Dialectic of Enlightenment
Dialectic of Enlightenment (German: Dialektik der Aufklärung) is a work of philosophy and social criticism written by Frankfurt School philosophers Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno. The text, published in 1947, is a revised version of what the authors originally had circulated among friends and colleagues in 1944 under the title of Philosophical Fragments (German: Philosophische Fragmente).
| Authors | Max Horkheimer Theodor W. Adorno |
|---|---|
| Original title | Dialektik der Aufklärung |
| Translator | John Cumming (1972) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Subjects | Philosophy, social criticism |
Publication date | 1947 |
Published in English | 1972 (New York: Herder and Herder) |
| Media type | Print (pbk) |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 0-8047-3633-2 |
| OCLC | 48851495 |
| 193 21 | |
| LC Class | B3279.H8473 P513 2002 |
One of the core texts of critical theory, Dialectic of Enlightenment explores the socio-psychological status quo that had been responsible for what the Frankfurt School considered the failure of the Age of Enlightenment. Together with Adorno's The Authoritarian Personality (1950) and fellow Frankfurt School member Herbert Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man (1964), it has had a major effect on 20th-century philosophy, sociology, culture, and politics, especially inspiring the New Left of the 1960s and 1970s.