L'indifférence à l'avenir : réification et aliénation
Philosophy, according to Theodor Adorno, should be the knowledge of the reasons “why the world—which could be paradise here and now—can become hell itself tomorrow” (“Why Still Philosophy”). It is in this perspective that this master’s thesis explores how the phenomenon of indifference, understood as a posture that ensues from a mediated detachment from the world and which manifests itself notably through apathy, powerlessness and the coldness of individuals toward others and the social order, can help to explain why possibilities for a better future appear blocked. To this end, we limit our analysis to two concepts that have greatly influenced Adorno and that provide precious indications with respect to the causes of this indifferent detachment: reification (Verdinglichung) and alienation (Entfremdung). We start from the hypothesis that this indifference is essential to the reproduction of the logic of capitalism. In the first chapter, we begin by studying Georg Lukács’ 1923 essay “Reification and Class Consciousness” in order to learn what his ideas of “contemplative attitude” and of “indifference of form towards content” may teach us about this indifferent detachment. We complete this first chapter by examining what the figure of Odysseus, as analyzed in Theodor W. Adorno’s and Max Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), tells us about the fundamental ambiguity of indifferent detachment which, as constitutive of thought itself, is capable of engendering the worst, while also holding a promise of justice. The second chapter is dedicated to Marx’s Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and to his notion of alienated labor. We show how alienated labor contributes to the reproduction of this detachment from the world which, in turn, tends to block the possibility of real collective action. This analysis of labor nevertheless hints toward ways to fight back against this indifférence à l’avenir.
Indifférence Lukács Adorno Marx Philosophy Indifference Detachment Reification Alienation