The problems posed by the
rise of fascism with the demise of the
liberal state and the market (together with the failure of a
social revolution to materialize in its wake) constitute the theoretical and historical perspective that frames the overall argument of the book—the two theses that "Myth is already enlightenment, and enlightenment reverts to mythology." Horkheimer and Adorno's critique of positivism has been criticized as too broad; they are particularly
critiqued for interpreting
Ludwig Wittgenstein as a positivist—at the time only his
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus had been published, not his later works—and for failing to examine critiques of positivism from within
analytic philosophy. However, Adorno's later contributions to
The Positivist Dispute in German Sociology present a more differentiated critique of positivism, including attention to internal
debates and
methodological tensions within the
tradition. To characterize this history, Horkheimer and Adorno draw on a wide variety of material, including the
philosophical anthropology contained in Marx's early writings, centered on the notion of "
labor;"
Nietzsche's
genealogy of morality, and the emergence of
conscience through the renunciation of the
will to power;
Freud's account in
Totem and Taboo of the emergence of civilization and law in murder of the primordial father; and
ethnological research on
magic and
rituals in primitive societies; as well as
myth criticism,
philology, and
literary analysis. Adorno and Horkheimer argue that
antisemitism is a deeply rooted,
irrational phenomenon that stems from the failure of the Enlightenment project and the inherent
contradictions of
bourgeois society. They argue that Jews serve as a universal
scapegoat onto which individuals and societies project their deepest fears, anxieties, and
neuroses. According to their analysis, the complex and often contradictory nature of modern life generates a sense of
alienation, powerlessness, and
psychological distress. Unable to confront these feelings directly, people seek to externalize them by identifying a tangible "
other" to blame for their problems. The Jews, with their historically
marginalized status and perceived association with the disruptive forces of
modernity, become an ideal target for this projection. These homogenized cultural products are used to
manipulate mass society into docility and passivity. The introduction of the radio, a
mass medium, no longer permits its listener any mechanism of reply, as was the case with the telephone. Instead, listeners are not subjects anymore but passive receptacles exposed "in authoritarian fashion to the same programs put out by different stations." By associating the
Enlightenment and
Totalitarianism with
Marquis de Sade's works—especially
Juliette, in
excursus II—the text also contributes to the pathologization of
sadomasochist desires, as discussed by historian of sexuality Alison Moore. ==Editions==