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Described, analyzed, & evaluated is the critical theory of religion of M. Horkheimer, the founder of the Frankfurt school of philosophy & sociology. Horkheimer's dialectical sociology of religion is traced throughout his whole critical theory of society as it developed from his early poetical writings, eg, Aus der Pubertat: Novellen und Tagebuchblatter ([From Puberty: Short Stories and Journal Entries] Munich, 1974) through his articles written in American exile from Nazi Germany & the post-WWII era, to his last talks on the work & effectiveness of his friend P. Tillich, his interviews with H. Gumnior on Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen ([The Longing for the Wholly Other] Hamburg, 1970) & his encounter with H. C. Mansilla in Switzerland shortly before his death in 1973. Horkheimer is one of the great Jewish intellectuals, who in twentieth century Europe lost the faith of their fathers & therefore thought to reexamine anew the meaning of human existence. For Horkheimer, as one of the survivors of the Holocaust in Europe, neither the reassurance of liberal democracy nor the exhortations of Zionism could inspire confidence in the future. The barbarity of European fascism had almost fully obliterated Western Christianity, bourgeois, Marxist & Freudian enlightenment & German idealism. Thus, Horkheimer undertook to carefully reexamine all of these traditions, especially Hegel's objective & absolute idealism in formulating a critical sociology of religion that did not require a commitment to any positive religious belief. Horkheimer thought to extend Feuerbach's & Marx's critiques of religion, the correct understanding of which necessitates an analysis of Hegel's account. This led Horkheimer to explore the Hegelian philosophy of religion as well as the critical theories of religion on the Hegelian left & the positive sociologies of religion on the Hegelian & positivist right, while at the same time remaining critical of all of these theories. Horkheimer's analysis of religion will become most relevant if & when the totally administered society becomes a reality. At present Horkheimer provides people with a way to at least modify & mitigate the iron trend toward alternative Future I -- the totally administered society, to resist with all their energies alternative Future II -- ABC wars, & to prepare theoretically & practically the arrival of alternative Future III -- the truly human, reconciled society. Modified AA

Sociology of Religion represents a documented introduction to the history of sociological thought as applied to religious phenomena. It examines both the substantive and functional definitions of religion that are more open, pluralistic, and not inscribed in a single explanatory horizon or within a single confessional perspective. The contributors' concerns are carefully written to show all sides of the argument. Roberto Cipriani argues for the simple definition that the sociology of religion is an application of sociological theories and methods to religious phenomena. Historically, close ties between sociology and the sociology of religion exist. The slow and uneven development of theory and methods affects the sociology of religion's development, but the latter has also benefited from increasing precision and scientific validity. Other sociological writers agree and disagree about different approaches. Some assume it is a militantly confessional or anti-confessional; others remain neutral within their work.--