Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Mendieta, Eduardo | Jeff Edwards | Allegra de Laurentiis | Matthias Fritsch.
Date
2010-05-01
Keywords
Philosophy
Department
Department of Philosophy
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/72567
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
The criticism of Hegel's philosophy of history is a recurring theme in the work of the Frankfurt School critical theorists. There is good reason for this, as Hegel's philosophy of history seems to have become hopelessly outdated. After the events of the past two centuries, we can no longer think of the historical process as the manifestation of Reason in the world. Yet there is nonetheless a certain power in the idea of history as spirit working through its inadequacies and self-alienation, a power that authors such as Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin do not fully recognize. This dissertation attempts to show how the Hegelian idea of history can be rethought in a way that preserves its critical power, while avoiding the pitfalls of Enlightenment-era historiography. Through the work of Adorno, Benjamin, and Siegfried Kracauer, I try to show that we not only can think of history as a kind of progressive overcoming of an objectivity alien to humanity, but also that such a conception can be beneficial to our projects oriented toward a better present and future.
Recommended Citation
Kosmider, Ethan, "Hegel and the Frankfurt School: Rethinking Historical Progress" (2010). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 1771.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/1771