ABSTRACT
Accusations that Enlightenment reason and science would lead to the dissolution, or even enslavement, of mankind are nearly as old as the Enlightenment itself. This chapter concentrates on the first of the intellectual traditions, critical theory. The most influential contemporary critiques of science and the Enlightenment on the intellectual left have come from the direction of critical theory, led by the Frankfurt School, and postmodern thought, led by Michel Foucault. To argue that Enlightenment reason and natural science led to the totalitarian domination of Nazi Germany is to argue that Adolf Hitler was a paragon of modernity and a symbol of Enlightenment rationality. Hitler identified Enlightenment ideals with the Jew and the Marxist. Hitler's invocation of an "Eternal Nature" lies directly counter to "Enlightenment" thought as Horkheimer and Adorno understand it. The identification of fascism and Enlightenment is continued by Adorno in Minima Moralia.
