The first German chair in social philosophy was created for Horkheimer in 1929

Evidence

Horkheimer was therefore the clear choice to succeed Grunberg. Although he had not been a dominating presence at the Institut dur ing its first few years, his star clearly rose during the interim directorship of his friend Pollock. In 1929, with the support of Tillich and other members of the philosophy department, a new chair of “social philosophy” was established for Horkheimer, the first of its kind at a German university. Weil had convinced the Education Ministry to convert Grunberg’s chair in political science, which his father had endowed, to its new purpose. As part of the bargain he promised to contribute to another chair in economics, which Adolph Lowe, a childhood friend of Horkheimer, left Kiel to fill. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 147

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader backstory of Weil family patronage endowing the Institute and its chairs — institutional-financing strand running through the book. — connects to: The Frankfurt philosophy faculty pioneered systematic ideology critique around 1930. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 457; Weil’s endowment politics created Horkheimer’s social philosophy chair — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 147