Originally published as Dialektiek der verlichting : Een verkenning in het neomarxisme van de Frankfurter Schule, inaugural address at the Free University, Amsterdam. Van Gorcum, Assen/Amsterdam, 1976, Second edition, 1977. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
What is the "dialectic of enlightenment"? -- The "critical theory" of Horkheimer and Adorno -- Marcuse and the "eroticization of culture" -- The political Marcuse -- Adorno and the negative dialectic -- Habermas and technocratic ideology -- Criticism and liberation in Habermas -- Horkheimer and religious yearning -- The myth and the Messianic light.
Summary:
"A thought-provoking introduction to the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. Critical theory aims to unmask modern reason and liberate society. But a fundamental question keeps coming back: how can this critique of modernity remain viable within a repressive social system? Is reason in the modern world indeed doomed to self-destruct? Does rationality inevitably lead to domination and oppression? Jacob Klapwijk argues that the dialectic of enlightenment proves to be a faith, a mythical faith encouraging resignation and despair. Instead we need a wholesome reason, one inspired by a messianic faith." --Publisher.
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