Benjamin broke with mentors over their war enthusiasm because politicization threatened pure intellect.

Evidence

In 1915 Benjamin broke with Wyneken because of Wyneken’s enthusiasm for the war. The decisive reason was the same that had already led him to distance himself from Der Anfang in 1914: he saw politicization as endangering his alignment towards the pure intellect. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 341

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the reader’s Critical Theory synthesis on how the First World War split the intellectual left between political engagement and intellectual purity. — connects to: Benjamin saw distracted mass reception as politically radicalizing — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 120; Benjamin twice broke with mentors over their wartime politicization

Broader Connections

• Benjamin saw distracted mass reception as politically radicalizing #corroborates (0.72) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 120