Max Horkheimer Quotes
Max Horkheimer was a 20th-century German philosopher and sociologist, the founder of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt and the central organising figure of what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory. His 1937 essay Traditional and Critical Theory set out the programme of a critical theory of society aimed at human emancipation, distinct from the descriptive social sciences. The quotes below are attributed to Max Horkheimer, organized by topic.
Max Horkheimer on Knowledge
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“The fully enlightened earth radiates disaster triumphant.”
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“The more ideas have become automatic, instrumentalised, the less does anybody see in them thoughts with a meaning of their own.”
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“Logic is not independent of content.”
Max Horkheimer on Mind
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“Reason for centuries has meant the activity of understanding and assimilating the eternal ideas which were to function as goals for men.”
Max Horkheimer on Politics
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“The function of critical theory is to facilitate the historical process by which mankind becomes conscious of itself.”
Max Horkheimer on Time
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Attributed to Max Horkheimer:
“What is at stake is not the conservation of the past, but the redemption of the hopes of the past.”