SOURCE: Schnädelbach, Herbert. “Max Horkheimer and the Moral Philosophy of German Idealism.” In On Max Horkheimer: New Perspectives, edited by Seyla Benhabib, Wolfgang Bonß, and John McCole, pp. 281-304. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993.

In the following essay, Schnädelbach investigates Horkheimer's moral philosophy by contrasting his writings on the subject with the concept of German idealism.

I

Horkheimer's work contains many passages concerning moral and morally relevant problems, but one searches in vain for a completely elaborated moral philosophy. The rudiments of one may be found primarily in “Materialism and Morality” (1933) and in various passages of the “Juliette” portion of Dialectic of Enlightenment. These could be quickly summarized but would not thereby be adequately elucidated. If the matter were to remain with the mere reproduction of these thoughts, one would have to reach the regrettable conclusion—given the paucity of texts—that early critical theory had an...