Modernist Radicalism and its Aftermath: Foundationalism and Anti-Foundationalism in Radical Social Theory

273 Pages·1991·1.1 MB·English

by  Stephen Crook

MODERNIST RADICALISM
AND ITS AFTERMATH
At the end of the nineteenth century social theories such as
Marxism and Durkheimian sociology could lay claim to a critical
role in public affairs. They promised a unique knowledge of
modern society which would fulfil the radical potential of
modernity. A century later these claims are no longer credible and
the prospects for radical social theory are uncertain. Modernist
Radicalism and its Aftermath investigates the ways in which
Marx, Durkheim, Althusser and Habermas were all caught up in a
paradoxical and fatal quest for foundational guarantees of
knowledge.
Stephen Crook proposes a framework for the analysis of
foundationalism in social theory and suggests a way forward from
the impasse of postmodernism. He identifies important themes in
the work of Simmel, Weber and Adorno, and in some post-
modernist theory, but points out that these are at constant risk of
regression into metaphysics or nihilism. The book concludes with
a plea for an alternative ‘post foundational’ radicalism which can
maintain the accountability of enquiry while facing up to the
contingency of value.
Modernist Radicalism and its Aftermath is both an interpretation
of classical social theory and an important contribution to
contemporary debates on modernity and postmodernity. It will be of
special interest to students of sociology, philosophy and other
disciplines concerned with social theory.
Stephen Crook is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of
Tasmania, Australia.

MODERNIST
RADICALISM AND
ITS AFTERMATH
Foundationalism and
anti-foundationalism in
radical social theory
Stephen Crook
London and New York
First published in 1991
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1991 Stephen Crook
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in anyinformation storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Crook, Stephen, 1950–
Modernist radicalism and its aftermath: foundationalism and
anti-foundationalism in radical social theory.
1. Radicalism, History. I. Title. 320.9
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Crook, Stephen, 1950–
Modernist radicalism and its aftermath: foundationalism and
anti-foundationalism in radical social theory/Stephen Crook.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
1. Sociology—Philosophy. 2. Radicalism. 3. Postmodernism-Social
aspects. I. Title. II. Title: Foundationalism and anti-foundationalism in
radical social theory.
HM24.C78 1991 90–9149
301'.01–dc20 CIP
ISBN 0-203-16086-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-16089-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-02860-4 (Print Edition)
ISBN 0-415-06081-8 (pbk)
For Rosemary

CONTENTS
List of figures ix
Acknowledgements 1
Introduction: the decline of radical social
theory 3
1 THE IDEA OF MODERNIST RADICALISM 24
1.1 Preliminaries 24
1.2 Modernist radicalism in the young Marx 29
1.3 Sociology as modernist radicalism: Emile Durkheim 36
2 THE SOCIOLOGICAL CRITIQUE OF MODERNIST
RADICALISM 49
2.1 Preliminaries 49
2.2 Simmel and the experience of modernity 49
2.3 Weber on modernity and values 61
3 THE AUTO-CRITIQUE OF MODERNIST RADICALISM 77
3.1 Preliminaries 77
3.2 Horkheimer’s ‘critical theory’ 78
3.3 Adorno’s critical rhetorics 89
4 THE SWANSONG OF MODERNIST RADICALISM? 106
4.1 Preliminaries 106
vii
CONTENTS
4.2 A critical sociology of the public sphere 108
4.3 Problems of a ‘reconstructive’ formal pragmatics 122
5 THE POSTMODERNIST ‘END’ OF MODERNIST
RADICALISM 134
5.1 Preliminaries 134
5.2 Althusser: the Trojan Horse of postmodernism? 135
5.3 Postmodernism, metaphysics and nihilism 150
5.4 Responding to postmodernism 161
6 FOUNDATIONALISM AND RADICALISM 167
6.1 Preliminaries 167
6.2 The foundationalist syndrome 168
6.3 Foundational instances 174
6.4 Foundational modes 181
6.5 Foundational strategies 188
7 POST-FOUNDATIONAL RADICALISM 192
7.7 Preliminaries 192
7.2 Relationalism, irony and rhetoric 193
7.3 Accountability 200
7.4 Historical thresholds and the ‘fate of the times’ 214
Notes 220
Bibliography 239
Name index 252
Subject index 257
viii
FIGURES
1 Civil society, public sphere and state 109
2 The three knowledge constituting interests 112
3 The types and dimensions of communication 114
4 Types of action 117
5 The Spinozist and Althusserian systems of knowledge 145
ix