Does Critical Theory Care About Truth?
Some people regard critical theory as a kind of relativism. It seems to question whether there is any universal truth at all. Does using the tools of critical theory mean giving up on truth? We need to think more carefully about that question. Traditionally, philosophers have believed that the truth of things is paramount. Meaning, on the other hand, comes later. Critical theory tends to reverse that. Most critical theorists, even if they don’t agree on much else, think that meaning precedes truth. Things happen in an already meaningful world, and truth is contingent on the meaningful world. But that’s not the end of the story. Some critical/cultural theorists, such as postmodernists, have more or less given up on anything that everyone can agree on as true. Other critical theorists, particularly of the Frankfurt School, simply see truth as a promise for the future, not yet attained. We live in a time when powerful interests set the standards of discourse, in such a way that truth is d
