Episode 21: A Critical Theory of Christianity? (Ft. Julian Assele)

In this episode, Crane is joined by Julian Assele to discuss Max Horkheimer’s long-running critical engagement with contemporary Neo-Thomism, the history of Catholic thought, and the social content of theological controversies dating back to the early Christian church. Starting from Horkheimer’s 1930s short-form polemics on the church and fascism, the hosts turn to his extensive criticism of Neo-Thomism in “Conflicting Panaceas” from Eclipse of Reason (1947)—as well as the earlier version of the text, the unpublished “The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943)—and conclude with a critical look at the late Horkheimer’s neo-conservative instrumentalization of religion in “Theism and Atheism” (1963), posing the question: what might a “critical theory of religion” look like today?

Texts:

“On the Concept of God” [or: “Thoughts on Religion”] (1935): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-horkheimers-fragments

“On Theodor Haecker’s Der Christ und die Geschichte [The Christian and History]” (1936): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-the-materialist-as-polemicist

“The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-society-and-reason-1944

“Conflicting Panaceas,” in Eclipse of Reason (1947)

“Theism and Atheism” (1963), in Critique of Instrumental Reason (1974)

Follow Julian on Substack https://substack.com/@julesnotes

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