Even Institute insiders were baffled by Dialectic of Enlightenment on arrival

Evidence

The more the general political situation develops into what we have always expected,’ he wrote to Marcuse in September 1943, `the more I feel that what matters is our own philosophical work.’ When Marcuse and Kirchheimer received the Philosophical Fragments through the post in December 1944, bothindependently of one anotherreacted with bafflement. All they could do was to send their thanks for it. Even later on, they had nothing more to say about the book. As it turned out, this was to be symptomatic of its reception for a considerable time to come. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 367

Categorization

• SHARE: A niche but delicious detail — Marcuse and Kirchheimer, the book’s own circle, reading Philosophical Fragments with blank bafflement.
• XREF: connects to: Dialectic of Enlightenment initially baffled even the Institute’s own inner circle — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1448
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Dialectic of Enlightenment initially baffled even the Institute’s own inner circle — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1448

Broader Connections

• Dialectic of Enlightenment initially baffled even the Institute’s own inner circle #corroborates (1.00) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1448