Horkheimer’s fear of dwindling finances redirected the Institute toward the dialectics book

Evidence

There was a definite reason why the Institute’s organization appeared to be a danger to the dialectics project, a reason why the project became more and more independent of the programme of using the Institute for collaborative research on social theory integrating empirical and specialist research. This was the Horkheimers’ fear of not having sufficiently large finances at their disposal. … In the summer of 1940, on his way to settle in Los Angeles, he wrote to Lowenthal, `On the whole journey I keep seeing it coming up in front of my eyes: “Money is the best protection, money is the best protection, money is …”’ This fear, which Pollock, who usually saw the dark side of things, exacerbated, reminded him that in view of the increasingly insecure financial situation the book on dialectics had to be given first priority. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1042

Categorization

• XREF: Runs against the standing directive note about ‘small acts of decorum toward corpses’ — here it is money, not corpses, that governs priorities; resonates with the Money/Protection theme. — connects to: California’s cheap living costs drew Horkheimer westward to write the dialectics book — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1038; Financial fear, not intellectual conviction, drove the dialectics project’s priority. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1042; Horkheimer’s private wealth funded the Institute through a lifelong annuity — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 445 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Financial fear, not intellectual conviction, drove the dialectics project’s priority. #corroborates (0.92) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1042
• California’s cheap living costs drew Horkheimer westward to write the dialectics book #contradicts (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1038