Max Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher and social theorist who co-founded the Frankfurt School and directed the Institute for Social Research. His work helped shape critical theory.

Theodor W. Adorno: A German philosopher, sociologist, and composer whose work shaped critical theory and the Frankfurt School. His long collaboration with Horkheimer produced their joint critique of modern reason.
Critical theory: An approach to social thought that analyzes power and domination while seeking possibilities for emancipation. Horkheimer formulated its early program as an alternative to theory detached from social change.
Institute for Social Research: A research institute founded in Frankfurt in 1923 that became the institutional home of the Frankfurt School. Horkheimer directed it from 1930 and reshaped its work around critical social theory.
Dialectic of Enlightenment: A 1944 book by Horkheimer and Adorno examining how Enlightenment reason can turn into domination. Its critique of rationality became Horkheimer’s best-known analysis of modern civilization.
Logical positivism: A philosophical movement that sought to ground meaningful claims in logic and empirical verification. Horkheimer opposed its model of value-neutral knowledge as inadequate for social critique.
Friedrich Pollock: A German political economist and sociologist associated with the Institute for Social Research. His economic analyses helped inform the Institute’s interdisciplinary research under Horkheimer.
Traditional and Critical Theory: A 1937 essay by Horkheimer distinguishing detached explanatory theory from socially situated critique. It states his clearest account of how critical theory differs from conventional scholarship.
Frankfurt School: A group of associated thinkers whose interdisciplinary social criticism became known as critical theory. Horkheimer’s leadership helped establish the school’s identity and research agenda.
The Authoritarian Personality: A 1950 study of psychological dispositions associated with prejudice and authoritarian politics. Horkheimer helped shape the Institute’s empirical investigation of authoritarianism and antisemitism.
Positivism: A philosophical approach that treats empirical observation and scientific method as the basis of knowledge. His critique challenged the idea that society can be understood through detached observation alone.

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