the "school"

[LEO MEEKS]

On Thu, 2 Feb 1995, ANTOINE GOULEM wrote:

> I wonder if anyone out there can help me. I'm not at all familiar with 
> the early Frankfort School. I am interested in the period. In particular 
> I'm intereswted in neo-Kantianism. Could anyone help me with a reference 
> (in English or French) on the relation between these two groups. I 
> anticipate that the realiton will be informed by an anti-liberal critique 
> of the latter, but am guessing. In addition, is the interest in 
> economics, which I gather is an important feature of the early period of 
> the school's history an indicaiton of economism on their part? I wonder 
> about that in particular, because I'm also looking into the early history 
> and rise of game theory as an economic doictrine, and as a logical 
> theory. Any ideas, references? 
> Antoine Goulem. goua@alcor.concordia.ca
> 
> 
> 
> 
Antoine,

Actually the influence of Kant and neo-Kantians on particular members of 
the school was quite important: i think particularly of the relation 
between Horkheimer and Pollack and Hans Cornelius as well as Adorno's 
friendship with Sigfried Kracauer. Perhaps the most readable book in 
which this is discuused is Susan Buck-Morss' The Origin of the Negative 
Dialectic but you might also check out Gillian Rose,The Melancholy 
Science or even Jameson's book on Adorno which gives a decent account of 
his relation to Kant. Primary sources would be Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, 
Negative Dialectics, and Kierkegaard. Also all this discussion of 
economism on the part of the early school - if indeed it is a school and 
not an Institute - is misplaced or misdirected. What is interesting is 
what Althusser would later call effectivity or indeed we can call with 
all the interest in deconstruction and the f-school the trace of the 
economy in writing.

-leo