Truth for critical theory is historically conditioned, not timeless.

Evidence

But still more important, vital changes in social, economic, and political conditions between the two periods had unmistakable repercussions on the revived Critical Theory. Indeed, according to its own premises this was inevitable. The Left Hegelians wrote in a Germany just beginning to feel the effects of capitalist modernization. By the time of the Frankfurt School, Western capitalism, with Germany as one of its leading representatives, had entered a qualitatively new stage, dominated by growing monopolies and increasing governmental intervention in the economy. The only real examples of socialism available to the Left Hegelians had been a few isolated utopian communities. The Frankfurt School, on the other hand, had the ambiguous success of the Soviet Union to ponder. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, the first critical theorists had lived at a time when a new “negative” (that is, revolutionary) force in society — the proletariat — was stirring, a force that could be seen as the agent that would fulfill their philosophy. By the 1930’s. however, signs of the proletariat’s integration into society were becoming increasingly apparent; this was especially evident to the members of the Institut after their emigration to America. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 190 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Philosophical truths are historically conditioned yet avoid relativism.; Changed historical conditions forced critical theory from immanent to transcendent critique — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 190; Critical Theory grounds truth claims in possible futures rather than present facts — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 302 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Philosophical truths are historically conditioned yet avoid relativism. #expands (0.85)
• Changed historical conditions forced critical theory from immanent to transcendent critique #expands (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 190
• Theory is contested conjunctural knowledge, not will to truth #corroborates (0.80)
• Marx’s own theory is historically conditioned and will be negated #corroborates (0.80)
• Critical Theory grounds truth claims in possible futures rather than present facts #expands (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 302
• History changes only through historical means, not eternal truths #qualifies (0.75) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 261