Horkheimer and Adorno reduced theory’s role to stimulating thought rather than progress
Evidence
In their eyes, a breathing-space in the course of historical development did not primarily mean prolonged exploitation and a delay in the arrival of socialism. Instead, it meant above all a chance for reflection and work on the theory. They were no longer able to see the theory, for the foreseeable future, as a progressive force; instead, they saw it at the very most as a force that could stimulate thought. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1675
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to ch15 on Marcuse’s ‘theory as highest praxis’ — now inverted into theory as mere thought-stimulus. — connects to: Adorno’s late position replaced theory with a critical thinking that consumes theory.; Horkheimer produced almost no serious theoretical work after Dialectic of Enlightenment. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1683