Mediatized Sapiens: Communicational knowledge

The making of a critical mindset. Ideal media students in times of deep mediatization 225 what counts as a ‘critical consciousness” (ibid, p. 107) and warn against certain ways of thinking critically that mainly is about defining middle class ideals and interests. 6. The classics In Classic Greek the term kritikos had to do with a thinking technique called kritike that was used for law making and to separate right from wrong and reach a decision. With the realms of medicine, kritikos took on a somewhat other meaning, it was associated with krisis and the diagnosis of the (critical) turning point in a bodily process (FORNÄS, 2012; RAFFNSØE, 2017). A third dimension than can be mentioned here is that critique also was related to the techniques of conversation and ar- gumentation (c.f. Socrates). These three understanding (evalua- tion, judgement, communication) are relevant also for how we today understand critique as a technique for (negative) analysis and (constructive) propositions and the ethics of “an examined life” (PAUL, 1993), another important dimension of the critical heritage is the ancient development of techniques for oral argu- mentation and rational and skeptical debate. However, with the growing importance of writing culture, the connotation of the critical mind (and the critical eye) became more integrated with linear and projective thinking. With typography and a reading public the notion of critique and public sphere took on new meanings, and the pro- fession of the critique was born (BUTLER, 2002). However, cri- tique is not only about making elaborated judgements on truth, art, morals. It is also about a constant strive for more and truer knowledge about one’s outer and inner world. We find this ideal in Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) credo for Enlightenment as “man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Dare to know. Have the courage to use your own judgement”. (Sapere aude). A somewhat different approach to critical thinking was offered by Karl Marx (1818-1883) in his appeal for “ruthless criticism of all that exists” (FORNÄS, 2013, p. 508). In Marxism, criticality also became associated with the notion of a shared critical consciousness. Especially in terms of class consciousness. This was the

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