Axel Honneth and Amy Allen

"Historical progress" and the legacy of the Dialectic of Enlightenment

Abstract

The article aims to present a contention between Axel Honneth and Amy Allen regarding the idea of historical progress and its role for a Critical Theory of Society. In particular, the following points are discussed: a) the Honneth's understanding of the Dialectic of Enlightenment, regarding to his critique of progress, and the social theory that the author develops in response; b) Allen's criticism of Honneth's perspective, from which she proposes an alternative understanding of Adorno's contribution to the concept – extracting from the Frankfurt philosopher clues to a project of decolonization of Critical Theory. To this end, the text analyzes centrally the works The End of Progress, by Allen, and The Critique of Power and Freedom's Right, by Honneth.