Asses the strengths and weaknesses of Adorno and Horkeimer's account of the 'Culture Industry'

In ‘The dialectic: Enlightenment as mass deception’, Adorno and Horkeimer dedicate a chapter to the discussion of technology and its subsequent production of modern culture by ‘mass’ means as one of histories many attempts to purport the mastery of nature. Perhaps inspired and disillusioned by Nazi Germany and the period in which this was written, Adorno and Horkeimer introduce the discussion of culture with the concept of an ‘Iron system’ that is held together by capitalist interests. In this essay, the notion of such an industry will be deconstructed and evaluated in terms of their nearness to fantasy or reality in order to determine whether the views they represent can be reconciled with post- modernism as a current, relevant phenomenon, or remain as an exemplification of pessimistic philosophy that is static in its time. I will also engage with and challenge criticisms and misconceptions that relate to this work.

To begin with, Adorno and Horkeimer make evident that ...