European intellectuals saw postwar Germany as preferable to America for intellectual life

Evidence

Adorno saw Germany as a colony, in which intellectual life was something unreal, a substitute. But at least it was valued as a substitute, and not despised as something valueless, as it was in the United States. Horkheimer shared Adorno’s assessment of the German situation. But if one was successful in that colony, if one counted for something, it might be possible to exercise some influence on a small scale. In the United States, intellectuals and thinkers, even in the best case, were virtually submerged. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1745 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

On the other hand, however, it was the standardization and artificial conservation of European culture that Adorno was warning against. Being able to overturn a form of alienation which had been taken to its limits depended on there still being a remnant not yet encompassed by it; this philosophical motif was decisive for Adorno here as well. Adorno saw more hope of improvement in the post-Hitler period in the country which had experienced the worst form of fascism than he did in the USA. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1645 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: German exiles viewed America as a place where intellectuals were subordinated to practical utility — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1745; Adorno paradoxically hoped more for post-Hitler Germany than for the USA — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1645; Adorno judged postwar European intellectual culture inferior to America’s for critical analysis. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1742 (+1 more)

Related

• German exiles viewed America as a place where intellectuals were subordinated to practical utility (similarity 0.95)
• Adorno paradoxically hoped more for post-Hitler Germany than for the USA (similarity 0.93)
• Adorno judged postwar European intellectual culture inferior to America’s for critical analysis. (similarity 0.91)
• Horkheimer’s logic implied the USA carried a greater fascist potential than Germany. (similarity 0.84)
• Adorno’s outsider status in America sharpened rather than disabled his critical output (similarity 0.82)
• Horkheimer saw postwar Germany as the world’s decisive battleground for intellectual survival. (similarity 0.81)
• The Institute feared American antisemitic potential could exceed Germany’s (similarity 0.81)
• Adorno’s pseudo-conservatism label masked a European left critique of American civilization (similarity 0.80)
• Adorno and Horkheimer returned to Germany expecting greater practical impact. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• German exiles viewed America as a place where intellectuals were subordinated to practical utility #corroborates (0.88) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1745
• Adorno paradoxically hoped more for post-Hitler Germany than for the USA #exemplifies (0.82) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1645