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Work #381 · Mid

Dialectic of Enlightenment

Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer
1944 (private circulation); 1947 (Amsterdam edition) · German
Philosophical fragments · Frankfurt School critical theory

Adorno and Horkheimer's 1944/47 foundational Frankfurt School critique of Enlightenment rationality

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Dialectic of Enlightenment (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method —
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

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Time

Dialectic of Enlightenment

The historical time of Enlightenment's reversion to myth.

✦

Space

Dialectic of Enlightenment

The total social-historical space of late capitalism.

◉

Matter

Dialectic of Enlightenment

The materiality of late-capitalist culture.

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Observer

Dialectic of Enlightenment

The dialectical-critical theorist.

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Energy

Dialectic of Enlightenment

Energies of instrumental rationality and its discontents.

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Information

Dialectic of Enlightenment

Dialectical-critical fragments.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Dialectic of Enlightenment

The work's pessimism in tension with subsequent Habermasian reconstruction of rationality.