Enlightened thought itself contains the seed of its own reversal into domination

Evidence

We are wholly convinced—and therein lies our petitio principii—that social freedom is inseparable from enlightened thought. Nevertheless, we believe that we have just as clearly recognized that the notion of this very way of thinking, no less than the actual historic forms—the social institutions—with which it is interwoven, already contains the seed of the reversal universally apparent today. If enlightenment does not accommodate reflection on this recidivist element, then it seals its own fate. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 21

Categorization

• XREF: Founding thesis of the entire book — connects to Burns’s later invocation of the culture industry and to all later critical-theory critics of instrumental reason (Habermas, Foucault). — connects to: enlightenment is indefatigably self-destructive in its own tendencies; Enlightenment can be redeemed from blind domination by self-critique; Domination is perpetuated by thought’s own ossification, not by technology (+8 more)
• DEFINE: Names the central paradox of the whole work: enlightenment carries its own regressive seed.

Broader Connections

• Enlightenment can be redeemed from blind domination by self-critique #qualifies (0.90)
• Enlightenment does not eliminate myth but re-enters it as secularized domination #expands (0.90) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 46
• Enlightenment is kind only by confronting reason’s link to domination. #qualifies (0.85)
• Enlightened progress remains entangled with domination and cruelty #exemplifies (0.85) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 200
• Domination is perpetuated by thought’s own ossification, not by technology #expands (0.82)
• Uninterrupted thought is itself resistance and holds possibility open #qualifies (0.80) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 289
• Radical ideas inevitably transform into domination to survive #expands (0.80) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 182