Horkheimer and Adorno fled Hitler only to hit the mass market commodification tyranny of 50s America. In the 80s children scratched their head how Hitler could be so nasty as the Cold War ran down but

Through critical theory (a social theory focusing on critiquing and changing society), Horkheimer "attempted to revitalize radical social, and cultural criticism" and discussed authoritarianism,

Horkheimer starts his essay directly by asking what a theory is. Then he explains what it actually is comparing the differences between traditional theory and critical theory throughout. He defines the