Horkheimer grounded Critical Theory in a natural human need for happiness and solidarity.

Evidence

Horkheimer, giving Schopenhauer a Marxist twist, had based his own view on the assumption that human beings have a natural need for happiness, natural sympathies and natural solidarity with other finite beings, and that these characteristics would win through as soon as humanity was freed from manipulation and the struggle for survival. This involved an assumption that there was a form of reason emanating from humanity’s natural qualities. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 531

Categorization

• XREF: Horkheimer’s natural-solidarity premise undergirds the earlier chapters’ discussion of his materialism and periodization of the happiness demand. — connects to: Horkheimer defined good egoism as the unconditional, unjustified demand for happiness. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 201; Horkheimer grounded Critical Theory in natural reason emanating from innate sympathies. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2155; Horkheimer’s critical theory aimed to combine factual knowledge with normative urgency — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 199 (+5 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Horkheimer defined good egoism as the unconditional, unjustified demand for happiness. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 201; Horkheimer grounded Critical Theory in natural reason emanating from innate sympathies. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2155; Horkheimer’s critical theory aimed to combine factual knowledge with normative urgency — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 199 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer’s materialism defined itself against happiness as illusory and toward social transformation #complicates (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 544
• Horkheimer’s materialism rested on happiness as an unjustified demand resolvable through planning #complicates (0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 545