CTSJ 370 Marx, Freud, and the Frankfurt School

This seminar will explore the origins of the world famous Frankfurt School, a group of German social philosophers and theoreticians, which emerged at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Frankfurt am Main in the 1920's. The group wanted: (1) to analyze the conditions of modern capitalism and its impact on society in general, on family and social structures, value systems, and mass culture; (2) critically review the theories of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Max Weber; and (3) to establish the principles and foundations of a "critical theory." We will read and discuss major works by Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Siegfried Kracauer, Leo Loewenthal, and others. The seminar will focus on the "first phase" of the Frankfurt School, its beginnings and its work and development during the 30's and 40's - when the school relocated to New York and many of its collaborators lived in other American cities or abroad - and the immediate post WWII period. (A second seminar will follow next year and explore the school's development and its world wide impact in the 60's and 70's.) The course is taught in English. Students minoring or majoring in German will read some of the original texts (especially Marx, Freud, Benjamin, and Kracauer,) that are written in German. Open only juniors and seniors.