
Dialectic of Enlightenment
Verso Books (Publisher)
Published on 6. September 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-78478-679-3 (ISBN)
Description
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer are the leading figures of the Frankfurt School and this book is their magnum opus. Dialectic of Enlightenment is one of the most celebrated works of modern social philosophy that continues to impress in its wide-ranging ambition.
Writing just after the Second World War and reflecting on the bureaucracy and myths of National Socialism and the inanity of the dawn of consumerism, Adorno and Horkheimer addressed themselves to a question which went to the very heart of the modern age: 'why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism'. Modernity, far from redeeming the promises and hopes of the Enlightenment, had resulted in a stultification of mankind and administered society, characterised by simulation and candy-floss entertainment.
Tracing humanity's modern fall to the very rationality that was to be its liberation, the authors exposed the domination and violence that underpin the Enlightenment project.
Writing just after the Second World War and reflecting on the bureaucracy and myths of National Socialism and the inanity of the dawn of consumerism, Adorno and Horkheimer addressed themselves to a question which went to the very heart of the modern age: 'why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism'. Modernity, far from redeeming the promises and hopes of the Enlightenment, had resulted in a stultification of mankind and administered society, characterised by simulation and candy-floss entertainment.
Tracing humanity's modern fall to the very rationality that was to be its liberation, the authors exposed the domination and violence that underpin the Enlightenment project.
Reviews / Votes
A classic of twentieth-century thought. * Times Literary Supplement * A sustained and serious critique of Western civilization. * Times Higher Education Supplement *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 135 mm
Width: 206 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
274 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78478-679-3 (9781784786793)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

Max Horkheimer | Theodor Adorno
Dialectic of Enlightenment
Book
01/1997
Verso Books
€38.56
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Theodor Adorno was director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt. His works include Aesthetic Theory and Negative Dialectics.
Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) was a philosopher and sociologist of the Frankfurt School. His books include A Critique of Instrumental Reason.
Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) was a philosopher and sociologist of the Frankfurt School. His books include A Critique of Instrumental Reason.