Max Horkheimer - Philosophical Works (7 books)

MAX HORKHEIMER (1895-1973) was a German Jewish philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the "Frankfurt School" of social research, combining Marxist-oriented political philosophy with social and cultural analysis informed by empirical research.

He is best known for his work during the 1940s, including DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT (1947), which was co-authored with Theodor Adorno and traced the rise of fascism and other forms of totalitarianism to the Enlightenment notion of “instrumental” reason. The work’s pessimism reflects the defeats that progressive European social movements had suffered since the early 1930s. A more accessible version of the book's argument also appeared under the title THE ECLIPSE OF REASON (1947).

Horkheimer's later work displays his enduring fascination with the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and the philosophy of religion. Horkheimer felt that Schopenhauer’s pessimistic social philosophy more faithfully reflected the lost prospects for utopia than did the more optimistic social theories of the postwar period.


The following books are in PDF and/or ePUB format as noted:

* CRITICAL THEORY: Selected Essays (Continuum, 1972). Translated by Matthew J. O'Connell & others. -- PDF

* CRITIQUE OF INSTRUMENTAL REASON (Verso, 2012). Translated by Matthew J. O'Connell et al. -- ePUB

* DAWN & DECLINE: Notes 1926-1931 and 1950-1969 (Continuum, 1978). Translated by Michael Shaw. -- PDF

* DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT: Philosophical Fragments [with Theodor Adorno] (Stanford, 2002). Edited by Gunzelin Schmid Noerr and translated by Edmund Jephcott. -- PDF

* ECLIPSE OF REASON (Continuum / Bloomsbury, 1974). -- PDF + ePUB

* SURVEY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN WESTERN GERMANY: A Report on Recent Developments (Library of Congress, 1952). -- PDF

* TOWARDS A NEW MANIFESTO [with Theodor Adorno] (Verso, 2011). Translated by Rodney Livingstone. -- ePUB