Horkheimer’s planned book remained ambiguous about how interdisciplinary and economic analysis fit together.

Evidence

The memorandum made it clear that Horkheimer was still convinced of the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration; that he still considered economic analysis to be of central significance; and that his book' was to be a historical-materialist theory of the general tendencies of the era. However, it remained unclear in what sense interdisciplinary collaboration’ was intended; what status economic analysis was to have; and what message was being conveyed by the fact that the work described itself as an `ideological critique’. The expression contained a declaration of belief in the Marxist model of a critique of political economy, at the same time suggesting a critique of the illusions created by the capitalist mode of production and a presentation of the contradictory essence of that mode of production. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1315

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that ‘ideological critique’ for Horkheimer carried the dual sense of a Marxist critique of political economy AND a critique of capitalist illusions — two distinct projects fused in one term.
• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer’s critique of egoism lacked clear causal grounding in economic and social tendencies. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 740

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer’s critique of egoism lacked clear causal grounding in economic and social tendencies. #exemplifies (0.82) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 740