Horkheimer’s Concepts of Reason

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Max Horkheimer, in his concept ‘Eclipse of Reason,’ claims that modern society is an entity subjecting all to dehumanizing effects and that suffering in the society results from the absence of rationality. He suggests that the community has to value logic to realize progress. Thinking is deemed useless in itself as this world describes usefulness on technological grounds. Horkheimer explains the true reason as rationality adopted in an environment of unrestricted critical thinking (Specter, 2017). He differentiates between objective, subjective, and negate reasoning and how the movement has occurred from one reasoning to the next.

Objective reason is concerned with how actions are considered either right or wrong regarding universal truths. This concept is real and requires an exact behavior pattern since it focuses on the ends and not the means. When relating to my own real life, with the enforced rules and laws, I know it is immoral to kill, and so I will not even consider whether the act is right or wrong. Instead, by applying logic, I strive to refrain from the act completely with no second thought no matter what I feel since, in human society, it is objectively wrong to harm another being. I also understand the reality and nature of God, even though I have never seen Him.

The subjective reason is non-concrete, and its focus is primarily on the means. Reasonableness in this context is based on how a certain purpose is to be suitable to be good for something else. The aspect is universally compliant; it simply provides an ideology and is used in successfully achieving one’s goals regardless of what they are (Sullivan, 2020). For example, my desire and objective are to have a quality life. So, I have to identify what establishes a good life and then decide on the actions to take for me to accomplish my goal. For instance, I may focus on developing my mind by acquiring adequate knowledge from as many sources as possible since good understanding aids success.

In this article, Horkheimer claims that no positive outset of the good can be molded, but a view is able to be formed when one wishes to express the good as an effort to eliminate evil. In my case, I have decided to be successful in life, so I will eliminate all the effects that come with being poor. I study finances occasionally, and I am also under submission on financial mentors so that I will become prosperous. I use the quality time researching to eliminate any form of ignorance capable of enslaving me. My way of doing things is directly related to the negate concept since my actions are aimed at eliminating any possible evils.

As we advance in life, a new phase of reason seems to be dawning. This one puts value on ignorance while downplaying knowledge; it disrespects reason and evidence discourse yet elevating insults publicly. In society, usefulness is mainly tied to what works for the good of one’s self-protection with a drive to satisfy self-interests (Abromeit, 2018). However, Horkheimer has assisted greatly in helping us to have positive societal change by providing forces that moved society towards safeguarding a true, free and fair life. His concept of reasoning contributed to engaging the social conditions, thoughts, and actions in ensuring that social needs are met.

References

Abromeit, J. (2018). The SAGE handbook of Frankfurt School critical theory, 3, 19-38. Web.

Specter, M. (2017). Modern Intellectual History, 16(1), 321-337. Web.

Sullivan, D. (2020). Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(1), 78-99. Web.

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