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The Vicissitudes of the Politics of “Life:” Max Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse’s Reception of Phenomenology and Vitalism in Weimar Germany
(2006-09-22) Abromeit, John
In the 1920s and early 1930s both Max Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse engaged critically with phenomenology and vitalism. But their reception of these two broad and heterogeneous philosophies differed in important respects. Examining these differences will help us understand not only Horkheimer and Marcuse’s intellectual development and the origins of the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School; it will also illuminate the important role that phenomenology and vitalism played in setting the terms of intellectual and cultural debate in Weimar Germany. Phenomenology and vitalism contributed significantly to a widespread revolt against science, positivism and rationality more generally, which began at the end of the nineteenth century and reached its peak in Weimar Germany.