Suffering and theory: Max Horkheimer's early essays and contemporary moral philosophy
Philosophy and Social Criticism 36 (9):1019-1037 (2010)
| Abstract | Max Horkheimer does not generally receive the scholarly attention given to other ‘Frankfurt School’ figures. This is in part because his early work seems contradictory, or unphilosophical. For example, Horkheimer seems, at various points (to use contemporary metaethical terms), like a constructivist, a moral realist, or a moral skeptic, and it is not clear how these views cohere. The goal of this article is to show that the contradictions regarding moral theory exist largely on the surface, and that one can go below the surface to reconstruct a coherent position. Part I will examine Horkheimer’s skeptical critique of morality, and show that it leads to the realist position discussed in part II. Part III then shows that such realism can only be understood within a larger constructivist project, which elaborates on a minimal normativity present in human experience. This reconstruction should make sense of Horkheimer’s work, and show its contemporary relevance | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,709 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJ. C. Berendzen (2008). Postmetaphysical Thinking or Refusal of Thought? Max Horkheimer's Materialism as Philosophical Stance. International Journal of Philosophical Studies 16 (5):695 – 718.
John Abromeit (2011). Max Horkheimer and the Foundations of the Frankfurt School. Cambridge University Press.
Nicholas Reynolds (2009). Family, Inner Life, and the Amusement Industry. Radical Philosophy Review 12 (1/2):1-19.
Peter M. R. Stirk (1992). Max Horkheimer: A New Interpretation. Barnes & Noble.
Raymond A. Morrow (1995). Benhabib, Seyla, Wolfgang Bonß, and John Mccole, Eds., On Max Horkheimer: New Perspectives. Mit Press, Cambridge, Ma, 1993. Pp. 533. $40.00. Horkheimer, Max. Between Philosophy and Social Science: Selected Early Writings. Translated by G. Frederick Hunter, Matthew S. Kramer, and John Torpey. Mit Press, Cambridge, Ma, 1993. Pp. 460. $40.00. [REVIEW] Philosophy of the Social Sciences 25 (4):479-484.
Max Horkheimer (1972/1982). Critical Theory: Selected Essays. Continuum Pub. Corp..
J. C. Berendzen, Max Horkheimer. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Margarete Kohlenbach & Raymond Geuss (eds.) (2005). The Early Frankfurt School and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan.
Shijun Tong (2006). “Critique” Immanent in “Practice”: New Frankfurt School and American Pragmatism. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 1 (2):295-316.
Max Horkheimer (2002). Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford University Press.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-10-26Total downloads14 ( #83,218 of 549,754 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,425 of 549,754 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
