10.26180/5b95d12dca4aa STEVEN AOUN STEVEN AOUN What Is 'Critical' About Critical Theory? Monash University 2019 Critical Theory Hermeneutics Heidegger Gadamer Derrida Deconstruction Lyotard Differend Habermas Ontological Committment Problem of the Criterion Question of Being Hermeneutical Circle Linguistic Turn Cultural Studies 2019-04-02 23:33:06 Thesis https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/thesis/What_Is_Critical_About_Critical_Theory_/7066745 The idea of a critical theory is a dominant force in tertiary education, and has become an integral part of the pursuit of higher knowledge. Competing ideas have thereby become standard bearers in that critical theory acts as a measure of true understanding. The only problem, however, is that many of the distinct theories similarly answering to the description raise two related questions – namely, ‘what is a critical theory?’ and what is ‘critical’ about the ‘theory’ in question? The following research provides an answer by questioning the idea’s standard and/or truth-bearing via the problematic connection between criteria and critique.