In this excellent book, the two great German philosophers explore all aspects of the following fundamental question: why has Western civilization, despite its remarkable scientific and technological progress, been unable to build a world free from hunger, war, misery, and oppression?
For the authors, the answer is that the great innovations of this civilization came at the cost of a continuously increasing decline of theoretical consciousness. Material progress entrenched human dominance over nature, turning everything into an object of manipulation and exploitation, while the ideals of progress stripped meaning from the concepts of truth, freedom, justice, and humanity, leading to the continuous emergence of various forms of totalitarianism.
Therefore, a primary task of any authentic political intervention aimed at overturning this regime is the realization and dissemination of its internal logic, which the authors call the dialectic of enlightenment.
[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]
