Reason, Nostalgia, and Eschatology in the Critical Theory of Max Horkheimer
1985; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2131070
ISSN1468-2508
Autores Tópico(s)Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics
ResumoMax Horkheimer's dramatic retreat from youthful radicalism to the nostalgic conservatism of his later years has prompted considerable bewilderment and consternation among friends and foes of Critical Theory alike. An examination of the whole of Horkheimer's oeuvre, however, reveals the common origin of both these tendencies in a constant eschatological impulse. Horkheimer's early hyper-radicalism, his eventual articulation of the fatal "dialectic of enlightenment," and his final turn to a pessimistic Jewish transcendentalism can all be traced to the inevitable disappointment of this messianic impulse.
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