Theme 2 - Pre seminar

Dialectic of Enlightenment

1. What is "Enlightenment"?

Adorno and Horkheimer begin chapter one with the claim: "Enlightenment, understood in the widest sense as the advance of thought, has always aimed at liberating human beings from fear and installing them as masters.” (p. 1)
The Enlightenment is characterised by revolution in science, politics, philosophy and society as a whole. In the enlightenment knowledge is power and at the base of this knowledge is technology (p. 2). It regards knowledge higher than myths and hopes to bring true knowledge to the public and work against the power of myths where uneducated can be taken advantage of.

2. What is "Dialectic"?

Dialectic is a way of discussing or investigating opinions which begins in the contradiction of two differing views, one examine opposing ideas in hopes of finding the truth [1]. Two parties with opposing views discuss and try to establish some sort of truth, this differ from a debate in the way that the parties both examine the two views and there will be no “winner” since the goal is to establish truth and not that the view one self hold will be the correct one. 

3. What is "Nominalism" and why is it an important concept in the text?

Nominalism is the notion that the name used to describe something, its universal, is not the same as the thing itself. It also denies the existence of abstract concepts and does not believe that the human mind has the capability to create these concepts. A universal could for example be “red” and an abstract concept could for example be “justice” [2].  As a concept in this text, it seems like it, similarly to enlightenment, is a way of thinking which dispels the ideas of the abstract and encourages the use of knowledge. In Dialectic on Enlightenment Adorno and Horkheimer put emphasis on not putting belief in myths, the abstract, and instead believe in science and “true knowledge”.

4. What is the meaning and function of "myth" in Adorno and Horkheimer's argument?

Myth describes when unknown phenomenons are assigned to something “magic”. Adorno and Horkheimer quote Bacon who claims that enlightenment "wanted to dispel myths, to overthrow fantasy with knowledge.” (p. 1). Myths are seen as non-truths which can be used to spread false knowledge, in contrast to Enlightenment and science where emphasis it put on empiricism. Beliefs such as the Greek gods which are used to explain natural phenomenons, such as thunder being explained as the wrath of the gods, are typical myths which Enlightenment worked against.

"The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproductivity"

1. In the beginning of the essay, Benjamin talks about the relation between "superstructure" and "substructure" in the capitalist order of production. What do the concepts "superstructure" and "substructure" mean in this context and what is the point of analyzing cultural production from a Marxist perspective?

Superstructure and substructure are according to Marx the two basic dimensions of society. The substructure, the base, is everything which is part of the economic system. Things such as resources and machinery. The superstructure are things which are not a part of the economic system, but have it as a base to stand on. These are things like art, religion and culture [3]. The substructure forms the superstructure, it is therefore interesting to analyse culture production from this perspective. Since this means that a change in the substructure, such as machines becoming more readily available, will manifest itself as changes in the superstructure, such as the reproduction of art. 

2. Does culture have revolutionary potentials (according to Benjamin)? If so, describe these potentials. Does Benjamin's perspective differ from the perspective of Adorno & Horkheimer in this regard?

I would say that the culture does have revolutionary potentials according to Benjamin. He writes in section IV: "With the advent of the first truly revolutionary means of reproduction, photography, simultaneously with the rise of socialism, art sensed the approaching crisis which has become evident a century later.” Here one can clearly see how photography is given revolutionary status. In contrast Adorno & Horkheimer talk about the culture industry which is seen as a part of capitalist society, here culture is designed to satisfy the consumers in the growing capitalist society’s need for entertainment. There is nothing revolutionary about this notion where culture is subjected to the interest of money and power.

3. Benjamin discusses how people perceive the world through the senses and argues that this perception can be both naturally and historically determined. What does this mean? Give some examples of historically determined perception (from Benjamin's essay and/or other contexts).

Benjamin writes: "The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well.”  (part III) With this I believe Benjamin is trying to say that how we perceive things is affected by natural things, but also where in history something is perceived. The perception changes with society and culture, Benjamin talks about the late Roman art industry where art was developed art from a new point of view (part III). 

4. What does Benjamin mean by the term "aura"? Are there different kinds of aura in natural objects compared to art objects?

"We define the aura […] as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be.” (Part III). This is the aura of natural objects, Benjamin uses an example of a branch. When sitting under the branch and experiencing the shadow it casts, we experience its aura.  In a work of art the aura is seen as the uniqueness of a work of art. When reproducing a work of art its aura is lost, it is inherit in the original piece.


[1] http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/dialectic.htm
[2] http://www.iep.utm.edu/universa/) (http://global.britannica.com/topic/nominalism
[3] Political Ideologies: A Comparative Approach, Mostafa Rejai, p. 12