Deck 10: Critical Theory

Question 1

What is Marcuse stating with his concept of repressive desublimation?

A) Sexuality is managed by a controlled liberalization which increases satisfaction with the offerings of society.
B) Sexuality has been set free by a society too focused upon mass media depictions.
C) Sexuality is controlled officially through laws but is free within peoples' thoughts.
D) Sexuality is freed inversely to the amount of regulation placed upon it.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

As societies evolve, both the state and the economy develop their own formal structure and mechanisms for self-organization. Habermas calls these organizational mechanisms steering media and argues that two primary forms emerge

A) power and money
B) status and power
C) money and status
D) status and evolution

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of Marcuse's concepts allows for negating all that is established in order to critically understand one's world, develop personal objectives, and achieve them through rational methods?

A) formal rationality
B) substantive rationality
C) individualistic rationality
D) technological rationality

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Critical theorists differed from orthodox Marxism when they

A) elaborated extensively on the distinction between base and superstructure.
B) rooted the evolutionary potential of society solely in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
C) abandoned analyses of economic conditions and no longer cast the proletariat as humanity's savior.
D) collaborated in the creation of historical materialism during their time in the U.S.

Question 5

Although critical theorists possess a multi-dimensionality to the issues of action and order, the authors' consider their work to be primarily

A) Nonrational/collective.
B) Nonrational/individual.
C) Rational/collective.
D) Rational/individual.

Question 6

Adorno argues that the "culture industry" is destructive because of all the following, except that

A) it pacifies consumers.
B) in offering so many options it confuses consumers as to what exactly to buy.
C) it offers pre-packaged, mass-produced
D) it offers false ideas

Question 7

According to the critical theorists, individuals in modern industrial societies have lost their ability to negate. This means that

A) individual freedom has been lost and replaced by an unquestioned adherence to instrumental and technologically driven forms of thought.
B) critical discussion of pressing societal issues is openly discussed in the public sphere.
C) individuals resort to the use of their leisure time to protest the conditions of their existence.
D) Individual freedom has been strengthened while being replaced by technology

Question 8

Adorno believes one of the true purposes of culture is to

A) objectify the customer.
B) render the impossible possible.
C) suppress disruptive alternatives.
D) strengthen the established authority.

Question 9

For the critical theorists, the source of distorted consciousness can be found in the

A) non-economics of economics
B) non-family of family
C) irresponsibility of responsibility
D) irrationality of rationality

Question 10

Horkheimer's term subjective reason most closely aligns with Max Weber's notion of

A) substantive rationality
B) authority
C) formal rationality
D) protestant ethic

Question 11

According to Marcuse modern societies are characterized by one-dimensional thought in which

A) ideas, aspirations, and objectives that transcend the established universe of discourse and action are either repelled or reduced to terms of this universe.
B) individuals are free to choice which dimension is most appropriate to their personal thoughtpatterns.
C) repressive desublimation enables individuals to express their instinctual desires.
D) ideas, aspirations and objectives are actions that repel the universe.

Question 12

In Eclipse of Reason by Horkheimer, _________ has been reduced to the purpose of a useful tool in the control of nature.

A) Reason
B) Truth
C) Individuality
D) Productivity

Question 13

In Horkheimer's notion of the modern world, what is missing from individuals?

A) individuality, alternative truths, critique
B) rationality, reason, totalities
C) technology, alternative truths, reason
D) individuality, technology, rationality

Question 14

Which three scholars made the most decisive impact on the central ideas of the Frankfurt School thinkers?

A) Marx, Weber, Durkheim
B) Marx, Simmel, Gilman
C) Marx, Weber, Freud
D) Marx, Du Bois, Mead

Question 15

Which concept endows cultural mass production with the halo of free choice of open market on the basis of standardization itself?

A) pseudo-individualization
B) individualistic rationality
C) subjective reason
D) substantive rationality

Question 16

The system comprises a society's political and economic structures that are responsible for the organization of power relations and the production and distribution of material resources, according to

A) Weber
B) Habermas
C) Marx
D) Adorno

Question 17

Marcuse's concept of surplus repression is linked to __________ concept of the reality principle.

A) Emile Durkheim's
B) Karl Marx's
C) Sigmund Freud's
D) C. Wright Mills's

Question 18

The critical theorists believed this was responsible for the oppression of humanity.

A) Exploitation that is inherent in capitalism.
B) Forms of thought were responsible, particularly totalitarianism of reason and rationality.
C) Economic power accumulated by the bourgeoisie was responsible.
D) Inability of the proletariat to drive an economic revolution.

Question 19

According to Adorno and Marcuse, the locus of individual freedom lies in

A) the development of new aesthetic fashions.
B) negative thinking
C) protesting the unequal distribution of material resources
D) boycotting industries in order to better demand the production of goods that meet consumers' needs.

Question 20

Marcuse argues that modern mechanization and technology

A) have created an era of abundance so that modern individuals are able to engage in self-fulfilling leisure pursuits
B) have dissolved the link between individual labor and property and thus have erased individuality and creativity.
C) have produced the unintended consequences of increasing levels of individual freedom and social democracy.
D) have presented individuality and creativity as an option in labor

Question 21

Once culture is a product of the machine it is capable of negating the oppressive conformity.

Question 22

Repressive desublimation is produced from the conflict between sexuality and society.

Question 23

We may distinguish both true and false needs. _______are those which are superimposed upon the individual by particular social interests in his repression: the needs which perpetuate toil, aggressiveness, misery, and injustice.

A) "False"
B) "True"
C) "Basic"
D) "Human"

Question 24

Collins coined the term standpoint epistemology.

Question 25

"Progress" is not a neutral term; it moves toward specific ends, and these ends are defined by the possibilities of ameliorating the human condition. ______________is approaching the stage where continued progress would demand the radical subversion of the prevailing direction and organization of progress.

A) Social beinghood
B) Advanced industrial society
C) America
D) Eastern thought

Question 26

The critical theorists' framework extends but does not depart from central Marxist ideas.

Question 27

The critical theorists failed to provide a specific account of the mechanisms for social change.

Question 28

As societies evolve, both the state and the economy develop their own formal structure and mechanisms for self-organization, according to Habermas.

Question 29

Collins maps "differences in penalty and privilege that accompany, all listed except

A) reparations
B) gender
C) race
D) social injustice

Question 30

Objective reason allows us to determine the most efficient way of achieving our goals.

Question 31

Habermas served as _________ assistant from 1956 to 1959 at the Institute for Social Research, which by then had relocated to Frankfurt, Germany.

A) Lukács'
B) Horkheimer
C) Adorno's
D) Freud's

Question 32

Collins maps "differences in penalty and privilege that accompany race, class, gender and similar systems of social injustice."

Question 33

Collins uses the term matrix of domination to underscore that one's position in society is made up of multiple contiguous standpoints rather than just one essentialist standpoint.

Question 34

Explain how Weber is connected to Horkheimer's distinction between subjective and objective reason.

Question 35

Horkheimer's description of the modern world defines usefulness on technological grounds.

Question 36

The critical theorists believed there are no timeless empirical truths subject to scientific discovery and proof.

Question 37

Who coined the term standpoint epistemology?

A) Collins
B) Smith
C) Habermas
D) Adorno

Question 38

Habermas defines communicative action as the process in which individuals come to mutual understanding and consensus through closed, coercive debate and discussion freed from the corrosive effects of money, power, and manipulation.

Question 39

The new technological work-world does not enforce a weakening of the negative position of the working class.

Question 40

Explain the parallels between Horkheimer's conceptions of reason with Marcuse's conceptions of rationality.

Question 41

Explain in your own words Marcuse's concept of repressive desublimation.

Question 42

Define and explain Marx's conception of historical materialism. Discuss how the critical theorists used this idea when formulating their own concepts. Be sure to include Hegel and Lukács in your discussion.

Question 43

Explain the following quotation: "the culture industry endlessly cheats its consumers out of what it endlessly promises…"

Question 44

Where do the notions of truth, critique, and individuality come into play within Horkheimer's Eclipse of Reason?

Question 45

Discuss why the authors feel critical theorists' primary theoretical orientation is collectivist and rationalist.

Question 46

How does the fact that Habermas served as Adorno's assistant from 1956 to 1959 at the Institute for Social Research, which by then had relocated to Frankfurt, Germany affect Habermas' theoretical canon?

Question 47

Explain the following quotation: "The new technological work-world enforces a weakening of the negative position of the working class."

Question 48

Consider the following statement and develop a critique, where you take a position and develop and argument that supports or refutes its application in modern day: As the productive establishments rely on the military for self-preservation and growth, the military relies on the corporations "not only for their weapons, but also for knowledge of what kind of weapons they need, how much they will cost, and how long it will take to get them.

Question 49

Explain the following quotation from Horkheimer: "the very idea of truth has been reduced to the purpose of a useful tool in the control of nature, and the realization of the infinite potentialities inherent in man has been relegated to the status of a luxury." Connect this notion to your own personal experiences especially as related to your time at college.

Question 50

Connect Freud to Marcuse's idea of surplus repression.

Question 51

Working within the critical theorists' understanding of the subordination, discuss what Collins means by the term matrix of domination.

Question 52

Explain briefly how C. Wright Mills's work is comparable to the critical theorist tradition.

Question 53

Providing specific support from the readings, explain the strengths and weaknesses you perceive across the body of the critical theorists' work. Attempt to include examples from all three of the theorists read.

Question 54

Discuss what effects the culture industry has on notions of choice, freedom, and individual identity according to Adorno.

Question 55

Apply the following quote to a real life example. Remember to relate the example back to critical theory: "In advanced societies, however, culture has become synonymous with industry and hence subject to the rule of efficient production and standardization that is its hallmark. The relationship between mass culture and the individual is one akin to that of seller and buyer. However, "the customer is not king, as the culture industry would like to have us believe, not its subject but its object" (ibid.:99)."

Question 56

Explain the following passage taken from Adorno's Culture Industry Reconsidered:

Question 57

Briefly define the culture industry and how pseudo-individualization plays into it.