Dialectic of Enlightenment - Softcover

Theodor Adorno; Max Horkheimer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1784786799 ISBN 13: 9781784786793

Publisher: Verso Books, 2016

Synopsis

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer are the leading figures of the Frankfurt School and this book is their magnum opus. Dialectic of Enlightenment is one of the most celebrated works of modern social philosophy and continues to impress in its wide-ranging ambition. Writing just after World War II and reflecting on the bureaucracy and myths of National Socialism and the inanity of the dawn of consumerism, Adorno and Horkheimer addressed themselves to a question which went to the very heart of the modern age: 'why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism . Modernity, far from redeeming the promises and hopes of the Enlightenment, had resulted in the stultification of mankind and administered society, characterized by simulation and candy-floss entertainment. Tracing humanity's modern fall to the very rationality that was to be its liberation, the authors exposed the domination and violence that underpin the Enlightenment project.

About this title

Review:

'A classic of twentieth-century thought.' --Times Literary Supplement

'A sustained and serious critique of Western civilization.' --Times Higher Education

About the Author:

Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) was Director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt. His works include Aesthetic Theory and Negative Dialectics.
Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) was a philosopher and sociologist of the Frankfurt School. His books include A Critique of Instrumental Reason.

About this edition

• Publisher: Verso Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1784786799
• ISBN 13: 9781784786793
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270