Horkheimer chose philosophy topics to reduce political risk in 1941

Evidence

Horkheimer and Marcuse did not start work together on the dialectics book straight away. Horkheimer had decided to devote the third issue of SPSS in 1941 to philosophy rather than public opinion, as it would be less risky in relation to current conditions, and for this he and Marcuse wanted to write linked articles about progress. I will make sure,' Horkheimer wrote to Adorno, that the decisive questions mentioned in Benjamin’s theses are kept for us later on. As I see it at the moment, Marcuse’s article will deal mainly with the ideology of progress and its relation to the development of the individual, while mine will concentrate on technology and experimental psychology.’ Marcuse was therefore to deal with matters related to the history of ideas, following a division of labour which had in the meantime become customary between them. In the course of his discussions with Marcuse, however, Horkheimer’s interest turned towards a theoretical analysis of the relation between the principles of reason and progress. He took on the task of writing an article on `reason’, while Marcuse was given the work on the topic of technology. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1229

Categorization

• SEED: The plan to reserve Benjamin’s theses questions for later, then having them migrate into Horkheimer’s ‘reason’ article and later the Dialectic of Enlightenment, traces how a manuscript-level division of labor shaped canonical Critical Theory texts.
• XREF: The topic swap — Horkheimer taking ‘reason’ and Marcuse ‘technology’ — foreshadows the division of labor inside the Dialectic of Enlightenment and Marcuse’s later One-Dimensional Man. — connects to: Horkheimer’s deliberate suppression of Marxist terminology secured Columbia’s affiliation — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 582; Horkheimer himself had renounced the critique of political economy by the 1940s — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 898; Horkheimer’s strategic indecision reflected a Jewish condition requiring Machiavellian skill for security — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1744

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer himself had renounced the critique of political economy by the 1940s #complicates (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 898
• Horkheimer’s strategic indecision reflected a Jewish condition requiring Machiavellian skill for security #expands (0.70) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1744