Abstract

James Schmidt's attack on my reading of the Frankfurt School, despite his intemperate and sarcastic tone, frequently muddled understanding of Critical Theory, and unwarranted reliance on Russell Jacoby as some sort of authority, raises a number of crucial and disturbing questions. In answering him, I hope to clarify some of the issues I treated in my earlier Telos piece and to contribute to what should be an ongoing debate on the merits of the Frankfurt School's achievement. Schmidt begins his onslaught by accusing me of being that most base of academic neutralizes, an intellectual historian, who delights in the interplay of ironic nuances and sees the Frankfurt School as fit for a cultural museum.