Die Rolle der Frankfurter Schule bei der Entwicklung der Sozialwissenschaften und der Intellektuellen Landschaft der BRD in den Jahren 1948–1968.

Abstract

The Role of the Frankfurt School in the Development of the Social Sciences and the Intellectual Environment in the FRD (1948–1968)

The paper deals with the influence of the Frankfurt school upon the development of the social sciences as well as the general intellectual environment within FRD during the first two decades of its existence. The endeavour of the principal members of the Frankfurt School, especially Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, to contribute to democratization of the country and modernization of German social sciences was inconsistent: after their return from the American exile they cultivated progressive, mostly empirical, sociological methods. However they advocated the fundamental criticism of the liberal-democratic system, both from ideological and cultural-critical motives. In this sense the impact of the post war Frankfurt School upon West German societies “coming to terms” with the Nazi past was of key importance.

Keywords: Germany, Frankfurt school, modernization, Nazi past, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer