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Max Horkheimer
Coming from a Conservative Jewish family, Max Horkheimer was born in 1895 from parents Moritz and Babette Horkheimer. Max would be expected to take over the family business: taking over several textile factories nearby his home. Following years of being a junior manager at the factories, he would find himself at the University of Frankfurt years later. He began to learn philosophy and psychology. He was offered a job at Frankfurt University when he received his degree (Philosophy), and faced with a decision, opted to stay at Frankfurt and pursuing academics. While a lecturer at Frankfurt, he would center his lectures around 18th and 19th century Philosophy.

While the Institute of Social Research was officially opened in 1924, Horkheimer did not officially take the post of Director until October of 1930. In addition, he also beared the title of "Professor of Social Philosophy." However, he would not hold the position's long, as the Nazi's rise to power forced Horkheimer's hand to close down the institute. In addition, he was fired for both of his titles (Director and Professor.) His move to New York came a year later. As the years passed, he continued to make his mark on the world by producing the Dialectic of Enlightenment with fellow theorist, Theodor Adorno. Following the Nazi's fall, Horkheimer would eventually decide to return to Europe. By 1949, he had regained his "Professor" status at the University of Frankfurt, and the Institute would come back a year after that. He would eventually retire after eight more years of dedication in 1958, and would pass away on July 7th, 1973.

Theodor Adorno
Born from a singer and a wine merchant, Theodor Adorno was born in 1903. For many years, Adorno would excel in academics and, more notably, music. Seeking to follow in his mother's footsteps, Adorno studied under notable composer Alban Berg, where his musical talents were shown on full display, attracting attention from many. A star Pianist, it seemed as though Adorno was well on his way to doing great things while following in his mother's footsteps. To some surprise, however, Theodor Adorno opted to join the faculty of the Frankfurt School in the late 1920's to take up teaching Philosophy. However, things would go downhill from there for Adorno, whose heritage came back at an inopportune time.

Adorno's father, a wine merchant named Oscar Alexander Wiesengrund, came from a Jewish Heritage. Because of this, and Adorno's openness to oppose the idea of Fascism in Europe, Adorno was forced to flee the war, and Adorno opted to register as a doctoral student. The college at which he studied was at Merton College, Oxford. However, after some time, he rejoined the Frankfurt Institute in New York. While in exile, Adorno married Gretel, who was born as Margarete Karplus, after fourteen years of dating. While most of their relationship was set to be long distance, they never broke up. This was despite the fact that Theodor would not remain faithful to Gretel throughout their marriage, though it was unclear just how many times. When the war concluded, Adorno immediately returned back to Germany and the Frankfurt Institute, where he would spend the rest of his days as a professor, schooling both Philosophy and Sociology. Adorno passed away in 1969 from a sudden heart attack.

The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
While the Frankfurt School was not a literal School in a physical sense, it was made up of a specific group of philosophers that sought to learn more about society and teach the world their ways. One of the more notable achievements from this group was the development of what is known as Critical Theory. According to Max Horkheimer, one of the members of the Frankfurt School, he showed that a critical theory has two dominant goals: ""It must account for society within a historical context" and "it should seek to offer a robust and holistic critique by incorporating insights from all social sciences." (Crossman, Cole 2019)

Horkheimer's definition of Critical Theory comes in the book called "Traditional and Critical Theory."

Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism became increasingly popular throughout the 1980's, however, unlike some Marxism in the past, this type of Marxism became of particular interest throughout English-speaking philosophers. Although it's not clear exactly when Analytical Marxism made it's debut, the first traces of it can be found in 1978 from the publishing of "Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence." It is said that the three official founders of Analytical Marxism are G.A Cohen, Jon Elster, and John Roemer. Unsurprisingly, these three men were the key aspects of the September Group as well. The official definition of Analytical Marxism is defined as, "a movement within Marxist theory... that seeks to investigate and develop the substantive these of standard Marxism using the techniques of conceptual analysis associated with analytical philosophy." (Britannica, Sampaolo, 2016)

The September Group
Going by the name of the September Group based on their meetings that occurred every other year in September, the group had established themselves as the leaders and most notable people within Analytical Marxism. These people had varying occupations, from English Philosophers to Social Scientists. The most notable names from the bunch included Jon Elster, Erik Olin Wright, G. A. Cohen, and others. Their goal was to try and understand what aspects of Marxism were able to be observed and experienced through the use of Analytics. Some of these members had successful publishes throughout the years in the September group. This included Jon Elster's story "Making Sense of Marx," which was published in 1985, and fellow member Adam Przeworski's book called "Capitalism and Social Democracy," which was published a year later.