Michel Foucault e a Escola de Frankfurt: reflexões a partir da obra Crítica do Poder, de Axel Honneth

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the core elements of Axel Honneth’s critique Michel Foucault’s thought in The Critique of Power, by linking it with his analysis of the work of the “inner circle” of the Frankfurt school, especially Adorno and Horkheimer. Thus it is understood that Honneth makes an approximation between Foucault’s thinking and the Frankfurt School critical tradition, emphasizing common deficiencies that indicate an affiliation between these authors, while at the same time noting their failures in the analysis of contemporary society. Such a reading, despite its innovation in putting side by side Foucault and Habermas as rival developers of critical theory, is limited in not considering the reorientation in Foucault’s thought from 1978 on, and in not identifying the notions of power and domination as problematic. These limitations do not preclude sustaining a convergence between Foucault’s thinking and that of the Frankfurt school, thinking of it in a positive fashion that is not restricted to the limitations of its critical tools, and instead focusing on the radicality of such criticism, making it possible to highlight its relevance.