Soziale Pathologie, Regression oder Ideologie? Gegenwärtige kritische Theorie und die Kritik des Antisemitismus

Workshop "Elements of Antisemitismus"

University of Kassel

This paper examines how contemporary Critical Theory can contribute to understanding antisemitism. It analyzes three theoretical approaches: antisemitism as a social pathology of reason (Honneth), as regression (Jaeggi), and as a second-order ideology. While acknowledging valuable insights from Honneth and Jaeggi regarding second-order pathologies and regressive crisis solutions, the paper argues that their pragmatist foundations prevent them from fully grasping ideology's productive nature. Instead, it proposes a materialist theory of ideology that conceptualizes antisemitism as a second-order ideology arising from structural power relations, capable of generating both stabilizing and revolutionary solutions to crises of autonomy in modern capitalism.