Power reproaches reason’s retreat into idiosyncrasy because that reason threatens it

Evidence

In the equation Reason = Truth = Reality, which joins the subjective and objective world into one antagonistic unity, Reason is the subversive power, the “power of the negative” that establishes, as theoretical and practical Reason, the truth for men and things—that is, the conditions in which men and things become what they really are. The attempt to demonstrate that this truth of theory and practice is not a subjective but an objective condition was the original concern of Western thought and the origin of its logic—logic not in the sense of a special discipline of philosophy but as the mode of thought appropriate for comprehending the real as rational. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 487 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In contrast, the uncompromisingly critical thinker, who neither superscribes his conscience nor permits himself to be terrorized into action, is in truth the one who does not give up. Furthermore, thinking is not the spiritual reproduction of that which exists. As long as thinking is not interrupted, it has a firm grasp upon possibility. Its insatiable quality, the resistance against petty satiety, rejects the foolish wisdom of resignation. The Utopian impulse in thinking is all the stronger, the less it objectifies itself as Utopia - a further form of regression - whereby it sabotages its own realization. Open thinking points beyond itself. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 289 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Reason adapts humans to power rather than unifying subject and object; Reason was originally conceived as a subversive power that transforms reality toward truth — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 487; Reason itself becomes an instrument of domination in late industrial society — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 34 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Reason was originally conceived as a subversive power that transforms reality toward truth #complicates (0.78) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 487
• Reason adapts humans to power rather than unifying subject and object #complicates (0.75)
• Uninterrupted thought is itself resistance and holds possibility open #responds-to (0.75) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 289
• Reason itself becomes an instrument of domination in late industrial society #complicates (0.72) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 34