Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg

Max Horkheimer (February 14, 1895 – July 7, 1973) was a Jewish-German philosopher and sociologist, known especially as the founder and guiding thinker of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Image File history File links Adorno, Horkheimer, and Habermas in 1965, rendered to PNG from Image:Adornohorkhab. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg. ... Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas (born June 18, 1929 in Düsseldorf) is a German philosopher, political scientist and sociologist in the tradition of critical theory, best known for his concept of the public sphere. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Heidelberg is a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory (which is more akin to anarchism than communism), social research, and philosophy. ... In the humanities and social sciences, critical theory has two quite different meanings with different origins and histories, one originating in social theory and the other in literary criticism. ...

Biography

Horkheimer was born in Stuttgart to an assimilated Jewish family; due to parental pressure, he did not initially pursue an academic career, leaving secondary school at the age of sixteen to work in his father's factory. After World War I, however, he enrolled in München, where he studied Philosophy and Psychology; he subsequently moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he studied under Hans Cornelius. There he would meet Theodor Adorno, many years his junior, with whom he would strike a lasting friendship and one of the most fruitful collaborative efforts in contemporary philosophy. Stuttgart [], a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First World War, also known as... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt. ... Psychology (Gk: psyche, soul or mind + logos, speech) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human mind, brain, and behavior. ... Johannes Wilhelm Cornelius (September 27, 1863–August 23, 1947) was a German neo-Kantian philosopher. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg. ...

In 1925 he was habilitated with a dissertation on Kant's Critique of Judgement as Mediation between Practical and Theoretical Philosophy under Cornelius' direction. He was appointed as Privatdozent the following year; when the Institute for Social Research's direction became vacant in 1930, he was elected for the position; among the founding members of the Institute were also Friedrich Pollock, Leo Löwenthal, and Erich Fromm. The following year publication of the Institute's Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung was begun, with Horkheimer as its editor. Besides the Institute's members, contributors included Adorno and Walter Benjamin. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Habilitation is a term used within the university system in France, Germany, Austria, and some other European countries such as the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and countries of former Soviet Union, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan... Privatdozent (PD or Priv. ... The Institute for Social Research (German: Institut für Sozialforschung) is a research organization covering topics such as sociology and continental philosophy, best known as the institutional home of the Frankfurt School. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Friedrich Pollock (May 22, 1894 – 1970) was a German social scientist and philosopher. ... Leo Löwenthal (* November 3, 1900, Frankfurt am Main - † January 21, 1993, Berkeley, California) was the German Sociologist of Frankfurt School. ... Erich Fromm Erich Fromm (March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was an internationally renowned German-American psychologist and humanistic philosopher. ... Walter Benjamin (July 15, 1892 – September 27, 1940) was a German Marxist literary critic and philosopher. ...

In 1933 his venia legendi was revoked by the Nazi government, and the Institute closed. Horkheimer emigrated to Switzerland, from where he would leave for the USA the following year. The generous offer of Columbia University to host the Institute in exile allowed for the continued publication of the Institute's journal. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Venia Legendi (Lat. ... Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ...

In 1940 Horkheimer received American citizenship and moved to Pacific Palisades, California, where his collaboration with Adorno would yield the Dialectic of Enlightenment. Unlike Adorno, Horkheimer was never a prolific writer, and in the following twenty years he published little, although he continued to edit Studies in Philosophy and Social Science as a continuation to the Zeitschrift. In 1949 he returned to Frankfurt, where the Institute was reopened the following year. Between 1951 and 1953 Horkheimer was Rektor of the University of Frankfurt. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Pacific Palisades is a district within the city of Los Angeles, California located between Brentwood to the east, Malibu to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. ... Dialectic of Enlightenment, written by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno made its first appearance in 1944 under the title Dialektik der Aufklärung by Social Studies Association, Inc. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... University of Frankfurt may refer to two (or three) German universities: the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) in Frankfurt am Main the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) in Frankfurt (Oder), or its historical predecessor which existed...

He would return to America between 1954 and 1959 to lecture at Chicago. He retired in 1955. He remained an important figure until his death in Nürnberg in 1973. Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ...

Philosophy and writings

Eclipse of Reason

Horkheimer's book, Eclipse of Reason deals with the concept of "reason" within the history of Western philosophy. Horkheimer defines true reason as rationality. He details the difference between objective and subjective reason and states that we have moved from objective to subjective. Objective reason deals with universal truths that dictate that an action is either right or wrong. Subjective reason takes into account the situation and social norms. Actions that produce the best situation for the individual are "reasonable" according to subjective reason. The movement from one type of reason to the other occurred when thought could no longer accommodate these objective truths or when it judged them to be delusions. Under subjective reason, concepts lose their meaning. All concepts must be strictly functional to be reasonable. Because subjective reason rules, the ideals of a society, for example democratic ideals, become dependent on the "interests" of the people instead of being dependent on objective truths.

Writing in 1946, Horkheimer was strongly influenced by the Nazi legacy in Germany. He outlined how the Nazis had been able to make their agenda appear "reasonable", but also issued a warning about the possibility of this happening again. Horkheimer believed that the ills of modern society are caused by the misuse and misunderstanding of reason: if people use true reason to critique their societies, they will be able to identify and solve their problems.

Select bibliography

• Authority and the Family (1936)
• Critique of Instrumental Reason (1967)
• Dawn & Decline
• Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) - with Theodor Adorno
• Eclipse of Reason (1947)
• Egoism and the Freedom Movement
• The Authoritarian State
• The Longing for the Totally Other

1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

External links

• Articles By Max Horkheimer
• Max Horkheimer Internet Archive contains complete texts of Enlightenment as Mass Deception (1944), Theism and Atheism (1963) and Feudal Lord, Customer, and Specialist (1964).

• Short Description of Eclipse of Reason