ABSTRACT
The following observations are an attempt to do just that; for those who were the principal architects of Critical Theory did not know the end. It would betray a serious deficiency in one’s sense of humor, as well as a lack of philosophic piety, were one to undertake a systematic exposition and criticism of Critical Theory in the narrow compass of these pages. The calculated decision to write in German ruled out the possibility of a large American following; the Zeitschrift reached no appreciable American audience, even though it carried an occasional article in English by a prominent American social scientist. It was conceived and born in splendid isolation. Its contribution to America, Horkheimer would say time and again, would be greater if he and his group preserved in this country the last island of German culture.
