University of Nebraska Press

You Flatter Me!: More Acclaim for In Praise of Flattery

In Praise of Flattery by Willis Goth Regier

“Regier . . . mines both ancient and modern sources to present a variety of views on flattery, and he treats the topic with good scholarship and good humor. . . . Anyone who doubts that flattery can be the subject of serious scholarship needs to read this book. Anyone who wants to read something both erudite and entertaining should do so as well. . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE

Read earlier acclaim for In Praise of Flattery at http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/11/praise-for-in-p.html.

Tuesday Trivia: January 15, 2008

To the Max!

Today’s "TT" installment is a tribute to Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), the famous German philosopher and sociologist, one of the central figures in modern thought, and the director of the Institute of Social Research at the University of Frankfurt. This month, the University of Nebraska Press publishes A Life in Letters: Selected Correspondence by Max Horkheimer, edited, translated, and with an introduction by Manfred R. Jacobson and Evelyn M. Jacobson. The letters in this volume demonstrate how Horkheimer’s thought was influenced by and engaged with the historical events of the twentieth century, particularly the Holocaust and the Vietnam War.

Are you ready to test your philosophy prowess?

1. True or false?: Theodor Adorno was a student of Horkheimer’s Institute of Social Research.
2. What is the name of the original disciplinary movement developed by Horkheimer?
3. Horkheimer developed his thought from what major theory and political practice?
4. In what year were most members of the Frankfurt Institute forced to flee due to Nazi political gains in Germany?
5. Where did Horkheimer move after the Nazis seized control in Germany?
6. At what major U.S. university did Horkheimer set up his new institute headquarters and journal?
7. True or false?: Horkheimer’s work called for a brand of Marxism couched in a larger historical and social context.
8. True or false?: After his move to Los Angeles, Horkheimer collaborated with Adorno on an influential 1947 study entitled Critical Thought and Enlightenment.
9. In what year did Horkheimer return to Frankfurt?
10. Which of these philosophers was not a major influence on Horkheimer’s work?
A - Pollock
B - Kant
C - Hegel
D - Marx
E - None of the above

Answers: 1-True; 2-Critical Theory; 3-Marxism; 4-1933; 5-New York, NY; 6-Columbia University; 7-True; 8-False, it was called Dialectic of Enlightenment; 9-1950; 10-E

How did you do?

0-2: Bottom Marx. 
3-5: Kant have done better?
6-8: Critical thinker!
9-10: A philosophical phenomenon!