Max Horkheimer: biography of this German philosopher.

A summary of the life of Max Horkheimer, philosopher of the Frankfurt School.

Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher, sociologist and psychologist known for having actively participated in the consolidation of the so-called critical theory within the framework of the German Institute for Social Research.

Like some of his contemporaries, among whom we can highlight Theodor Adorno, he had to go into exile when the Nazi party came to power, an experience that would significantly mark his socio-philosophical criticism.

We will now take a look at the life of this great thinker. we will see the life of this great thinker through a biography of Max Horkheimer, in which we will review the life of this great thinker.In it we will review his vision on the society of his time and some of his most outstanding works.

Brief biography of Max Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer's life takes place in his native Stuttgart, the city of Frankfurt, several European cities that were his refuge from National Socialism, and the United States, which welcomed him both personally and intellectually.

Horkheimer has been one of the great figures of German philosophy, sociology and, in part, of German psychology.. His work was influenced by authors such as Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, although it was the latter in particular who inspired him to analyze late capitalist society.

Early years

Max Horkheimer was born in Stuttgart, German Empire, on February 14, 1895, into a wealthy Jewish family.. Due to pressure from his father, young Max dropped out of school at the age of sixteen to work in his father's factory. In 1916 his career as a manufacturer ended and he was drafted to participate in the First World War.

At the end of the conflict, Horkheimer began his studies in philosophy and psychology at the University of Munich. His philosophical vocation had the opportunity to manifest itself while on a trip to Paris, during which he was able to read the works of great Western philosophers such as Schopenhauer, Hegelberg and Schubert.during which he was able to read the works of great thinkers of Western philosophy such as Schopenhauer, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud.

Later, he moved to Frankfurt, where he studied under the tutelage of Hans Cornelius. In that city he had the opportunity to meet Theodor Adorno with whom he established a lasting friendship.despite the fact that Horkheimer was fourteen years older than him. Their relationship would be culturally and intellectually very intense.

Academic career

In 1925 Max Horkheimer presented his dissertation The Critique of Kant's Judgment as Mediation between Practical and Theoretical Philosophyin which he was advised by Hans Cornelius. After one year, he was appointed privatdozent.

In 1930 he had the honor of being elected director of the German Institute for Social Research.. This institution would be behind the formation of a new philosophical current, the Frankfurt School, a current critical of the society of his time and supporter of Marxist currents. Under Horkheimer's direction, a series of analytical studies would be programmed with the aim of radically criticizing late capitalist society.

After taking up the chair of social philosophy at the University of Frankfurt in 1931, Max Horkheimer would begin to publish his work in the field of social philosophy. Max Horkheimer would begin publication of the journal Zeitschrift für SozialforschungZeitschrift für Sozialforschung, a publication belonging to the Institute and edited by Horkheimer himself. This journal advocated a critical-sociological orientation of society, with a philosophical basis.

It should be said that prior to the publication of this journal Horkheimer had already published a few essays in Germany, among them his Kritik der instrumentellen Vernunft. His works published between 1926 and 1931 are collected in the book Dämmerungpublished in 1934 under the pseudonym Heinrich Regius.

Empowered by his position as director of the Institute and while the Frankfurt School was in full formation, Max Horkheimer's critical approach was strengthened throughout the 1930s.. Together with several figures of that same institution, they studied the concept of the European family, giving birth to works such as Studien über Autorität und Familie (Studies on Authority and the Family).

Exile

With the rise of the Nazis to power, Max Horkheimer lost his venia legendi and, in 1933, the Institute ended up closing due to governmental pressure. German National Socialism not only frowned upon an institution critical of social movements and with a Marxist air, but also, among its members there were many Jews, as was the case of Horkheimer and Adorno.

Seeing how the political situation in the country was evolving and fearing for his life, Max Horkheimer was forced into exile.. He first emigrated to Geneva, Switzerland, then spent a brief stay in Paris and finally ended up in the United States. The Institute for Social Research would build its headquarters in exile at Columbia University in New York.

In 1940 Horkheimer received U.S. citizenship, and moved to Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California. While there he would collaborate with Adorno in the writing of Dialectics of Enlightenment. In the years that followed he published rather little, although he continued to edit a new journal, this time in English, considered the continuation of Zeitschrift für Sozialforschungand the Studies in Philosophy and Social Science.

While in America, Horkheimer was also the promoter of a series of research that took the form in 1950 of the five volumes of Studies in Prejudicean interesting analysis of the different typologies of authoritarian mentality and repressive behavior, stimulated by the tragic experience of having had to flee from fascism and Nazism.

Return to Germany

After the fall of the National Socialist regime and the end of the Second World War, in 1949 Max Horkheimer returned to Frankfurt and the Institute was re-founded within a year.. The new institution would be greatly enriched by the experiences of several of its returning members, in addition to training new minds such as Jürgen Habermas, a disciple of Horkheimer and Adorno, among other prominent figures.

Between 1951 and 1953, Horkheimer was rector of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, where he continued to teach until his retirement in the mid-1960s. retirement in the mid-1960s. Taking advantage of his power as a teacher, he was critical of the capitalist restoration that was taking place in the newly created German Federal Republic, which, despite being more democratic, continued to neglect the working people.

Between 1954 and 1959 he alternated his academic life between Europe and America, teaching in Frankfurt and, in 1959, in the United States.teaching in Frankfurt and also at the University of Chicago. It would be during this period that he would have the privilege of winning the Goethe Prize (1955) and would be named honorary citizen of the city of Frankfurt in 1960.

In his last years Max Horkheimer showed a low profile, making few public appearances and handing over the direction of the Institute for Social Research to Theodor Adorno. During the 1970s Horkheimer experienced the death of his wife, which made him retreat even more into solitude. He died on July 7, 1973 in Nuremberg, West Germany, and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Bern, Switzerland.

Bibliographical references:

• Abromeit, J. (2011), Max Horkheimer and the Foundations of the Frankfurt School, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN 9781107660656
• Silva-Lazcano, L. (2014) Among the dust of the world. Irrationality, pessimism and compassion in Max Horkheimer. Mexico, D.F., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Coordination of Graduate Studies. ISBN 978-607-02-5467-3.