greater self-awareness of existing pathologies remains at the core of the Frankfurt School.

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作为医学诊断的社会批评？关于社会病理学和危机在批判理论中的作用

法兰克福学派的批判理论从对当前社会病态的解释性诊断分析开始，然后是对这些疾病的可能治疗方法的预期乌托邦式反思。这种方法广泛借鉴了医学的相似之处。我认为，遍及法兰克福学派方法论著作中的社会病理学和危机的思想有助于解释批判理论的论点，即当社会制度停止顺利运作时，批判的对象就会自我认同。然而，在反思理性和自我意识在社会批评的第二阶段所扮演的角色时，我认为这个模型实际上是通过精神分析师而不是医生的视角来概念化的。