Towards an Understanding of Max Horkheimer

Abstract

<p>Due in large part to the writings of Jurgen Habermas, the philosophy of Max Horkheimer has recently undergone a re-examination. Although numerous thinkers have partaken in this re-examination, much of the discussion has occurred within a framework of debate established by Habermas' narrative of Horkheimer's philosophy. This thesis seeks to broaden that framework through a thorough, critical examination of Habermas' accounts. In chapter one, I survey Habermas' narrative centering on his treatment of the pivotal years in the 1940s. In chapter two, I expand on these years and argue that in contrast to Habermas' assertion that Horkheimer commits a performative contradiction, he instead engages in a logically consistent form of critique. In chapter three I discuss the later writings of Horkheimer and argue that the conception of philosophy contained therein is a continuation of his philosophy of the 1940s. Finally, in the conclusion I point to the implications which the above should have for Horkheimerian studies in general.</p>