

Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse w/ Carl Trueman
Hegel's Influence on Marx
- Hegel's philosophy of history emphasizes the evolution of human thought over time, influencing Karl Marx.
- Marx adapts Hegel's ideas, arguing that material conditions, not abstract ideas, drive historical change.
Marx's View of Human Nature
- Marx's view of human nature is that humans intentionally create, unlike animals driven by instinct.
- Material conditions influence human relations and thought processes, shaping how humans create and interact.
Malleability vs. Transcendent Human Nature
- Critical theorists overemphasize the malleability of humans by historical forces.
- Christians recognize malleability but assert a transcendent human nature across time.































In his new book, Dr. Carl Trueman writes, “The very rhetoric and concepts of critical theory, the other, intersectionality, and their like have become influential tools of wielding power rather than dismantling it. And so—as Frankfurt School members Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno themselves would no doubt point out—things have become their opposite; the liberator has become the tyrant, the tools of freedom have become the weapons of oppression.” Perhaps Goethe’s Mephistopheles captures critical theory best when he uttered to Faust, “I am the spirit that negates.” Join me and Dr. Carl Trueman as we discuss the philosophy and the danger of critical theory in his new book To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse.
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