OF CRITICAL THEORY AND ITS THEORISTS S T E P H E N E R I C B R O N N E R No project holds a more prominent place in the development of modern Euro­ pean thought than critical theory. Usually associated with various members of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research of the 1920s and 1930s, critical theory has been enormously influential and quite controversial in its manifold claims. Of Critical Theory and its Theorists provides unique interpretations of critical theory’s most important representatives: Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Jiirgen Habermas, and others. Inspired by the interdisciplinary character of the original enterprise, Stephen Bronner ranges across many fields, from philosophy and aesthetics to politics and anthropology, reconstructing the radical aims of critical theory, and evaluating its successes, its failings, and its legacy. Of Critical Theory and its Theorists offers a panoramic view of an exciting trad­ ition, and a bold new perspective, from one of America’s most prominent analysts of continental politics and philosophy. “Has the foundation of critical theory been withdrawn with the collapse of communism? Stephen Eric Bronner argues the opposite: only now, liberated from marxian dogmatism, can a genuine critique of modern society begin. He develops his ideas in an immanent and emancipatory confrontation with critical theory and its proponents. A brilliant book! Don’t miss it!” Ulrich Beck Stephen Eric Bronner is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers Univer­ sity. His most recent works are Socialism Unbound and Moments of Decision: Political History and the Crises of Radicalism. He has also edited The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg and co-edited, with Douglas Kellner, the collection Critical Theory and Society. Cover illustration: Paul Klee. Regie. 1930. watercolour and pen on chalk ground German Ingres paper on cardboard, 29.5 X 47 cms. reproduced by kind permission of Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Cover design by Richard Boxall Design Associates. B BLACKWELL Oxford UK 6r Cambridge USA O f Critical Theory and its Theorists When the power of synthesis vanishes from the lives of men and when the antitheses have lost their vital relation and their power of interaction and gain independence» it is then that philosophy becomes a felt need. G. W. F. Hegel O f Critical Theory and its Theorists STEPHEN ERIC BRONNER B Bata library BLACKWELL TRENT LW'jy >‘ITY Oxford UK & Cambridge USA Pf.UR R UCH, 30 0 Copyright ® Stephen Eric Bronner 1994 The right of Stephen Eric Bronner to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 1994 Blackwell Publishers 238 Main Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 USA 108 Cowley Road Oxford 0X4 1JF UK All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data Bronner, Stephen Eric, 1949- Of critical theory and its theorists/Stephen Eric Bronner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-631-18737-5 (alk. paper). - ISBN 0-631-18738-3 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Critical theory. 2. Philosophy and social sciences. I. Tide. B809.3.B76 1994 142—dc20 93-30889 CIP British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in 10 on 12pt Bembo by Photoprint, Torquay, Devon Printed in Great Britain by T.J. Press, Padstow, Cornwall This book is printed on acid-free paper Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Karl Korsch: Western Marxism and the Origins of Critical Theory 12 3 Philosophical Anticipations: A Commentary on the “Reification” Essay of Georg Lukács 32 4 Utopian Projections: In Honor of Ernst Bloch 62 5 Horkheimer’s Road 73 6 Ontology and its Discontents: Unorthodox Remarks on the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger 102 7 Reclaiming the Fragments: On the Messianic Materialism of Walter Benjamin 128 8 Political Aesthetics in Retrospect: Reflections on the Expressionism Debate and its Contemporary Relevance 155 9 Dialectics at a Standstill: A Methodological Inquiry into the Philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno 180 10 Fromm in America 209 VI Contents 11 Remembering Marcuse 234 12 The Anthropological Break: Herbert Marcuse and the Radical Imagination 237 13 Left Instrumentalism: A Critique of Analytic and Rational Choice Marxism 260 14 Jürgen Habermas and the Language of Politics 283 15 Points of Departure: Sketches for a Critical Theory with Public Aims 321 Index 353 Acknowledgments There are many people who have played a role in this enterprise. Luis Eduardo Mendieta generously offered his time, enthusiasm, and invalu­ able commentary on every phase of the enterprise. Samuel Assefa, Edmund Arens, John Ehrenberg, Michael Forman, Micheline Ishay, Kurt Jacobsen, Christine Kelly, Douglas Kellner, Eva Grunstein- Neuman, Jose Maria Rosales, Honglim Ryu, Manfred Steger, and F. Peter Wagner also provided me with their insights on various chapters and Alison Truefitt was exceptionally helpful in preparing the manu­ script. I should also take this opportunity to thank Simon Prosser of Basil Blackwell Publishers for his commitment to the book, and also my wife, Anne Burns, for her patience and support. Finally, however, I would like to recall the memory of two very different thinkers who personally inspired my interest and commitment to the critical project: Ernst Bloch and Henry Pachter.