MAX HORKHEIMER

B I O G R A P H Y

Max Horkheimer ,was a German philosopher-sociologist, famous for his

work in critical theory as a member of the 'Frankfurt School' of social

research. His most important works include The Eclipse of Reason (1947)

and, in collaboration with Theodor Adorno, The Dialectic of Enlightenment

(1947). Through the Frankfurt School, Horkheimer planned, supported and

made other significant works possible.

Horkheimer's work is marked by a concern to show the relation between

affect (especially suffering) and concepts (understood as action-guiding

expressions of reason). In this, he responded critically to what he saw as the

one-sidedness of both neo-Kantianism (with its focus on concepts) and

Lebensphilosophie (with its focus on expression and world-disclosure).

Horkheimer did not think either was wrong, but insisted that the insights of

each school could not on their own adequately contribute to the repair of

social problems. It is also important to note that Horkheimer collaborated

with Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Theodor Adorno and Walter

Benjamin .

Philosophy and Writings

Horkheimer's book, Eclipse of Reason, published in 1947 is broken into five

sections: Means and Ends, Conflicting Panaceas, The Revolt of Nature, The

Rise and Decline of the Individual and On the Concept of Philosophy and

deals with the concept of reason within the history of western philosophy.

Horkheimer defines true reason as rationality[8], which can only be fostered

in an environment of free, critical thinking.

Through critical theory, Horkheimer "attempted to revitalize radical social,

and cultural criticism" and discussed authoritarianism, militarism,

economic disruption, environmental crisis and the poverty of mass culture.

Horkheimer helped to create Critical Theory through a mix of radical and

conservative lenses that stem from radical Marxism and end up in

"pessimistic Jewish transcendentalism"

Horkheimer developed his critical theory by examining his own wealth

while witnessing the juxtaposition of the bourgeois and the impoverished.

He was convinced of the need to "examine the entire material and spiritual

culture of mankind" in order to transform society as a whole.

Horkheimer sought to enable the working class to reclaim their power in

order to resist the lure of fascism.

Horkheimer stated himself that "the rationally organized society that

regulates its own existence" was necessary along with a society that could

"satisfy common needs"

HIS MAIN WORK “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.

Dialectic of Enlightenment

In Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), which Horkheimer co-authored with

Adorno, he extended his social cultural criticism to western civilization. He

wrote this work in California while he was in exile. His question was why

and how the terror of Nazi and Stalinist mass murder arose from modernity.

Against the popular view that barbarianism was opposite to the idea of

Enlightenment, he argued that barbarianism, terror, and irrational elements

were inherent to Enlightenment. In the work, Horkheimer explained the

process and the reason of how and why the Enlightenment rationality,

supposed to be the key factor of liberation and freedom, became

instrumental rationality and brought about suppression of individuals,

cultural poverty, and barbarism.

In Dialectic of Enlightenment, Horkmeimer lost hope for the project he

initiated in 1930s. After this work, he turned his attention to Pessimism of

Schopenhauer which he studied at the early stage of his carrier

Others works of Horkheimer :

Dialectical of the illustration

Critical theory

Traditional theory and critical theory

Authority and family and other writings

Critic of the instrumental reason

Society, reason and freedom

Authoritarian state

ARCHE:

“All notion should be contemplated as a fragment of a truth that involves

everything and in which the notion reaches its true meaning.

To go building the truth starting from such fragments constitutes

in fact the most urgent task in the philosophy."

CONCLUSION

The Frankfurt school threw side conversation of historical materialism into

the center . It forced Marxist ideology to broaden its scope and take ongoing

issues, such as how people and institutions interact, into consideration. The

impact of the Frankfurt School on Marxism is that it validated it by

analyzing it and providing empirical "evidence" of its existence. The

Frankfurt School supplied Marxism with methodology. Horkheimer used

the notion of rationality as a way of explaining and describing historical

materialism; Adorno used language; Benjamin used metaphors of cities; and

Habermas rebuilt the whole idea. Where Marx said, "This is historical

materialism, and this is what it does," The Frankfurt School said, "This is

historical materialism; this is what’s right with it, this is what’s wrong with

it, and this is how it works." The Frankfurt school also and maybe most

importantly helped Marxism get rid of the dogmatism that became

associated with it during the rise of socialism. Besides it's direct impact on

Marxism, The Frankfurt school had it’s own effects on philosophy as a

whole. It affected philosophy by preserving the notion of meta-analysis of

society through its economic, political, and social systems. It introduced the

notion of social philosophy and made theory part of everyday practice by

"mixing" philosophical problems, and empirical problems.

Recommendations

That the critical tendency of Horkheimer didn't leave after yes “a cadaver”

philosophical, but just the opposite, a corpus of ideas that, like it happens to

the legacy of the philosophy in general, it must be remembered, conserved

and overcome, in order to realize their hopes. And with the necessity of the

diversity reaches it: “the limit of the thing” that “he appears there where the

thing finishes” and that it is the necessity of the practice, although it is the

practice of the philosophy.

VOCABULARY

1. Dogmatism : faith, belief, foundation, axiom, base

2. Empirical : materialism, positivism, experience, reality, observation,

pragmatism

3. Fascism: authoritarian, dictatorship, totalitarianism

4. Pessimistic: hopeless, bitter, moody, negative, unilusionist.

5. Progress: advance, process, development, increase, prosperity

6. Rationality: logical, reasonable, exactly

7. Transcendentalism: important, excellent ,substantial, capital, essential

GLOSSARY

1. Materialism : In philosophy the theory of materialism holds that the

only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material

and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material

interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance. ...

2. Metaphysical: Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that investigates

principles of reality transcending those of any particular science.

Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics.

3. Moral : It is denominated moral or morality to the group of beliefs and a

person's norms or certain social group that it officiates of guide for

working (that is to say that guides about the good or of the bad —

correct or incorrect—of an action or actions).

4. Rationality: The rationality is a human capacity that allows to think, to

evaluate and to act according to certain optimism principles and

consistency, to satisfy some objective or purpose. ...

5. Reason : The reason is the ability by virtue of which the human being is

able to identify concepts, to question them, to find coherence or

contradiction among them and this way to induce or to deduce other

different from those that he already knows. ...

6. Theory Criticize: It is denominated critical Theory to the theories of the

group of thinkers of different disciplines associated to the School of

Frankfurt: T.Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Max Horkheimer, Marcuse,

Jürgen Habermas, Oskar Negt or Hermann Schweppenhäuser, among

others.

QUOTES

"The progress threatens to annihilate the end that should complete the

man's idea."

Progress

«To understand the crisis of the science depends on a correct theory

of the situation social present, because the science, as soon as social,

reflective function the contradictions of the society.»

Theory Criticizes

«The metaphysics is not only ideological; it is also it the science

criticized by her, as long as a form is conserved that prevents to

discover the real causes of the crisis. [...] They are ideological all the

forms of the human behavior that hide the true nature of the society,

erected about antagonisms.»

Theory Criticizes

«The word materialism not only qualifies that questionable

proposition about the entirety of the reality, but an entire series of

thoughts and practical forms of behavior.»

Materialist, metaphysical and moral

«The life of most of the men is so miserable, the privations and

humiliations are so numerous that the efforts and successes are, in

most of the cases, in a so gross disproportion that is comprehensible

the hope that this terrestrial order is not the only one true.»

Materialist, metaphysical and moral

«The materialistic theory constitutes a part of the efforts to improve

the human relationships, and for it is it in contradiction with all the

intents that make appear the social problems as subordinate.»

Materialist, metaphysical and moral

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adorno et Horkheimer. La dialectique de la raison. Gallimard. Paris.

1974

Jean-Marie Vincent. La théorie critique de l’Ecole de Francfort.

Editions Galilée. 1976

Martin Jay. The dialectical Imagination. University of California Press

Ltd. California. 1996

LINKOGRAPHY

http://www.archivochile.com/Ideas_Autores/horkheimerm/

esc_frank_horkhe0001.pdf

http://www.boulesis.com/especial/escueladefrankfurt/autores/

horkheimer/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Horkheimer