loose associations around the world, and all people
would live together harmoniously.
Attempts were made to put into practice Fourier’s
ideas of utopian SOCIALISM, most notably at Brook Farm
in Massachusetts, between 1841 and 1847.
Further Reading
Beecher, J. Charles Fourier: The Visionary and His World.Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1987.
Frankfurt School
The members of the “Frankfurt School” were inspired
by the writings of Karl MARX. The school was formed
in 1923 as part of the University of Frankfurt in Ger-
many, taking the formal name of the Institut für Sozial-
forschung(Institute for Social Research). Established
by Felix Weil, the first director of the institute was
Carl Grünberg. The unique identity of the institute
began to take shape after Max HORKHEIMERassumed
the directorship in 1930. Horkheimer recruited a num-
ber of leading German intellectuals whose names are
now permanently linked with the Frankfurt School,
including Theodor W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, and Her-
bert MARCUSE. Jürgen HABERMASis generally considered
to represent the “second generation” of the Frankfurt
School.
Although informed by a number of disciplines
ranging from philosophy to psychology, sociology and
political science, the work of the Frankfurt School has
come to be referred to as CRITICAL THEORY. As devel-
oped by the members of the Frankfurt School, critical
theory provides an analysis of existing conditions in
society, a diagnosis of its faults, and recommendations
for its radical transformation. The different
approaches characteristic of critical theory were uni-
fied by the influence of Marxist philosophy, finding
expression in strong critiques of CAPITALISMand the
fetishism of technology in MODERNsociety.
Following the NAZIrise to power, the institute was
forced to leave Germany. From 1933 to 1935, it was
located in Geneva, Switzerland, after which it moved
to New York City. In 1941 the institute was again relo-
cated to California, eventually returning to the Univer-
sity of Frankfurt in 1953. The early work of the
institute focused on the development of authoritarian-
ism and FASCISM, and studies were conducted to exam-
ine the influence of AUTHORITYon the cultural and
political attitudes of the German working class. These
studies led to the later elaboration of the “authoritar-
ian personality” as a feature of individuals in modern
society. The Frankfurt School theorists argued that
individuals become indoctrinated through mecha-
nisms of power to desire conformity and self-repres-
sion. The widespread existence of the authoritarian
personality was then used to account for the popular
support of contemporary TOTALITARIANregimes.
The members of the Frankfurt School also exten-
sively analyzed the “rationalization” of society. They
maintained that, concomitant with the rise to domi-
nance of the natural sciences, modern society has
become obsessed with “instrumental” rationality, that
is, the function of reason for the purpose of organizing
efficient means for a given end. Within modern eco-
nomic and political systems, efficiency is considered
the only lens through which to view human activity.
One result of the emphasis on instrumental rationality
has been the gradual impoverishment of human exis-
tence. Creativity, imagination, pleasure, and individual
autonomy are now regarded as obstacles to the effi-
cient production of consumer goods and an increas-
ingly inhuman technology. Another result described by
the Frankfurt School was that a narrow focus on
instrumental rationality undermines the role of moral
reason in evaluating the goals of human activity, as
well as the means used to achieve them. They pointed
out that, in itself, efficiency cannot guarantee the
morality of any desired goal or means used to achieve
that goal. The Nazis, for example, developed and
employed advanced science and technology for the
purpose of exterminating millions of human beings in
the most efficient way possible. Surely, the barbarity of
the Nazis’ actions demonstrates the irrationality of
treating all things, including human beings, as mere
objects.
The later work of the members of the Frankfurt
School continued to explore the various ways that
power and authority are utilized to control nearly all
aspects of social life. The “culture industry,” formed by
the extension of technology into the mass media
(radio, newspaper, television, and film), constitutes
one especially effective system through which capital-
ism is able to maintain an all-pervasive influence on
individuals’ opinions, needs, and desires. According to
the Frankfurt School, the culture industry has con-
tributed to the entrenchment of the status quo and to
the formation of a homogeneous, “one-dimensional”
society. Given the conclusions reached in their works,
it should come as no surprise that the members of the
Frankfurt School became increasingly pessimisticFrankfurt School 111