Enlightenment undermines repressive orders only until harnessed to the dominant mode of production.
Evidence
Once it is harnessed to the dominant mode of production, the Enlightenment—which strives to undermine any order which has become repressive—abrogates itself. This was obvious even in the early attacks of the contemporary Enlightenment on Kant, the universal reducer. Just as Kant’s moral philosophy restricted his enlightened critique, in order to preserve the possibility of reason, so—conversely—unreflective enlightened thinking based on the notion of survival always tends to convert into skepticism, in order to make enough room for the existing order. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 82
Categorization
- DEFINE: Illustrates the dialectic of enlightenment as the self-abrogation of critique once it serves production.
- XREF: connects to: Enlightenment is kind only by confronting reason’s link to domination.; Enlightenment can be redeemed from blind domination by self-critique; The Enlightenment liberated man only to enslave him more effectively — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 833 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Enlightenment can be redeemed from blind domination by self-critique
#complicates(0.82) - The Enlightenment liberated man only to enslave him more effectively
#expands(0.78) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 833 - Totalitarianism expresses rather than repudiates Enlightenment’s inherent dynamic.
#expands(0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 786