[Critical Theory: Concept and Problems

This seminar session examines Adorno and Horkheimer’s critique of instrumental reason and its implications for our understanding of emancipation, domination, and modernity. At the heart of their critique lies a fundamental paradox of the Enlightenment: reason, conceived as a means of human liberation, can also under certain circumstances become an instrument of domination and social control. By interrogating this tension, the session will explore the limits of the Enlightenment promise that the advancement of reason necessarily entails human progress and freedom. In the context of the Wissenschaft gegen Faschismus action week, we will bring the insights of the two eminent Critical Theorist into dialogue with contemporary questions of authoritarianism and fascism. In particular, we will consider the social and political conditions that enable authoritarian tendencies to emerge and gain legitimacy, as well as the potential of critical thought to expose and challenge these developments. The discussion thus raises a question central to Critical Theory: how can reason become a force for emancipation rather than domination, and what role can critical thinking play in sustaining democratic life?

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