Horkheimer and Adorno located capitalism’s core in the exchange principle

Evidence

Therborn has made the astute observation that whereas Luktics stressed reification as the essential meaning of capitalism, and others such as the early Marcuse emphasized alienation (Fromm could also be included here), Horkheimer and Adorno regarded the exchange principle as its essence. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 1635

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes reification (Lukacs), alienation (early Marcuse, Fromm), and the exchange principle (Horkheimer/Adorno) as competing diagnoses of capitalism’s essence.
• XREF: connects to: Adorno linked the performer’s interpretive freedom to the stage of capitalism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 560; Horkheimer grounded the exchange principle’s universality in biblical talionic justice rather than economic history — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1152; Adorno’s identification of exchange with identity logic is meta-economic, not capitalist — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1298 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer grounded the exchange principle’s universality in biblical talionic justice rather than economic history #qualifies (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1152
• Adorno’s identification of exchange with identity logic is meta-economic, not capitalist #qualifies (0.72) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1298
• The sphere of exchange generates capitalism’s spontaneous commonsense and bourgeois theory #expands (0.70)