Horkheimer approved Adorno’s thesis despite deeming it radically alien to his own philosophy

Evidence

Horkheimer, as second examiner, agreed with Tillich’s assessment, `in the knowledge that both the direction of the philosophical interests, and the methods of thought and the linguistic form of the Habilitation thesis which has been submitted to us, are not related to my own philosophical aspirations. If Wiesengrund considers that he has recovered hope and reconciliation, of all things, from Kierkegaard’s thought, he has thereby expressed a basic theological conviction which points to philosophical intentions radically different from my own, and this is noticeable in every single sentence. But I know that there lies behind this work not merely a strong philosophical will to truth, but also the strength to promote philosophy at significant points.’ — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 377

Categorization

• SHARE: A striking instance of an examiner approving work he openly disagrees with philosophically — a nice concrete case for anyone into academic-politics history.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 377
• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer and Adorno anchored their critique of reason in different ideals — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1308; Horkheimer broke with Marxist orthodoxy by treating irrationalism as heterogeneous — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 208; Marcuse could oppose Horkheimer’s conceptions yet still revere the work — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1250 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer and Adorno anchored their critique of reason in different ideals #expands (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1308
• Horkheimer broke with Marxist orthodoxy by treating irrationalism as heterogeneous #expands (0.78) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 208