Dialectic of Enlightenment
1.
What is "Enlightenment"?
Adorno and Horkheimer write that enlightenment leads to
knowledge and understanding that frees people from authority (e.g. religious
rules). Enlightenment means that people, through human reason, have the
capacity to answer all questions previously answered by authority and do not
need to adhere to authorities imposed rules.
2.
What is "Dialectic"?
The term dialectic refers to a method of examining opposing
ideas and discussing these in order to elicit the truth and expose false
beliefs. This is necessary because knowledge is perception and the truth can be
found through discussion of different opinions and beliefs.
3.
What is "Nominalism" and why is it an important
concept in the text?
Nominalism is the theory that individuals exist while abstract
things (e.g. upper class and lower class) do not exist. In other words it
describes a way of thinking about physical and abstract things. It is an
important concept because it can be applicable to the perspective “failed
Enlightenment” during the National Socialism. An example of this is how Hitler’s
arguments were based on abstract things such as a master race which according
to Nominalism does not exist because it is an abstract concept.
4.
What is the meaning and function of "myth" in Adorno
and Horkheimer's argument?
Myths were created in order to explain what people did not
understand because there was fear of the unknown. Adorno and Horkheimer argue
that enlightenment wanted to dispel myths and replace the fantasy of myths with
actual knowledge.
"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?
The concept of “superstructure” refers to for example culture
which changes very slowly in a society while the concept of “substructure”
refers to for example politics and economy which can change much quicker and help
define society. These two concepts are dependent on each other and according to
Benjamin you need to look at the substructure (and how it changes) in order to
understand how the superstructure changes. Benjamin also argues that if you
draw attention to changes in the substructure, you can intervene in the process
that forms and changes the superstructure.
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?
According to Benjamin, culture does have revolutionary potential
and argues the example that film can promote revolutionary criticism of social
conditions or that photography can have a revolutionary impact on society. While Benjamin means that culture has
revolutionary potential, Adorno and Horkheimer instead argue that technology
has revolutionary potential.
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).
According to Benjamin, perception can be naturally determined or
historically determined which means e.g. that perception is tied to existence
in space and time. Therefore, perception can be historically determined
depending on the surrounding circumstances in a person’s life and can also
change drastically by specific experiences. Benjamin argues cases of
historically determined perception such as art where art changed and therefore
also changed the people and their way of seeing art. Benjamin also gives the
example of photography and how it can capture historical occurrences which has
raised questions and changed the way people see and define art.
4. What does Benjamin mean by the term "aura"? Are there
different kinds of aura in natural objects compared to art objects?
By aura, Benjamin refers to the authenticity and originality of
a phenomenon or a work of art, more specifically a work of art that has not
been reproduced. By this definition, all natural things have an aura as well as
painting because of its uniqueness and specific place in time and space.
However, photography does not have an aura as it is a copy or an image of an
image. Benjamin writes that natural objects have distance and shadows which
creates a unique aura.
