ABSTRACT
Herbert Marcuse was at the furthest remove from Neumann in temperament, at his best in long-run analyses of social forces and their shifting ideological resultants, but avoiding political or policy choices where moral ambiguity was involved. Otto Kirchheimer, like Neumann a lawyer by training, had not only a judicial temper but also a juridical outlook especially useful in preparing for the war crimes trials. The historian Felix Gilbert, the fourth member of this group, had ties neither to the Frankfurt Institute nor to Marxism as an intellectual system. Quiet-spoken and subtle in his critical input, he enjoyed the deep respect of his colleagues for his empirical learning and his insightful approach to political behavior. Marcuse expressed his admiration for Gilbert by according him the title of Preceptor Germaniae. In the social dynamics of the Central European section's deliberations, Marcuse's ever-ready wit played a prominent part. He had the comic's critical spirit, the gift of deflating illusion.
