Max Horkheimer
German philosopher and sociologist
Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher who led the Institute for Social Research and helped develop critical theory. He co-wrote Dialectic of Enlightenment.
2 summaries 35 min of listening
Born in Zuffenhausen, Germany
About Max Horkheimer
Max Horkheimer (1895 to 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist. He was a leading figure of the Frankfurt School and directed the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main. He also held a professorship in social philosophy at the University of Frankfurt, from 1930 to 1933 and again from 1949 to 1958. In the years between, he ran the Institute in exile, mostly in America. His work looked at instrumental reason, authoritarianism, and how modern capitalism wears away individual autonomy. His best-known books include Eclipse of Reason and Dialectic of Enlightenment, which he wrote with Theodor Adorno. He also wrote a series of essays in the 1930s that helped set the direction of critical theory.