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{{Short description|Method of logic and critical thinking}}
{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|Critic}}
{{original research|date=February 2023}}
'''Critique''' is a [[wikt:method|method]] of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral [[discourse]]. Although critique is frequently understood as fault finding and negative judgment,<ref name="Gasche07p12">[[Rodolphe Gasché]] (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_CZVDv6bdXIC&pg=PA12 ''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy''] pp. 12–13 quote: {{blockquote|Let us also remind ourselves of the fact that throughout the eighteenth century, which Kant, in ''Critique of Pure Reason'', labeled "in especial degree, the age of criticism" and to which our use of "critique", today remains largely indebted, critique was above all critique of prejudice and established authority, and hence was intimately tied to a conception of the human being as capable of self-thinking, hence authonomous, and free from religious and political authorities.}}</ref> it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt.<ref name="Gasche07p12"/> The contemporary sense of critique has been largely influenced by the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] critique of prejudice and authority, which championed the emancipation and autonomy from religious and political authorities.<ref name="Gasche07p12"/>

The term ''critique'' derives, via French, from the Greek word {{lang|grc|κριτική}} ({{Transliteration|grc|ISO|kritikē}}), meaning "the faculty of judging", that is, discerning the value of persons or things.<ref name="OED">{{OED|critick}}</ref> Critique is also known as major [[logic]], as opposed to minor [[logic]] or [[dialectic]]s.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

== Critique in philosophy ==
Philosophy is the application of critical thought,<ref>{{Citation | title= Critical Approaches to Continental Philosophy: Intellectual Community, Disciplinary Identity, and the Politics of Inclusion | first1= Timothy | last1= Laurie | first2= Hannah | last2= Stark | first3= Briohny | last3= Walker | journal=Parrhesia: A Journal of Critical Philosophy | volume= 30 | pages= 1–17 | year= 2019 | url= https://www.academia.edu/38122177}}</ref> and is the disciplined practice of processing the ''theory/praxis problem''. In [[philosophy|philosophical]] contexts, such as law or academics, critique is most influenced by [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s use of the term to mean a reflective examination of the validity and limits of a human capacity or of a set of philosophical claims. This has been extended in [[modern philosophy]] to mean a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of a [[concept]], a [[theory]], a [[discipline]], or an approach and/or attempt to understand the limitations and [[Validity (logic)|validity]] of that. A ''critical perspective'', in this sense, is the opposite of a [[dogma]]tic one. Kant wrote:

{{blockquote|We deal with a concept dogmatically ... if we consider it as contained under another concept of the object which constitutes a principle of reason and determine it in conformity with this. But we deal with it merely critically if we consider it only in reference to our cognitive faculties and consequently to the subjective conditions of thinking it, without undertaking to decide anything about its object.<ref>Immanuel Kant, ''[[Critique of Judgment]]'' section 74.</ref>}}

Later thinkers such as [[Hegel]] used the word 'critique' in a broader way than Kant's sense of the word, to mean the systematic inquiry into the limits of a [[doctrine]] or ''set'' of concepts. This referential expansion led, for instance, to the formulation of the idea of social critique, such as arose after [[Karl Marx]]'s theoretical work delineated in his ''[[A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy]]'' (1859), which was a critique of the then-current models of economic theory and thought of that time. Further critique can then be applied after the fact, by using thorough critique as a basis for new argument. The idea of ''critique'' is elemental to legal, aesthetic, and literary theory and such practices, such as in the analysis and evaluation of [[writing]]s such as pictorial, musical, or expanded textual works.<ref>For an overview of philosophical conceptions of critique from Spinoza to Rancière see K. de Boer and R. Sonderegger (eds.), ''Conceptions of Critique in Modern and Contemporary Philosophy'' (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2012).</ref>

== Critique vs criticism ==
In French, German, or Italian, no distinction is drawn between 'critique' and '[[criticism]]': the two words both translate as ''critique'', ''Kritik'', and ''critica'', respectively.<ref name="Vattimo90p57">[[Gianni Vattimo]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=i7QOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 ''Postmodern criticism: postmodern critique''] in David Wood (1990) ''Writing the future'', pp. 57–58</ref> In the English language, according to philosopher [[Gianni Vattimo]], ''criticism'' is used more frequently to denote [[literary criticism]] or [[art criticism]], that is, the interpretation and evaluation of literature and art; while ''critique'' may refer to more general and profound writing as [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]''.<ref name="Vattimo90p57"/> Another proposed distinction is that ''critique'' is never personalized nor ''[[ad hominem]]'', but is instead the analyses of the structure of the thought in the content of the item critiqued.<ref name="Vattimo90p57"/> This analysis then offers by way of the critique method either a rebuttal or a suggestion of further expansion upon the problems presented by the topic of that specific written or oral argumentation. Even authors that believe there might be a distinction suggest that there is some ambiguity that is still unresolved.<ref name="Vattimo90p57"/>

==Critical theory==
{{main|Critical theory}}
Marx's work inspired the '[[Frankfurt School]]' of [[critical theory]], now best exemplified in the work of [[Jürgen Habermas]].<ref>David Ingram, ''Habermas: Introduction and Analysis'', New York: Cornell University Press, 2010.</ref> This, in turn, helped inspire the [[cultural studies]] form of social critique, which uses cultural products and their reception to record and inspire change regarding wider social ills such as [[racism]] or [[gender bias]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Cultural studies |date=1992 |publisher=Routledge |others=Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, Paula A. Treichler |isbn=978-1-135-20127-2 |location=New York |oclc=827207237}}</ref> Social critique has been further extended in the work of [[Michel Foucault]]<ref>Michel Foucault, ''Was ist Kritik?'', Berlin: Merve Verlag 1992. {{ISBN|3-88396-093-4}}</ref> and of Catholic philosopher [[Alasdair MacIntyre]].<ref>Alasdair MacIntyre, ''After Virtue'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dama Press, 1981.</ref> In their different and radically contrasting ways, MacIntyre and Foucault go well beyond the original Kantian meaning of the term ''critique'' in contesting legitimatory accounts of social power. Critique as critical theory has also led to the emergence of [[critical pedagogy]], exemplified by [[Paulo Freire]], [[bell hooks]], and others.

==See also==
{{Portal|philosophy|arts}}

* [[Constructive criticism]]
* [[Critical philosophy]]
* [[Critical theory]]
* [[Critical thinking]]
* [[Criticism]]
** [[:Category:Criticism]]

==References==
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== External links ==
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[[Category:Concepts in aesthetics]]
[[Category:Criticism]]
[[Category:Critical theory]]
[[Category:Concepts in social philosophy]]