FOR A CRITICAL THEORY IN THE FACE OF ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM: EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE FOR HUMAN FORMATION

Abstract

This article aims to problematize the ways of apprehending reality in contemporary times and to discuss founding elements for a critical method of knowledge production and education that does not provide the concealment of the mediations that determine an event and is exercised in the praxis between theory and reality. In the face of the age of ephemeral and superficial information, marked by the immediate and apparent apprehension of reality and the need to provide urgent answers to the contradictions of society, the prevalence of theoretical approaches that seek in the subjective scope of the subject and culture, the resolution of real problems is frequently perceived. This movement tends to disregard the structures of capitalist society, thus contributing to the perpetuation of the current order and favoring a modus operandi that operates as a myth, that is, without being questioned. In addition, the presence of intellectual fetishisms that abandon critical and reflective theoretical references, justified by a mistaken conception of actuality, is observed. This view equates novelty with effectiveness in knowledge, linking the relevance of a work or author to the historical moment of its production, which eliminates the appreciation of contributions that unveil and deepen issues and determinations of today's society. Another aspect of the impoverishment of knowledge about the world finds expression in post-truth and fake news, which configure an  explicit form of pseudo-formation. It is in this wake that this article discusses the essential elements for the production of knowledge articulated with human formation in times of anti-intellectualism, from the perspective of the Critical Theory of Society, based on the contributions of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer.