Riesman’s anti-Semitism ideas independently coincided with Frankfurt School positions

Evidence

Horkheimer had once written to Marcuse about David Riesman, who first came to prominence as the author of The Lonely Crowd. Horkheimer had happened to see an article by Riesman in a book Marcuse wanted him to send on to Washington. When I picked up the books which you wanted me to keep for you,' Horkheimer wrote, I found a manuscript by Mr Riesman on Anti-Semitism which I would like to keep if you permit it. Who is this Mr Riesman? His ideas coincide strangely with our own on the subject. He seems either to be a very intelligent man or to have studied successfully our publications.’ — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1820

Categorization

• CANDY: Horkheimer’s dry line — ‘either a very intelligent man or studied our publications’ — is a fun, shareable anecdote.
• SHARE: Perfect for a friend interested in intellectual genealogy or the Frankfurt School’s American influence.
• XREF: connects to: The Frankfurt School viewed anti-Semitism as a tool sustaining flawed democratic capitalism — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1789