Authority, social character and personality : some remarks on concept formation in the social thought of Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno and Erich Fromm

Abstract

The study is an exercise in the sociology of sociology. It is mainly concerned with the problem of the influence of ideology upon the internal structures of social thought. From this perspective, the author examines the social thought of Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, and Erich Fromm as a distinct institutional and ideological product. The first part of the thesis is concerned with the social setting of their work, the 'intellectualisation ' of Marxism at the Frankfurt Institut fUr Sozialforschung in the twenties and thirties, the relationships between scholars at the Institute and other Marxists, and their sympathies with German psychoanalysts of the 'left'. In Parts II and III of the thesis, the author examines the actual content of the ideas expressed by these authors, contrasting those of Fromm with the different perspectives of Horkheimer and Adorno. Here concern with their 'critical' or 'dialectical method' takes precedence over consideration of theory. The author takes seriously the attempt of these scholars to understand the world, and particularly the capitalist world in its 'totality'. From a sociological perspective the various levels within their total system of thought are examined, beginning with an exposition of the assumptions of the authors about the world - man, society, history, nature. This is followed by a discussion of how they break down the 'totality' into interrelated units. Discussion of their concepts of character and personality reveals the structured interdependence of these units. Finally, examination of the process of inquiry attempts to show how the details in their concepts and theories are arrived at. The author was particularly interested in the continuities and discontinuities in Horkheimer's program of social research as he and the Institute moved from one social setting to another - from the Weimar Republic to the United States of America.