Reason and Horror: Critical Theory, Democracy and Aesthetic Individuality [Paperback]

Morton Schoolman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415930286 | ISBN-13: 978-0415930284 | Publication Date: August 10, 2001 | Edition: 1

Morton Schoolman develops a fascinating and entirely new interpretation of the work of Horkenheimer and Adorno.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Reason and Horror stirs by its articulateness and its profundity.Mort Schoolman has written a major book.." -- George Kateb, Princeton University

"The best account of Adorno and Horkheimer's thought available. Schoolman makes their thought come to life.." -- Shadia Drury, author of Leo Strauss and The American Right

About the Author

Morton Schoolman is Professor of Political Science at SUNY Albany, and the author of The Imaginary Witness: The Critical Theory of Herbert Marcuse.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (August 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415930286
• ISBN-13: 978-0415930284
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Expanded Understanding of the Value and Nature of Democracy, September 19, 2006

By 

K. Himmelfarb (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reason and Horror: Critical Theory, Democracy and Aesthetic Individuality (Paperback)

In this book, author Morton Schoolman addresses the familiar idea of democracy from a new and liberating angle. He offers an account that takes this highly valued form of politics beyond formal governmental structures or processes of political participation to the development of the idea of a "culture of democracy," which is distinguished by the presence of a form of aesthetic reason that enables a new relationship of individuals to difference. Rather than engage in the 'violent' behavior that results from the perspective that there is one, absolute and true representation of reality, participants in this democratic culture are able to relate to each other in ways that recognize and thrive off of the the contingent and multiplicitous nature of human identity and understanding.

By demonstrating how democracy offers a way of negotiating difference that is respectful of the pluralistic nature of human existence, Schoolman offers a justification for the promotion of global democratization that is refreshingly absent of the ideological disconnects that are the hallmark of mainstream neo-liberal theories, which tie the achievement of greater freedom in society to the economic structures of "free-market" capitalism. In the current global context of the increasingly violent geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and the rise of China, a country notorious for human rights abuses, to a position of significant global influence, Schoolman's book is especially timely in offering hope and purpose through the pursuit of democracy to scholars, students, decision-makers and ordinary citizens alike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Invaluable Contribution to Political and Social Theory, September 18, 2006

By 

Stephanie Erev (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reason and Horror: Critical Theory, Democracy and Aesthetic Individuality (Paperback)

As the above reviewers suggest, with Reason and Horror, Dr. Schoolman has given us a powerful mechanism with which to appreciate the politics of identity within a democratic society: aesthetic individuality. And, while Schoolman uses a rich and innovative analysis of both Adorno's and Nietzsche's work in formulating this notion, Reason and Horror--in this reader's opinion--delivers its most remarkable contributions through its treatment of Alexis de Tocqueville. In this book, Schoolman provides a much-needed breath of fresh air to the general "doomsday" consensus surrounding Tocqueville's "Equality of Condition." Here he uses the aesthetic notions of surface and depth to re-cast equality of condition as a democratic endowment that stimulates, rather than stifles, self-reflection and--even more importantly--critical responsiveness to the differences embodied in the other. Moreover, Schoolman illustrates that it is precisely the democratic equality of condition that allows us to view these not simply as the differences that distinguish us from the other, but also as possibilities for our own self-expression, and thus, as things that connect us as well. In sum, Schoolman's aesthetic individuality is a victory for both the self and the collective: for the individual, identity finds new opportunities for expression and complexity at every turn; and for the collective, there is hopefully less pressure to experience difference as threatening and more encouragement to find in it instead all sorts of new options for being. All in all, Reason and Horror is an indispensable contribution to the fields of political and social theory, and comes highly recommended!