Critical theory is a school of thought that stresses the examination and the critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities.
I'm currently reading One Dimensionnal Man by Marcuse which is sooo great. I have a poor background in Hegel's philosophy but a pretty good in Marx's. But I still feel that to entirely grasp works from Frankfurt School, I need to have a really good understanding of Hegel (I had also this feeling reading the Dialectic of Enlightment by Adorno and Horkheimer). I also plan to read Negative Dialectic by Adorno, and this book makes it almost mandatory to understand Hegel. Do you know a good introduction to Hegel that is specifically made to understand Frankfurt School ? Maybe a member of the Frankfurt School could have write on this to show the paternity of his tought ?
PS : I'm asking for too much, but as I'm french, if you know french authors or autors traduced in french it would be absolutely perfect.
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In the future please do include a bit more explanation/substance in your post if asking for reading recommendations (I’ll refer you to the sidebar regarding our minimal rules regarding post quality).
If you're planning to read Negative Dialectic be sure to read Adornos lectures. In Lectures on Negative Dialectics (unfortunately only partially preserved due to a faulty tape recorder), Adorno explains his theoretical concept of negative dialectics. History and Freedom: Lectures 1964-1965 is the corresponding lecture to the historical-philosophical part of Negative Dialectics. Both lectures serve as an excellent introduction to Hegel, Adorno and the Negative Dialectic.
In general, Adorno's lectures are the deciphered version of his written works; it can be very interesting to compare which sentences from the lecture reappear in aphoristic form in his books.
edit: If you had trouble with Dialectic of Enlightenment, History and Freedom will be twice as useful. The theory of a negative philosophy of history (as criticism of Hegel) is very vividly spelled out there.
For French reception of Hegel, perhaps Alexandre Kojève (Introduction à la Lecture de Hegel, 1947) , Jean Wahl (Le Malheur de la conscience dans la Philosophie de Hegel, 1929) Jean Hippolyte (Genèse et structure de la Phénoménologie de l'esprit de Hegel, 1946).
I have to disagree. Kojève is not bad but he's more Kojève than Hegel. Mainly on his emphasis on theory of recognition elevates it to central importance but it's actually more tangential aspect of Hegel's thoughts on the Absolute and its contradictions. Hippolyte is a good French author to read about Hegel and especially for your background because aside from the work recommended by the comment above he also wrote both on Marx and Hegel (Études sur Marx et Hegel, 1955). I can also recommend Gérard Brun and his L'envers de la dialectique as another good French author on Hegel for a different outlook.
Kojeve all the way.
Marcuse - Reason and Revolution is literally exactly what youre asking for but theres ppl here reommending GA Cohen instead
I'm not sure on an introduction on Hegel for the Frankfurt School. Although, I'm reading right now 'An Introduction to Dialectics', which is a series of lectures from Adorno, which someone compiled together. The lectures touch on a lot about Hegel. Not the easiest prose, especially for something introductory, but has been definitely helpful!
I completely agree with this recommendation. The book was a battle to get through at some points, but I came out of it with a much deeper understanding of Hegel, Adorno, and 'Adorno's Hegel' if that makes sense. The book also helped with my subsequent reading of Dialectic of Enlightenment.
I can’t really help with the Frankfurt School angle of the question but I can recommend some Hegel scholars. Robert Pippin and Fredrick Beiser are my favorites. A really good and short (300 pages or so) overview of Hegel’s system is Beiser’s Hegel. It will give you a fairly comprehensive look at Hegel and why he does what he does. Unfortunately I do not know about French sources as both of the mentioned scholars are English-language.
Andy Blunden, one of the maintainers of the Marxist Internet Archive, recently published a short book on the site called “Hegel for Social Movements.” It is an excellent introduction, and even has a section dedicated to commentaries on Hegel’s short Logic that you are supposed to read alongside the work. I will look for a link to it.
Edit: Here it is
Kojeve's lectures on Hegel, collected and published in Introduction to the Reading of Hegel (Introduction à la Lecture de Hegel), were a major influence on how Hegel ended up being received and used in 20th century French philosophy. I'm not sure to what extent it aligns (or more importantly, doesn't) with Hegel's use in the work of Adorno and Marcuse specifically, although I recall that Marcuse at least praised Kojeve's work.
I don't know about Marcuse, but I'd argue that Kojeve's and Adornos reception of Hegel are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
And I've only read Hegel and Marcuse but I don't think Marcuse interpreted Hegel correctly so maybe it's a square of opposing opinions 😭
Literally the single answer considering OP's demands.
It’s a bit THICK but try Karl Marx’s Theory of History by Cohen, the first few chapters do a good job of exploring Hegel and then Marx from Hegel. From there give the German Ideology a shot. From there you’ll be in a good position to start poking around dialectical thinking in the Frankfurt School
First Adornos introduction to dialectics and then his lectures on negative dialectics
It really depends on the aspects of these topics you’re interested in, both regathering Hegel and critical theory.
If you’re new to both, or just need a relatively quick overview, a great combo might be the Cambridge series “very short introductions” on Hegel, Critical Theory, and Adorno
For their brevity, all of these are actually generally solid in terms of content.
You might also be interested in Buck-Morss’ “Origin of Negative Dialectics”. Not specifically about Hegel, but the helpful connections are lacking.
The Opening of Hegel's Logic: From Being to Infinity (History of Philosophy Series) by Stephen Houlgate
It goes into great details and guides you through the actual text and his 'dialectical' process...
You dont need an introduction. Just read Hegel directly. Its much better this way. Once youve gotten the hang of his concepts, the Frankfurt School will make more sense.
Hilarious.