Editing Max Horkheimer (section)

===Critical theory===
Through [[critical theory]], a social theory focusing on critiquing and changing society, Horkheimer "attempted to revitalize radical social, and cultural criticism" and discussed authoritarianism, militarism, economic disruption, environmental crisis and the poverty of mass culture. Horkheimer helped to create critical theory through a mix of radical and conservative lenses that stem from radical Marxism and end up in "pessimistic Jewish transcendentalism".<ref name="Reason, Nostalgia 1985 pp. 160-181"/>

He developed his critical theory by examining his own wealth while witnessing the juxtaposition of the bourgeois and the impoverished. This critical theory embraced the future possibilities of society and was preoccupied with forces which moved society toward rational institutions that would ensure a true, free, and just life.<ref name="Held, David 1980">Held, David. 1980. Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.</ref> He was convinced of the need to "examine the entire material and spiritual culture of mankind"<ref name="Reason, Nostalgia 1985 pp. 160-181"/> in order to transform society as a whole. Horkheimer sought to enable the working class to reclaim their power in order to resist the lure of fascism. Horkheimer stated himself that "the rationally organized society that regulates its own existence" was necessary along with a society that could "satisfy common needs".<ref name="Reason, Nostalgia 1985 pp. 160-181"/> To satisfy these needs, it reached out for a total understanding of history and knowledge. Through this, critical theory develops a "critique of bourgeois society through which 'ideology critique' attempted to locate the 'utopian content' of dominant systems of thought".<ref name="Elliott 1996">Elliott, Anthony and Larry Ray, ed. 1996. Key Contemporary Social Theorists. Malden, MA: Blackwell.</ref> Above all, critical theory sought to develop a critical perspective in the discussion of all social practices.<ref name="Held, David 1980"/>