Document Type : Research Paper
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Abstract
Frankfurt School, commonly named Critical Theory, is one of the main representatives of contemporary counter-enlightenment movement. Horkheimer and Adorno, two main theorists of this school, argue that the enlightenment contradicts itself through a dialectical process, undermining the intellectual foundations of its own values. According to them, the domination of instrumental reason, which is the result of enlightenment's dialectical development, culminates in dissolving any objective ground for commitment to such ideals as human freedom, equality, and respect for human rights. They see enlightenment's turn to pragmatism in the current century as the sign of its intellectual bankruptcy. In this essay, first I would try to elaborate their criticism of enlightenment, and then answer them from Richard Rorty's point of view. As one of enlightenment's contemporary defenders, he argues that enlightenment's turn against rationalism and toward historicism and pragmatism is the sign of its maturity through a dialectical process of self-canceling and self-fulfilling. Last of all, I would argue that the contemporary pragmatic liberalism, as immediate successor of Enlightenment, is not subject to the charge of resignation in the face status que, being able to criticize it in the light of ends and ideals to which our identities and traditions are most deeply attached.
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منابع فارسی
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منابع لاتین
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