James Crane
@jamescrane.bsky.social
editor @ critical theory working group:
https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/
https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/
you might wonder: what were Horkheimer-Adorno’s politics in 1941? well: the universal self-enlightening of runaway enlightenment, aka communism
November 26, 2025 at 5:33 PM
you might wonder: what were Horkheimer-Adorno’s politics in 1941? well: the universal self-enlightening of runaway enlightenment, aka communism
so i ordered a used copy of CLR James’ Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways a while back
November 13, 2025 at 9:09 PM
so i ordered a used copy of CLR James’ Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways a while back
New podcast ep with Mac & Anatarah on Lewontin & Levins’ “Dialectical Biologist”! Give their convo—in which they def complete the system of German idealism via organism-debates in Marxist philosophy/history of science—a listen here!
November 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
New podcast ep with Mac & Anatarah on Lewontin & Levins’ “Dialectical Biologist”! Give their convo—in which they def complete the system of German idealism via organism-debates in Marxist philosophy/history of science—a listen here!
TL;DR: “Solidarity with Pollock as a theorist and socialist—a living example of intellect at odds with domination—was infinitely greater inspiration for Dialectic of Enlightenment than Pollock’s theory of capitalism itself.”
November 13, 2025 at 7:31 PM
TL;DR: “Solidarity with Pollock as a theorist and socialist—a living example of intellect at odds with domination—was infinitely greater inspiration for Dialectic of Enlightenment than Pollock’s theory of capitalism itself.”
also my most generous take on Pollock’s contrib. to 1940s Critical Theory: to Adorno & Horkheimer, he was an impossible, unbowed human being in times of terror. an attitude infinitely more important as inspiration for Dialectic of Enlightenment than the state capitalism essays
November 13, 2025 at 6:52 PM
also my most generous take on Pollock’s contrib. to 1940s Critical Theory: to Adorno & Horkheimer, he was an impossible, unbowed human being in times of terror. an attitude infinitely more important as inspiration for Dialectic of Enlightenment than the state capitalism essays
Masha Scott’s defense of the Soviet system from the “sophisticated bourgeois” intellectuals is so successful that Löwe & Tillich (both of whom want a kind of religious socialism) are genuinely shaken by it, while Pollock (!) defends her (paraphrasing Lichtenberg on the moral law)
November 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Masha Scott’s defense of the Soviet system from the “sophisticated bourgeois” intellectuals is so successful that Löwe & Tillich (both of whom want a kind of religious socialism) are genuinely shaken by it, while Pollock (!) defends her (paraphrasing Lichtenberg on the moral law)
favorite find here: discussion minutes from a group “interview” (seemingly organized by Paul & Hannah Tillich) w/ a young Russian emigre, Mrs. Masha Scott, on the meaning of life for the younger generation in the Soviet system
November 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
favorite find here: discussion minutes from a group “interview” (seemingly organized by Paul & Hannah Tillich) w/ a young Russian emigre, Mrs. Masha Scott, on the meaning of life for the younger generation in the Soviet system
happy 6am to those who celebrate: a set of short (mostly unpublished) & strange theoretical texts on the affinities of intellect & domination from Pollock’s early 40’s reports to Horkheimer about discussions in Paul Tillich’s NY salon!
link: open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
link: open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
November 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
happy 6am to those who celebrate: a set of short (mostly unpublished) & strange theoretical texts on the affinities of intellect & domination from Pollock’s early 40’s reports to Horkheimer about discussions in Paul Tillich’s NY salon!
link: open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
link: open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
today’s find! On the “anthropology” of the Dialectic of Enlightenment drafts: “to clarify present day society by tracing back the different modes of human existence to their origins and the different catastrophes through which they have gone.” —Horkheimer to Pollock, 12/11/1942.
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 PM
today’s find! On the “anthropology” of the Dialectic of Enlightenment drafts: “to clarify present day society by tracing back the different modes of human existence to their origins and the different catastrophes through which they have gone.” —Horkheimer to Pollock, 12/11/1942.
hey slime. need a hand
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 AM
hey slime. need a hand
Added a paragraph on why I think the “Reports” are important for reading early Critical Theory, especially given how weak even the better attempts to “restart the disrupted debate” between the CTers & the Vienna Circle have been
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Added a paragraph on why I think the “Reports” are important for reading early Critical Theory, especially given how weak even the better attempts to “restart the disrupted debate” between the CTers & the Vienna Circle have been
POV: you are positivism-friendly theologian at the 1937 logical positivism congress in Paris and have just quoted from Stendhal’s De l'Amour in broken French, misattributing it to Balzac
November 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
POV: you are positivism-friendly theologian at the 1937 logical positivism congress in Paris and have just quoted from Stendhal’s De l'Amour in broken French, misattributing it to Balzac
lol Adorno & Benjamin are in rare form here
November 11, 2025 at 8:20 AM
lol Adorno & Benjamin are in rare form here
huge ty to everyone supporting the Substudies project, & in that spirit i finally finished the translation drafts i started a while back of Adorno-Benjamin’s joint critical (incredibly catty lol) “reports” for Horkheimer on 3 Paris conferences in early August ‘37! open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
November 11, 2025 at 8:16 AM
huge ty to everyone supporting the Substudies project, & in that spirit i finally finished the translation drafts i started a while back of Adorno-Benjamin’s joint critical (incredibly catty lol) “reports” for Horkheimer on 3 Paris conferences in early August ‘37! open.substack.com/pub/jamescra...
the neighbors got cat a winter coat. she’s a big fan lol
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 AM
the neighbors got cat a winter coat. she’s a big fan lol
sick freak alert this is my desk stack rn
November 11, 2025 at 1:34 AM
sick freak alert this is my desk stack rn
time to wrestle (i did not let her roll in a wad of chewed gum on the ground)
November 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
time to wrestle (i did not let her roll in a wad of chewed gum on the ground)
time for a crisp refreshing lemon sharp
November 9, 2025 at 5:26 AM
time for a crisp refreshing lemon sharp
whole team low key stinky high key snoozy
November 9, 2025 at 2:21 AM
whole team low key stinky high key snoozy
Barong running club. Would you join
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Barong running club. Would you join