Reason was originally conceived as a subversive power that transforms reality toward truth
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
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines Reason as the ‘power of the negative’ and traces the equation Reason = Truth = Reality.
- XREF: connects to: Reason’s apparent triumph over nature is really its obedient subjection to facts — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 45; Reason adapts humans to power rather than unifying subject and object; Power reproaches reason’s retreat into idiosyncrasy because that reason threatens it (+11 more)
Broader Connections
- Life’s needs rather than independent reason determine what counts as truth
#contradicts(0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 857 - Modernity’s reflexivity subverts reason’s claim to certitude.
#expands(0.78) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 100 - Scientific reason is the methodology of a pre-given historical reality.
#contradicts(0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 600 - The truth of ideas is independent of their social origins
#contradicts(0.72) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 210 - Objectivist truth served as philosophy’s safeguard against the intoxication of power
#responds-to(0.70) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2943