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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Eclipse of Reason summary
Max Horkheimer
On Reclaiming the Individual and Fighting Oppression
19 mins
Brief summary
Eclipse of Reason by Max Horkheimer critiques the decline of critical thinking in modern society, highlighting how instrumental reason prioritizes efficiency over human values, leading to cultural and moral decay.
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Eclipse of Reason
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Subjective and objective reason
Max Horkheimer’s Eclipse of Reason is broken up into five chapters – and we’ll follow that blueprint in this Blink, tackling each chapter in turn. Given that the first chapter is about twice as long as the others, we’ll break that one up into two sections.
The first chapter is entitled “Means and Ends,” and it jumps right into the deep end of the philosophical pool by dissecting the main topic: reason. Specifically, it gets into how our relationship to reason has evolved over the years.
Reason is the human capacity for thought, understanding, and judgment. Among other things, we use reason to understand the difference between right and wrong.
Horkheimer kicks things off by explaining how we’ve landed upon two approaches to reason: subjective reason and objective reason. Subjective reason focuses on efficiency and practicality – essentially, figuring out the best way to achieve a goal, without questioning whether the goal itself is worthwhile. It’s all about means and ends.
On the other hand, objective reason asks bigger questions. It’s concerned with universal truths, morality, and the harmony between humanity, society, and nature.
Historically, thinkers like Plato believed reason wasn’t just a tool – it was a guiding principle that could help humans align their lives with an overarching cosmic order. He argued that living according to objective reason leads to a happy and successful life. This idea wasn’t about optimizing goals but about striving for concepts like the "greatest good" and the meaning of human existence.
Over time, however, this lofty view of reason was replaced by the subjective version. Philosophers like John Locke emphasized reason’s role in practical matters, like solving problems, calculating probabilities, and achieving tangible ends. The trouble is, this shift drained reason of its deeper purpose, turning it into a tool to achieve whatever goals society set, no matter how arbitrary or harmful those goals might be.
We can look at this development as a "formalization" of reason, and it’s had serious consequences. Ideas like justice, equality, or human rights lose their grounding because reason is no longer used to evaluate the worth of these ideals. Instead, it’s reduced to serving the dominant social and economic forces. Under these conditions the concept of self-interest overtakes other moral and societal motivations and a fractured society emerges.
In the next section we’ll pick up this thread and look at more examples of how the shift from objective to subjective reason – otherwise known as the formalization of reason – has done more harm than good.
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What is Eclipse of Reason about?
Eclipse of Reason (1947) uncovers how the very rationality that was once meant to free humanity became a tool of oppression and alienation. It charts the evolution of our ideas about what is right and wrong, and how these ideas have gotten twisted by the deep contradictions in modern society. This thought-provoking work invites a critical reevaluation of reason itself, offering a path toward true liberation and social transformation.
Who should read Eclipse of Reason?
- Philosophy enthusiasts
- Sociology students and scholars
- Critics of modern capitalism
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