Domination of nature, not capitalism, is the decisive event in human cultural history

Evidence

The thesis lying behind this was that the decisive event in the history of human culture was not the development of the modern period and of capitalism, but rather humanity’s transition to domination over nature. This turning-point led to the development of the characteristics making up the archaic legacy of contemporary culture. The uninterrupted continuation of this legacy was becoming threateningly apparent in the crisis of contemporary culture, and made it clear that a fresh turning-point was necessary. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1397

The two foci of their investigations are mythology and rationalism.’ There was a bold claim implied in this: that it was possible to show that the contemporary cultural crisis was a crisis of the fundamental principle of all human culture up till then, and that this fundamental principle was sovereignty over nature. The thesis lying behind this was that the decisive event in the history of human culture was not the development of the modern period and of capitalism, but rather humanity’s transition to domination over nature. This turning-point led to the development of the characteristics making up the archaic legacy of contemporary culture. The uninterrupted continuation of this legacy was becoming threateningly apparent in the crisis of contemporary culture, and made it clear that a fresh turning-point was necessary. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 357

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the foundational thesis of Dialectic of Enlightenment: that nature-domination predates and underlies capitalism as the crisis principle.
• XREF: Connects to Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment and its reworking of Marx’s historical materialism toward a broader civilizational critique. — connects to: Horkheimer and Adorno located culture’s decisive turning point in nature-domination, not capitalism; Human society is a historical reality that appropriates nature rather than submitting to it — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 142; Nature’s qualities are historical, not fixed, under human mastery — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 825 (+8 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: This relocates the origin of the modern crisis from capitalist development to humanity’s turn toward dominating nature — a genuine paradigm shift in explanatory frame that a reader must sit with.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1397; Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 357

Broader Connections

• Marx treats culture as accumulated human mastery over nature, not mere description #exemplifies (0.85)
• Domination over nature is a systematic attitude, not isolated events #expands (0.80) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 173
• Human culture originates in the socially mediated relation between man and nature #corroborates (0.80)
• Nature’s qualities are historical, not fixed, under human mastery #expands (0.78) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 825
• Human society is a historical reality that appropriates nature rather than submitting to it #corroborates (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 142
• Nature is the object of reason as liberation, not only domination #qualifies (0.72) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 826
• Culture operates as a weapon of power in modern society #complicates (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2697