Formalist language, emptied of content, gives rise to nominalism as bourgeois thought

Evidence

In words, Odysseus discovers what is called “formalism” in fully-developed bourgeois society: their perennial obligation is paid for by the fact that they distance themselves from every fulfilling content, and at a distance refer to every possible content—to Nobody as to Odysseus. From the formalism of mythic names and ordinances, which would rule men and history as does nature, there emerges nominalism—the prototype of bourgeois thinking. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 66

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘formalism’ and ‘nominalism’ as linked stages in the word-object relation.
• XREF: Connects to the broader culture-industry thesis of Dialectic of Enlightenment where emptied, standardized forms dominate. — connects to: Nominalist definitions separate concepts from rivals rather than pursue essences; The bourgeoisie as a thinking subject with interests is an empty notion — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 50; Nominalism operates as a social-existential force in postmodern culture — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 549 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Nominalist definitions separate concepts from rivals rather than pursue essences #expands (0.80)
• Nominalism operates as a social-existential force in postmodern culture #expands (0.80) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 549
• Bourgeois ideology fragments classes into possessive individual subjects. #expands (0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 912
• The bourgeoisie as a thinking subject with interests is an empty notion #corroborates (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 50
• Modern art’s very production is driven by a nominalist imperative #exemplifies (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 548
• Linguistic form lags behind radical historical change #complicates (0.75)
• Linguistic philosophy advances an ideology that deletes critical concepts. #complicates (0.70) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 662
• Formal sedimentation names genres as layered deposits of past ideology #contradicts (0.70) — Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious, 3243
• Philology’s abstraction turned language into a sightless realm ruled by race and nation #exemplifies (0.70) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 379