James, David Neil (2016) Enlightenment and the unconditional good : from Fichte to the Frankfurt school. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 24 (1). pp. 26-44. doi:10.1080/09672559.2015.1107614

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Abstract

In a series of lectures from 1804–05, Johann Gottlieb Fichte sets out a conception of enlightenment whose basic structure is, I argue, to some extent reproduced in two more famous accounts of enlightenment found in post-Kantian German philosophy: Hegel’s account of the Enlightenment’s struggle with faith in his Phenomenology of Spirit and the conception of enlightenment rationality presented in Horkheimer and Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment. The narrative I offer serves to highlight, moreover, the critical role played by the notion of an unconditional good in Fichte’s and Hegel’s critiques of enlightenment. The lack of an explicit appeal to, and account of, this notion in Horkheimer and Adorno’s critique of enlightenment will be shown to raise questions concerning how successful their critique of enlightenment can really be thought to be.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Philosophical Studies
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	0967-2559
Official Date:	2016
Dates:	Date Event 2016 Published 10 October 2015 Available 5 October 2015 Accepted
Volume:	24
Number:	1
Page Range:	pp. 26-44
DOI:	10.1080/09672559.2015.1107614
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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