1. Lecture notesR.C.Smith

2. Some of the most prominent figures of the first generation ofCritical Theorists are Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), TheodorAdorno (1903-1969), Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), WalterBenjamin (1892-1940), Friedrich Pollock (1894-1970), LeoLowenthal (1900-1993), and Eric Fromm (1900-1980) There were also many other contributors, especially in theearliest stages of the Institute when it still had orthodoxMarxist affiliations 3. The Frankfurt School was and continues to be a philosophicaland sociological movement, which was originally founded in1923 During its earliest years, the Frankfurt School was associatedwith the Institut fr Sozialforschung (Institute for SocialResearch) within Frankfurt University 4. The initial idea behind the institute consisted around the needfor an independently founded school, which aimed to providestudies on the labor movement and the origins of fascism andanti-Semitism At the time of its inception, the problems of fascism and anti-Semitism were being ignored in German intellectual andacademic life 5. The birth of the institute was largely thanks to Felix Weil, whohad been interested in the possibility of financing an institutedevoted to the study of society in the light of the Marxisttradition 6. As Martin Jay notes (Creation of the Institut frSozialforschung, 1973): Weil was a young Marxist who hadwritten his PhD on the practical problems of implementingsocialism (published by Karl Korsch). Weil wanted to bring different trends of Marxism together, andorganised a week-long symposium (the Erste MarxistischeArbeitswoche) in 1922 attended by Georg Lukacs, KarlKorsch, Karl August Wittfogel, Friedrich Pollock and others. The event was so successful that Weil set about erecting abuilding and funding salaries for a permanent institute. Weilnegotiated with the Ministry of Education that the Director ofthe Institute would be a full professor from the state system,so that the Institute would have the status of a University. 7. Not long after its inception, the Institute for Social Researchwas formally recognized by the Ministry of Education as alegitimate organisation attached to Frankfurt University 8. The first official appointed director was Carl Grnberg, whowas a Marxist legal and political professor at the University ofVienna 9. Grnbergs time as director spanned between 1923-1929) andis noted most for contributing to the creation of an historicalarchive (also known as the Grnberg Archiv) This archive mainly oriented to the study of the labormovement 10. Martin Jay notes that Friedrich Pollock had been involved withthe Institute from the beginning, and originally took over therole of Director after the death of Carl Grnberg. Pollock was also a life-long friend and associate of MaxHorkheimer, who is the figure many people identify as aleading representative of the Frankfurt School. In 1930, Max Horkheimer became director of the FrankfurtSchool and is widely credited for playing a significant role inthe conception of what later came to be known as FrankfurtSchool critical theory 11. Horkheimer was an early voice of the school. During his first spell as director in 1930s, Horkheimerexpounded the critical theory of the school in its journal,Zeitschrift fr Sozialforschung (1968; Critical Theory: SelectedEssays, 1972) 12. Horkheimer believed that it was important to address a widevariety of economic, social, political and aesthetic topics,ranging from empirical analysis to philosophical theorisation It was under Horkheimers leadership that members of theInstitute were encouraged to expand their work beyond thetheories of Karl Marx While the school was inspired by Marxism, it was alsosympathetic to other forms of liberation such aspsychoanalysis Marxism, it was argued, is like any other one-sided doctrineand it must be open to criticism 13. Later when discussing the origins of critical theory, Horkheimerexplained that the sociology of the Frankfurt School wentbeyond the critical theory of society conceived by Marx inorder to reflect reality more adequately As Martin Jay notes: from the very beginning there was an aimat the institute to conceive of a multidisciplinary form ofresearch, which increasingly pointed beyond orthodoxMarxism 14. According to Horkheimer, the general normative principles ofcritical theory are as follows: - Develop a multidimensional understanding of society that isdominated at every turn by a concern for reasonableconditions of life - Develop a multidisciplinary theory which reveals the inherentantagonisms and negative social conditions of contemporarysociety, and condemn existing social institutions and practisesas inhumane - Develop a fundamental critique of society, whichcontemplates the need for an alteration of society as a whole 15. There were many notable confrontations on economic themeswithin the Institute These confrontations were mainly driven by the perceivedneed to build from and advance Marxist theory, which, at thetime, was quite a radical idea 16. Friedrich Pollock criticised Henryk Grossmans standard viewon the pauperization of capitalism. As a result, Grossman leftthe Institute But Pollocks critical reinterpretation of Marx received a lotsupport from other members of the School These members, who went on to further develop the Institute,include Leo Lowenthal, Theodor Wiesengrund-Adorno andErich Fromm 17. Eric Fromms development of a psychoanalytic trend at theInstitute was arguably a crucial moment in the history of theFrankfurt School 18. Eric Fromm was heavily influenced by the philosophicalteachings of Horkheimer One could argue that it was the main research patters ofHorkheimer and Fromm that defined largely the academiccontext from out of which the earliest works of the FrankfurtSchool would emerge 19. With the assistance of Fromm, some of the Frankfurt Schoolsearliest aims were to provide a coherent reinterpretation ofFreud and Marx Fromm and Horkheimer played a key role in starting thismovement, emphasising among other things the need to bemore attentive toward the subject (this emphasis on thesubject is very important) 20. After Fromms departure in the late 1930s, the Schoolpublished a few notable works that continued to retain aninterest in psychoanalysis Some notable works include Adornos later paper SocialScience and Sociological Tendencies in Psychoanalysis(1946) & The Authoritarian Personality (1950), as well asMarcuses book Eros and Civilization (1955) 21. In 1928 Walter Benjamin wrote The Origin of German TragicDrama, which was a critical study of German baroque drama,as well as the political and cultural climate of Germany duringthe Counter-Reformation (15451648). Benjamin originally presented the work to the University ofFrankfurt in 1925 as a (post-doctoral) dissertation 22. During 192740 Walter Benjamin was working on his final,incomplete book about Parisian city life in the 19th century(known as The Arcades Project) In its current form, The Arcades Project is a massive collectionof notes which Benjamin filed together over the course ofthirteen years The Arcades Project was published for the first time in 1982,and is over a thousand pages long. 23. In 1933, the Institute temporarily transferred first to Genevadue to the Nazi takeover of Germany In 1935 the Institute then moved to New York and ColumbiaUniversity. Not long after, Horkheimer published the seminal manifesto ofthe School: Traditional and Critical Theory ([1937] 1976) 24. In 1938 Adorno joined the Institute after spending time atMerton College, Oxford. 25. Walter Benjamin, whose work in aesthetics offered a deeplysignificant contribution to the Institute, refused to leave Europeduring Nazi occupation While attempting to cross the border between France andSpain at Port Bou in 1940, Benjamin committed suicide Some months later Hannah Arendt also crossed the sameborder. Arendt passed on to Adorno Benjamins last writing:Theses on the Philosophy of History 26. After being invited to join the School by Horkheimer, Adornoimmediately assumed a significant role This culminated in the co-publication, with Horkheimer, of oneof the key publications of Frankfurt School Critical Theory:Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) Dialectic of Enlightenment continues to be a highly significantpublication today, with some of its basic points still beingconsidered and advanced 27. Though Dialectic of Enlightenment presents several keyarguments, some basic points easily identifiable with manyinclude: Enlightenment thought originally intended to emancipate humanity fromits dependence on nature Enlightenment thought set out to accomplish this through science andtechnology In the process , the Enlightenment coincided with the advent ofinstrumental reason, which, in turn, entailed the domination of (internaland external) nature Rather than freeing humanity from its most basic existential dependenceon nature, instrumental reason (scienticism & technicisim) has been usedto dominate both nature and humanity Horkheimer and Adorno also introduce other key concepts such as theCulture Industry, historical domination and the genesis of the bourgeoissubject 28. Friedrich Pollock remained on the east coast of the UnitedStates, writing mostly around anti-Semitism: Studies in Anti-Semitism Horkheimer and Adorno resided on the West coast of the U.S.,also engaging in studies of anti-Semitism: The AuthoritarianPersonality and Studies in Prejudice During this time Horkheimer and Adorno also collaborated withother German theorists, such as Bertold Brecht and ThomasMann 29. In 1946, the Institute was officially invited to rejoin FrankfurtUniversity On 14 November 1951, Horkheimer presented his inauguralspeech for the reopening of the institute One week later he was inaugurated as a new rector ofFrankfurt University. 30. Herbert Marcuse remained in the United States and wasoffered a full position by Brandeis University. At this timeMarcuse was preparing some of his greatest works Adorno returned to Germany in August 1953. He took overHorkheimers position as director of the Institute for SocialResearch in 1955 31. In 1956, Habermas joined the Institute as Adornos assistant,and was soon involved in an empirical and cooperative studyunder the title of Students and Politics. 32. As several important publications emerged or were beginningto emerge in 1956, Horkheimer retired Some of the works to created around the time of Horkheimersretirement included Marcuses Eros and Civilization and hisessay collection Sociologica 33. In the 1960s, with the now famous student protests ripplingthroughout Europe, Marcuse published One-Dimensional Man(1964). In this work Marcuse introduced several new concepts,including the notion of educational dictatorship Shortly after, in 1966, Adornos fundamental work NegativeDialectics was published. Adorno also introduced several newconcepts, including an open and non systemic notion ofdialectics as well as further development of his epistemologyand philosophy of the subject 34. 1 July 1957 Adorno was appointed full professor in philosophyand sociology. It was thought that Adornos most innovativecontribution was his music theory and aesthetics, includingPhilosophy of Modern Music (1949) Adornos critique of popular culture and music remainsextremely relevant, although controversial in certain respects 35. After the Institute re-established itself in Germany after theWar, Jrgen Habermas became the main figure of the youngergeneration He continued to develop critical theory in the Hegeliantradition of Adorno and Marcuse. In the 1960s Habermas developed the theory of networks,but in his later years focused mostly on communicative ethicsin the tradition of Immanuel Kant Habermas eventually departed both from the Marxist andHegelian traditions, and debate still continues whether heshould be credited as formally part of the second generation ofthe Frankfurt School 36. Axel Honneth is widely credited as representative of the thirdgeneration, continuing the work of Jrgen Habermas Honneth is noted for making at least a partial return to Hegel,although he still remains quite distant from Marx Other forms of critical theory have also emerged in recentyears. Arguably, the most common form of critical theorypractised in sociological departments today is a post-modernstrand which is known to have roots in positivist logic. Thismovement also often lacks a substantive critique of capitalismand seems over-reliant on its emphasis on the designations ofrace, class, gender. 37. Today there is another significant movement establishing itselfalmost as a counter to the predominate form of critical theoryin early 21st Century society. This movement is highly critical ofthe increasing authoritarian development of academicpositivism in the form of scientism and its logic of instrumentalreason that are becoming more and more entrenched inacademia This movement, although young, seems to call not only for areturn to the Frankfurt School in its original form, but mostimportantly for its retrieval and advancement 38. Young scholars like David Sherman are noted as offeringsignificant contributions to this movement, while othersranging broadly from Lambert Zuidervaart and Michael Ott toHauke Brunkhorst also offer key texts Heathwood Institute and Press formed in late 2011 inspired bythis recent wave of literature. It began as a small collective ofauthors and researchers and has continued to grow aroundthe idea of offering an alternative generation of critical theory one which points explicitly toward the retrieval, reworkingand the advancement of Frankfurt School 39. Along with a return to Hegel and a commitment to building offMarxist theory, this potential alternative generation suggestsworking through the sociology of the first generation of theFrankfurt School in order to retrieve, advance and ultimatelyprogress it in the 21st Century (what does this mean? Whatconcepts remain in tact and what is left to the scrap bin ofhistory?) But this alternative generation also faces many challenges,and exists within an extremely hostile context: neo-liberalism,advanced capitalism, imperialistic and authoritarian forces 40. There is a problem, as David Sherman puts it, which isreflected in certain variants of postmodernism about whetherthere is any concept of philosophy left that has not beencompletely assimilated by the totally administered society,such that philosophy has been abolished by virtue of the veryfact that it has ultimately not realised itself. (Sherman, 2007) As Sherman writes: [o]f course, theory lives on but theissue is whether it lives on as critical theory.(Ibid.) As Heathwood states: This possible alternative generationwill need to contend with the challenge of realising andestablishing new standpoints of critique, and ultimately groundcalls for new norms of critique according to a foundationalcritical theory of 21st Century society. 41. International Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Frankfurt School andCritical Theory: http://www.iep.utm.edu/frankfur/ Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination. A history of the FrankfurtSchool and the Institute of Social Research 1923-1950 (1973) Heathwood Institute and Press, Advancing Frankfurt School criticaltheory (2011): www.heathwoodpress.com Max Horkheimer, Traditional and Critical Theory (1972), tr. Jeremy J.Shapiro, in Max Horkheimer, Critical Theory (New York: Herder &Herder), pp. 198-199, 208, 209, 210. Lambert Zuidervaart, Social Philosophy after Adorno. CambridgeUniversity Press, 2007 Smith, R.C., Horkheimer and the Definition of Critical Theory Today(Holt: Heathwood Press), 2013 Sherman, David. Dialectics of Subjectivity: Sartre and Adorno (NewYork: Suny), 2007