On critique and disclosure: A reply to four generous critics

I am deeply grateful to Amy Allen, Fred Rush, Morton Schoolman and Robert Sinnerbrink for their careful and thoughtful responses to Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Future. In particular, I am grateful for the generous spirit in which they express their reservations about my proposal for renewing critical theory. An author cannot expect to have better readers than they, attuned as they are to critical theory’s need of renewal, as well as to the obvious (and not so obvious) difficulties in providing it a new orientation in light of Heidegger’s idea of world disclosure. Since they have done such a good job of representing, clearly and graciously, the main lines of argument that run through the book I am spared the task of restating them here.¹This leaves me free to reply to their reservations and doubts about my project, elaborating some new developments where I can.