Uncompromising world-rejecting ideals must be domesticated into organized systems to survive

Evidence

The step forward to the Vedic religion, stoicism or Christianity, which are capable of assuming an organized form, consists in the participation in social activity, in the development of a unified theoretical system. This is reflected in the doctrine that an active role in life is not incompatible with the salvation of the soul, provided that the correct mental attitudes are adopted. Christianity only reached this stage with St. Paul. The idea which alienates from existing circumstances is transformed into religion. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 179

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the dialectic whereby the radical alienating idea is transformed into established religion — a key Adorno mechanism.
• XREF: Concretizes Adorno’s broader claim that integration into the administered world neutralizes critique — connects to the culture industry chapter’s account of how mass culture absorbs negation. — connects to: Unattainable ideals still dominate human conduct.; The world appears from within as unmanageable complexity that systems must reduce — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 98; Organization can destroy substance but underestimates stable communities — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 892 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The world appears from within as unmanageable complexity that systems must reduce #expands (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 98
• Organization can destroy substance but underestimates stable communities #corroborates (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 892