Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and the phenomenon of reification: A comparative study between the Dialectic of Enlightenment and the Eclipse of Reason

• Grant number: 22/04594-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Fundamentals of Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Leopoldo Garcia Pinto Waizbort
• Grantee: Leandro Matheus de Lima Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to study, comparatively and thoroughly, the works Dialectics of enlightenment (in the original Dialektik der Aufklärung [[DA]], [1947]) (1985), by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, and Eclipse of reason [1944](2015), written only by the second author. The present scientific initiation will reconstruct the way in which the concept of reification appears in both Dialectics of enlightenment and Eclipse of reason, since it is a theme developed throughout both works. Thus, the focus is to analyze to what extent the two approaches can be approached and distanced from each other. The starting point for this study will be the mapping of the concept of reification in History and class consciousness: Studies on marxist dialectics [1923] (2003), by philosopher György Lukács. The study will be guided by the following research question: What developments does the concept of reification present in each work? The hypothesis is that, although Adorno and Horkheimer each approach the concept of reification in their own way, it is possible to establish a comparison between the two books with the idea of reification as the central axis.As for the methodology to be employed, this will be basic research, of a descriptive and exploratory nature, with a qualitative approach. And as for the techniques, there is the reading of the referred books to be discussed in an authorial way. Finally, this research is justified by the fact that it is a theme that has been little addressed in the bibliography with regard to the reconstitution of the approach to concepts belonging to the marxist tradition inserted in the Dialectics of enlightenment and in Eclipse of reason, and in the possible dialogue that can exist between these works.