Critique and critical discourse emerged in the 21st century as an imperative way of perceiving and evaluating historical and present-day reality. Critique should not be viewed solely in terms of « negativity », but should be considered more widely. The demand of critique, as it has gradually evolved from the 18th century to today, was and is the highlighting of those contents which, having arisen from specific historical mechanisms, oppress real human subjects, radically determining their identity and social symbiosis. This demand contributed greatly to the construction of the field of social sciences, through the formulation of the questions of critical epistemology and social theory. In the context of this articulation of critical discourse, the following can be seen in the mid-19th century: "Perseus needed a cap that made him invisible to chase monsters. We pull the cap deep over our eyes and ears so that we can deny the existence of monsters". Confronting and fighting "monsters" has not ceased to be a goal of critical discourse, precisely in the face of concepts that reject the mutability, and thus the historicity, of the very place called "modernity".
Beyond any reflexive notion of 'pure' science, taking a particular position on this demand is itself a political step, which is the step of critique; for this reason, Kritical Reason does not seek a spineless pluralism of views, but an in-depth immersion in the very project of critique as it is formulated in the 21st century. In this respect, the aim is not an adherence to some kind of exalted classicism, but a renewed attempt to apply critical vision (as it is articulated alongside the historical period of modernity) both to contemporary situations and to issues of historical depth, which in various ways concern the problematic position of the present.
The conviction of the Editorial Committee is that the manifestations of theoretical discourse constitute a continuum in terms of their basic premises, i.e. the macro-theoretical conception of social reality itself, despite the undeniable specialisms that have arisen mainly in the last century and a half.
Kritical Reason is a scientific academic think tank. Its main areas of interest within the social sciences are critical philosophy, political theory and broad political science, classical political economy, history (of politics, society, ideas), and literary criticism. The studies published are based on primary research, on the foundation of sources and archives, or on primary translations of scientific and theoretical texts presented for the first time to the Greek-speaking public. The languages of publication are Greek, English, French and German.
Kritical Reason, in addition to organising in-person academic activities such as workshops, conferences, and seminars, accepts scientific studies with the aim of publishing them in collective volumes of research and reflection. The evaluation process always takes place through blind peer review. Therefore, Kritical Reason consists of an Editorial Board and a Scientific Committee. All texts to be published, including studies and articles, are evaluated by two different reviewers. They are then sent to the Editorial Committee, which also informs the candidates of their written studies’ progress. The final approval decision on an article or study is taken by the Editorial Board. All academic works of Kritical Reason are published by Kastaniotis Publications. Accepted articles are subsequently published in the print edition of the journal.