Can Critical Theory Save Adult Education from Post-Modernism?

This article is written for adult educators who have become intrigued by the increasing amount of discourse and publications in our field, promoting "critical theory", "critical pedagogy", "critical adult education", "critical thinking" and the like. The aim of the article is to offer an interpretive framework which makes sense out of this trend towards the "critical". The recent controversy between critical theorists in philosophy, education generally and particularly adult education, and post-modernism will be used here as the background against which this trend towards the critical can not only be understood, but moreover should be evaluated.