>>17813080I didn't claim that they were out to 'convince' people of Critical Theory. I stated that Frankfurt School theorists (like Adorno) had a vested interest in rooting out civilizational notions he saw as being unhealthy to civilization, like fascism. I'm not even implying that such a notion is inherent in the principles of Critical Theory itself, only that it was a desire of the Frankfurt School theorists. For example, in "The Religious Medium," Adorno gives advice on the production of counter-propaganda against fascists:
"Nothing irks the neo-pagan barbarians more than the idea that their ancestors might have been apes. Counterpropaganda, in analyzing the implicit philosophy of the fascists, should carefully point out their twisted relationship to nature."
To the extent that rooting out fascism was one of their goals, works like The Authoritarian Personality must be seen in the light of this project. Statements like "if [fascist] indoctrination were dispensed with, or if propaganda having an opposite direction were substituted for it, then the results from this [high F-scoring] group would fall into line with all the others" should be viewed in light of their desire to ameliorate what they saw as societal pathologies. See Horkheimer's statement: "Our aim is not merely to describe prejudice but to explain it in order to help in its eradication. That is the challenge we would meet. Eradication means re-education, scientifically planned on the basis of understanding scientifically arrived at. [...] Since the completion of these studies the Department of Scientific Research of the American Jewish Committee has moved ahead into areas of research in which the unit of study is the group, the institution, the community rather than the individual."
This being said, I find it perfectly reasonable to ask: to what degree has their contribution to this project of rooting out fascist tendencies been adopted by influential organizations?