批判 理论 has a 窄 and a broad meaning in 哲学 and in the 历史 of the 社会 科学 批判 理论 in the 窄 感觉 designates 几个 generations of German philosophers and 社会 theorists in the Western European Marxist 传统 known as the Frankfurt School According to these theorists a 批判 理论 may be distinguished from a 传统 理论 according to a 特定 practical purpose a 理论 is 批判 to the extent that it seeks 人类 emancipation to liberate 人类 beings from the circumstances that enslave them Horkheimer 1982 244 Because such theories aim to 解释 and 变形 all the circumstances that enslave 人类 beings many 批判 theories in the broader 感觉 have been 发展 They have emerged in 联系 with the many 社会 movements that identify varied dimensions of the domination of 人类 beings in 现代 societies In both the broad and the 窄 senses however a 批判 理论 provides the descriptive and normative bases for 社会 inquiry aimed at 减 domination and 增 freedom in all their 形式

批判 理论 in the 窄 感觉 has had many different 方面 and quite 清晰（独特） 历史 phases that cross 几个 generations from the founding of the Institute for 社会 研究 in 1929 to the present Its 特殊性 as a 哲学 approach that extends to ethics 政治 哲学 and the 哲学 of 历史 is most apparent when considered in light of the 历史 of the 哲学 of the 社会 科学 批判 Theorists have long 寻求 to 区分 their aims 方法 theories and 形式 of 解释 from 标准 理解 in both the 自然 and the 社会 科学 Instead they have claimed that 社会 inquiry ought to combine rather than separate the poles of 哲学 and the 社会 科学 解释 and 理解 结构 and agency regularity and normativity Such an approach 批判 Theorists argue 允许 their enterprise to be practical in a distinctively moral rather than instrumental 感觉 They do 不 merely seek to provide the 中项 to achieve some independent goal but rather as in Horkheimer's famous 定义 mentioned above seek 人类 emancipation in circumstances of domination and oppression This normative task cannot be accomplished apart from the interplay between 哲学 and 社会 科学 through 多学科 empirical 社会 研究 Horkheimer 1993 While 批判 理论 is often thought of narrowly as referring to the Frankfurt School that begins with Horkheimer and Adorno and stretches to Marcuse and Habermas any 哲学 approach with 类似 practical aims could be called a 批判 理论 包括 feminism 批判 race 理论 and some 形式 of post-colonial 评论 In the 跟随 批判 理论 when capitalized 提及 only to the Frankfurt School All other uses of the 术语 are 意味 in the broader 感觉 and thus 不 capitalized When used in the singular a 批判 理论 is 不 capitalized even when the 理论 is 发展 by members of the Frankfurt School in the 语义（上下文） of their 整体 project of 批判 理论