Adorno and Horkheimer grounded anti-Semitism analysis in sadism and identification

Evidence

Adorno and Horkheimer used the ideas of de Sade and Nietzsche, and of Freud and Fromm, on sadism, masochism and psychological mechanisms such as identification with power and the way in which reactions are produced, in brilliant analyses of the behavioural patterns which they considered `anti-Semitic’. Their analyses were carried out in such a way that, if confirmed, they would additionally provide at least some support for the theory that the core of the failed enlightenment was a form of domination over nature which had itself fallen victim to nature. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1421

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer held that society can be understood through anti-Semitism — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1291; Adorno and Horkheimer linked Odyssey sacrifice themes to anti-Semitism’s psychology — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1355; Anti-Semitism is pathological projection stripped of self-reflection, not projection itself — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 150 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Anti-Semitism is pathological projection stripped of self-reflection, not projection itself #expands (0.80) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 150
• Explaining the Holocaust via sadistic hatred obscures its most sinister truth #contradicts (0.80)
• Psychoanalytic frameworks can reframe racist violence and hatred #corroborates (0.75)
• Anti-Semitism functions as an interchangeable, replaceable programmatic label under Fascism #expands (0.75)