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| 24317 | Critical theory aims to liberate, by showing the contradictions in societal systems |
| Full Idea: Critical theory (of the Frankfurt School, outlined by Horkheimer in 1937) is a method of enquiry oriented towards revealing the latent contradictions inherent in societal systems, thereby paving the way for potential tranformation. | |||
| From: Jaime Edwards/Brian Leiter (Marx [2025], 7.5) | |||
| A reaction: It seems a rather Kantian dream to think that we only need to identify the contradictions, and then truth and reason beautifully fall into place. Presumably the 'true' system contains no contradictions. Do Marxists aspire to that? |
| 24313 | Cognitive bias mainly results from prior beliefs, or readily available information |
| Full Idea: There are two main varieties of cognitive bias: order-of-information biases are manifest when the information we receive first or our prior beliefs have disproportionate influence; availability bias is when the information at hand has too much influence | |||
| From: Jaime Edwards/Brian Leiter (Marx [2025], 5.4) | |||
| A reaction: [The particuarly mention Daniel Kahneman for this type of thinking] The present book tracks such ideas back to Marx. |
| 24304 | Functional explanations occur after that thing to be explained |
| Full Idea: Functional explanations are peculiar because the thing to be explained (the explanandum) is prior in time to the thing that explains it (the explanans). In evolution the speed of cheetahs is explained by their resulting reproductive success. | |||
| From: Jaime Edwards/Brian Leiter (Marx [2025], 2.4) | |||
| A reaction: I'm a fan of functional explanations(for the existence of eyes and ears, for example), but this pinpoints a standard objection (from those who think there are only causal explanations). My trip to London is explained by the concert I attend. |