Some Varieties of Normative Social Critique

The article distinguishes between different forms of normative social critique: an external, an internal or immanent, and a disclosing form of critique. Whereas the external and internal critique appeal to or rely upon a certain standard or yardstick of critique, the disclosing form of critique aims at opening up our eyes to new ways of seeing social reality, and in the light of which our way of life can be seen as deficient or pathological. Depending upon the circumstances each form of critique may be a legitimate means to bring about a change