Critic
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A critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. (The word is sometimes used pejoratively, especially by defenders of a critic's object.)
The term is used in particular for a professional who regularly judges or interprets performances or other work of other people (such as artists, scientists, musicians or actors) and publishes these judgements or interpretations in a periodical (often a newspaper, magazine, or academic journal). Critics often specialize in one field and are usually well educated in that field. Professional critics are numerous in the fields of art, music (see music critic), film (see film critic), theatre, restaurants and scientific publication.
Criticism is the activity of judgement or interpretation. Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one.
Some uses of the term criticism describe hostility or disagreement with the object of criticism, while others denote more neutral attempts to understand the object in depth. Often context, and the contentiousness of the subject, are the only differentiating factors. "Criticism of U.S. foreign policy," for example, clearly refers to political disagreement, while "criticism of Romantic poetry" usually means the activity of interpretation. However it should be kept in mind no critic is free from presuppositions of some kind.
Critique, especially in philosophical contexts (where it is used to translate the German word Kritik), has a more clearly defined meaning than criticism. (Confusingly, the adjectival form of both critique and criticism is critical, making some uses ambiguous.)
In this context, a critique is a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of a concept or set of concepts, and an attempt to understand its limitations. A critical perspective, in this sense, is the opposite of a dogmatic one. In philosophy this sense of the word was defined by Immanuel Kant, who wrote:
- We deal with a concept dogmatically…if we consider it as contained under another concept of the object which constitutes a principle of reason and determine it in conformity with this. But we deal with it merely critically if we consider it only in reference to our cognitive faculties and consequently to the subjective conditions of thinking it, without undertaking to decide anything about its object. (Critique of Judgment sec. 74)
Later thinkers used the word critique, in a broader version of Kant's sense of the word, to mean the systematic inquiry into the limits of a doctrine or set of concepts (for instance, much of Karl Marx's work was in the critique of political economy).
See also
Art critic, Connoisseur, Art historian, Literary criticism, Film criticism, Critical theory, Critical theory of society, Critical Management Studies.
External links
- What "Critical" means in "critical thinking" (http://www.citigraphics.net/jenner/critique.htm)
- "Should We—Can We—Criticize Our Feelings?" by Ellen Reiss. (http://www.elisiegel.net/tro-04/tro1632.html)
Critic, known in Maori as Te Arohi, is a student magazine that circulates in Dunedin, New Zealand.
- Critic magazine's web site (http://www.critic.co.nz)de:Kritik