Author Meets Critics - Michael J Thompson - Descent of the Dialectic

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Author meets critics session regarding Michael J Thompson's 2025 book Descent of the Dialectic: Phronetic Criticism in an Age of Nihilism. Through reconstruction of the concept and practice of dialectics as a means of grounding a critical theory of society, the center of this project is the thesis of phronetic criticism or a form of reason that is able to synthesize the dual realms of human value with objective rationality.

Sub Unit

• Modern & Contemporary Political Theory

Chair

• Zachary R Thomas, Bergen Community College

Participants

• Michael Thompson, William Paterson University

• Volker Schmitz, Johns Hopkins University

• Matthew Smetona, Temple University

• Zachary R Thomas, Bergen Community College

• Jason Toby Reiner, Dickinson College