ABSTRACT
Germany makes its contribution through what has come to be known as Critical Theory. This has created a schism among German sociologists and has had some repercussions abroad. One must distinguish a recent and a more remote history of this trend. In the mid-1920s the University of Frankfurt created an Institute of Social Research of which Max Horkheimer became director in 1931. Herbert Marcuse provided the historical background in a brilliant review, “The Foundations of the Dialectical Theory of Society,” and in a later edition of this work he added an instructive preface on dialectics and suggested as slogan: “the power of negative thinking.” Each point is highlighted by a quotation from Theodor Adorno and additional comments are written in his style. One of the main German centers of empirical social research is undoubtedly the University of Cologne. Its senior sociologist, at the Stresa international conference, has given apt descriptions of Critical Theory backed by well-chosen references.
