1. What is Enlightenment?
Enlightenment was a movement that emerged during the 18th century throughout Europe. Instead of relying on the beliefs in a specific religion, people started to rely more and more on science. Old traditions, religion, beliefs and mythology were something people trusted less, and instead logic, peoples’ knowledge and science was of higher value. This basically means that peoples’ ideas before the enlightenment was based on, normally, the beliefs in God, and after the enlightenment they were based on knowledge based on science.
2.What is the meaning and function of “myth” in Adorno and Horkheimer’s argument?
Before the enlightenment knowledge was based on beliefs and myths. A myth can be described as a description of something, based on thoughts and beliefs. Myths and religion was both constructing a mindset of the people to guide them to think and live a certain way. In the text they describe that in the same way as myth and religion was affecting people before the enlightenment, science and knowledge affects how people think and what they know after the enlightenment.
3.What are the “old” and “new” media that are discussed in the Dialectic of Enlightenment?
“Old” media can be differentiated from “new” media in many ways. In the Dialectic of Enlightenment, the different between “old” and “new” media is how many people that are reached by the media. In this case “new” media is media that can reach the wider mass, called Mass media. It’s media that can be produced to reach a lot of people at the same time for example the TV, radio etc.
4.What is meant by “culture industry”?
Culture is a broad term that includes many different things such as magazines, TV, radio etc. Culture industry can therefore be describes as an industry that produces those things. Adorno and Horkheimer are very critical to the culture industry because as they see it, the industry decides what the bigger mass is supposed to consume. The culture is by the industry standardized and production is driven by capitalism, which is something Adorno and Horkheimer dislike.
5.What is the relationship between mass media and “mass deception”, according to Adorno and Horkheimer?
According to Adorno and Horkheimer the mass media is media produced for the bigger mass, as the name says. The media that is produced for the bigger mass is, as said in the last question, produced to make large profits for the companies or people that are the producers. The group that is producing media for the mass is small and Adorno and Horkheimer are criticizing the so called culture industry since it is a small group that decides what the mass is going to consume, and they filter away everything that does not give themselves a profit.
6. Please identify one or two concepts/terms that you find particularly interesting. Motivate your choice.
I find the term culture industry very interesting and how Adorno and Horkheimer argue that it is all bad. I can connect this to the discussion about filter bubbles today. So for a long time period the industry has been criticized for deciding for the people what to consume when it comes to culture and information. I feel like the discussions are basically the same. Someone that is trying to be independent is blaming the industry for making the people believe in certain things. But I can see a difference from the 40’s compared with today. Back then they might not have had the opportunity to look for other information or culture than what they were surrounded by, which was the mass media. Today we have the internet and by that we can all take a step, or at least try to take a step, outside the filter bubble that we are all situated in.
Enlightenment was a movement that emerged during the 18th century throughout Europe. Instead of relying on the beliefs in a specific religion, people started to rely more and more on science. Old traditions, religion, beliefs and mythology were something people trusted less, and instead logic, peoples’ knowledge and science was of higher value. This basically means that peoples’ ideas before the enlightenment was based on, normally, the beliefs in God, and after the enlightenment they were based on knowledge based on science.
2.What is the meaning and function of “myth” in Adorno and Horkheimer’s argument?
Before the enlightenment knowledge was based on beliefs and myths. A myth can be described as a description of something, based on thoughts and beliefs. Myths and religion was both constructing a mindset of the people to guide them to think and live a certain way. In the text they describe that in the same way as myth and religion was affecting people before the enlightenment, science and knowledge affects how people think and what they know after the enlightenment.
3.What are the “old” and “new” media that are discussed in the Dialectic of Enlightenment?
“Old” media can be differentiated from “new” media in many ways. In the Dialectic of Enlightenment, the different between “old” and “new” media is how many people that are reached by the media. In this case “new” media is media that can reach the wider mass, called Mass media. It’s media that can be produced to reach a lot of people at the same time for example the TV, radio etc.
4.What is meant by “culture industry”?
Culture is a broad term that includes many different things such as magazines, TV, radio etc. Culture industry can therefore be describes as an industry that produces those things. Adorno and Horkheimer are very critical to the culture industry because as they see it, the industry decides what the bigger mass is supposed to consume. The culture is by the industry standardized and production is driven by capitalism, which is something Adorno and Horkheimer dislike.
5.What is the relationship between mass media and “mass deception”, according to Adorno and Horkheimer?
According to Adorno and Horkheimer the mass media is media produced for the bigger mass, as the name says. The media that is produced for the bigger mass is, as said in the last question, produced to make large profits for the companies or people that are the producers. The group that is producing media for the mass is small and Adorno and Horkheimer are criticizing the so called culture industry since it is a small group that decides what the mass is going to consume, and they filter away everything that does not give themselves a profit.
6. Please identify one or two concepts/terms that you find particularly interesting. Motivate your choice.
I find the term culture industry very interesting and how Adorno and Horkheimer argue that it is all bad. I can connect this to the discussion about filter bubbles today. So for a long time period the industry has been criticized for deciding for the people what to consume when it comes to culture and information. I feel like the discussions are basically the same. Someone that is trying to be independent is blaming the industry for making the people believe in certain things. But I can see a difference from the 40’s compared with today. Back then they might not have had the opportunity to look for other information or culture than what they were surrounded by, which was the mass media. Today we have the internet and by that we can all take a step, or at least try to take a step, outside the filter bubble that we are all situated in.
I agree with you on your comment that the discussion is eerily the same today vs 70 years ago regarding the cultural consumption of people. We can just hope that people actually do lift their eyes and look for something above what is readily available for the masses.
SvaraRadera