계몽정신의 동일성사고 비판 - 호르크하이머와 아도르노의 『계몽의 변증법』을 중심으로 = Criticism about Identity Thinking of Enlightenment Spirit - centering on 『Dialectic of Enlightenment』 of Horkhimer and Adorno

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to clarify that the modern brutal history of Fascism, centering on 『Dialectic of Enlightenment(Dialekik der Aufkarung)』 of Horkheimer and Adorno, is due to the identity thinking of enlightenment mind. Horkheimer and Adorno, the first generation of critical theory, diagnose that while mankind has promised an optimistic future by relying on reason in the age of enlightenment, it has become rather a barbaric age. In particular, they directly criticize the enlightenment with an awareness of `what was enlightenment?` based on their direct experiences of totalitarian Nazism. According to Horkheimer and Adorno, enlightenment is the disintegration of the myth and the mastery of nature through knowledge. Yet, they diagnose that human beings have dominated nature through knowledge, but have returned to myths where individuals and society are once again suppressed by total governance structure. Based on these facts, they analyze the history of barbarianism called as Nazism and anti-Semitism in the 20th century, claiming that the fundamental cause of unfortunate history is attributed to the identity thinking of the enlightenment itself. Particularly, the difference of the Horkheimer and Adorno from other enlightenment thinkers is that they do not seek out the cause of brutal history from external and contingent factors. In other words, their fundamental diagnosis is in the cognitive structure of the enlightenment itself. In this paper, I try to clarify the view of Horkheimer and Adorno who point out that the identity thinking is the fundamental cause of modern barbarianism. Furthermore, by looking at the theory of Habermas and Ernst Cassirer who analyzed the historical cause of barbarism as a failure of enlightenment, I have examined the uniqueness and differentiation of the ideas of Horkheimer and Adorno, who questioned the enlightenment itself, and what relevance they can offer to the modern society.