The critiques of the enlightenment by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno and their understanding of a new method and philosophy

Download

index.pdf

Date

2006

Author

Yenisoy, Eylem

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

647
views

165
downloads

The strong part of Horkheimer and Adorno’s philosophy is their critique of the Enlightenment. They argue that the consequent of the Enlightenment has been the destruction of the Enlightenment itself. There are two main reasons in the background of this destruction. First of them is the destruction of individual because of the understanding of reason in the Enlightenment. Individuals cannot define their existence beyond the determined roles of society any more. The second reason is the certain distinction between the human beings and nature. The epistemology of the Enlightenment makes nature an object of knowledge and views the world as a summation of facts. This understanding makes subjects passive in providing the objectivity of knowledge. Accordingly, the subject is alienated from his or her knowledge. Horkheimer and Adorno’s critical thinking provides possibility for the human autonomy. It tries to understand human beings and society in a dialectical process. It considers the relation between parts and the whole as a mutual relation. According to Horkheimer and Adorno, the relation between subject and object is neither an absolute duality nor an absolute unity.

Subject Keywords

Theory of Knowledge.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12608105/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/16599

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

The quiddity of knowledge in Kant's critical philosophy Serin, İsmail; Ceylan, Yasin; Department of Philosophy (2004) In this thesis the quiddity of knowledge in Kant's critical philosophy has been investigated within the historical context of the problem. In order to illustrate the origins of the subject-matter of the dissertation, the historical background of Kant's views on the theory of knowledge has been researched too. As a result of this research, it is concluded that Kant did not invent a new philosophical problem, but he tried to improve a decisive solution for one of the oldest question of history of philosophy i...
The formation of the self as mental unity and moral agency in hume’s philosophy Neslioğlu, E. Funda; Grünberg, David; Department of Philosophy (2008) This dissertation proposes to analyze the stages in the formation of the idea of self in Hume’s philosophy. According to Hume we have no a simple and individual impression that we can call the self where the self is the totality of conscious life of a person. Nevertheless, we do have an idea of personal identity that must be accounted for. He begins his explanation of this idea by noting that our perceptions are fleeting, and he concludes from this that all we are is a bundle of different perceptions. But ...
The problem of self-knowledge in Kant's critique of pure reason Haşar, Ekim; Çırakman, Elif; Department of Philosophy (2010) The self-knowledge has been a central problem throughout the history of philosophy, but it has remained, as Kant also declares, as the ―most difficult‖ of all tasks of reason. In this study, I scrutinize the grounds of this difficulty and search for the answers to the question ―what can we comprehend about the notion of self from a Kantian standpoint?‖ In this respect, this study is a reading of Kant‘s Critique of Pure Reason with the focus of the problem of self-knowledge. We can see that this concept has ...
Marx's epistemology : the relationship between reality and knowledge Can, Eren; Parkan, Barış; Department of Philosophy (2011) The purpose of this thesis is to elaborate on the Marx’s theory of knowledge. Historical materialism presented in the German Ideology and the methodological remarks in Grundrisse have led to many discussions concerning the relation between knowledge and reality in Marx’s philosophy. This thesis tried to explore the interrelationships between the kinds of knowledge we produce, abstract concepts and the concrete material conditions, as elaborated by Marx. In contrast to traditional epistemology, and more alon...
Reformulation of the concept of understanding in Heidegger's and Gadamer's hermeneutic theories Günok, Emrah; Ergüden, Akın; Department of Philosophy (2004) The goal of the present dissertation is to display the reconstruction of the concept of understanding which has down through the history of philosophy been used as the synonym of knowing. Hence, my main intention is to focus on the Heidegger2s and Gadamer2s critique of epistemological conception of understanding and their reevaluation of this concept in terms of ontology. Finally, I will try to examine the similarities and dissimilarities between the philosophers and try to call attention to their emphasis ...

Citation Formats

E. Yenisoy, “The critiques of the enlightenment by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno and their understanding of a new method and philosophy,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2006.