《启蒙辩证法》对工具理性的批判与反思

Criticism and Reflection on Instrumental Reason in Dialectics of Enlightenment

启蒙的目的在于使人们从被束缚的世界中解放出来,寻求自身存在的真正价值和意义,在物质和精神领域获得满足感,求得幸福与快乐。在启蒙的第一阶段,启蒙用非强制性的力量反对根深蒂固的世俗传统,通过让主体获得洞察力并运用行为指导方式打破了集体主义力量的禁锢,从而使得人类从迷惘之中解放出来。但是在启蒙破除了神话的束缚之后,启蒙又蜕变为神话,以一种更具破坏性的力量对人类社会的发展施加了消极的一面。这就是启蒙理性的退化,启蒙倒退为神话,大众人群从理智的“理性追求”转向了狂热的“工具理性的追求”。或和海默与阿多诺在《启蒙辩证法》中队工具理性进行了深刻批判,并在此基础上指向文化工业和科学技术的双重影响,这些思想对于现代社会的发展具有深刻的借鉴意义。

The purpose of enlightenment is to liberate people from the bound world, seek the true value and meaning of their own existence, obtain satisfaction in the material and spiritual fields, and seek happiness and joy. In the first stage of Enlightenment, Enlightenment used non-coercive forces to oppose deep-rooted secular traditions, and by allowing the subject to gain insight and use behavioral guidance to break the shackles of collectivist forces, thus freeing human beings from confusion. But after enlightenment broke the shackles of myth, enlightenment turned into myth again, exerting a negative side on the development of human society with a more destructive force. This is the degeneration of enlightenment rationality. Enlightenment has regressed to a myth, and the masses have shifted from rational “reasonable pursuit” to fanatical “instrumental rational pursuit.” Or, Heimer and Adorno made a profound critique of the instrumental rationality of the squadron in Dialectics of Enlightenment, and on this basis pointed to the dual influence of the cultural industry and science and technology. These ideas have profound reference significance for the development of modern society.