[FRA:] Language, Mythology, and Enlightenment

[matthew piscioneri]

Ralph,

>Schmidt would argue that your conclusion is patently false, that Horkheimer
>and Adorno intended no such thing.

H& A's pessimism/nihilism: theoretical or practical? Honneth in 
"Communication and reconciliation: Habermas's Critique of Adorno" (Telos 39 
(1979), pp.45-61.) writes:

"Adorno's theory is so strongly determined by its view of history as a 
series of catastrophes that it cannot commit itself to an idea of historical 
progress which goes beyond total reification." (p47)

""Adorno's critical theory retracts both claims concerning the emancipatory 
significance of aesthetic theory and negative dialectics." (p47)

Still, I have conflated "pessimism" with "nihilism". Clearly, "nihilism" is 
far more normatively-laden, and you're right, it's inappropriate to label 
Horkheimer and/or Adorno as such.

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