CONTRADICTION, CRITIQUE, AND DIALECTIC IN ADORNO A ...

ultimately by the remnants of nature (its violence as well as its betrayed promise of
happiness) in the self. Fascist violence against nature and its representatives is fueled by
the strength and the violence of the repressed nature in the self, and this is why Adorno
and Horkheimer understand fascism as a phenomenon that brings the forces of repressed
nature into the service of the violent elimination of nature. Fascist violence is enacted in
abandonment to the destructive irrational rage of repressed nature and in this way
achieves a satisfaction of the repressed wish for unity with nature, albeit in a damaged
way ultimately doomed to fail. Fascism (and demagogy) offers the unconscious reward
of allowing people to carry on their fight against nature toward a nature
outside instead of inside themselves. The superego, impotent in its own house,
becomes the hangman in society. These individuals obtain the gratification of
feeling themselves as champions of civilization simultaneously with letting loose
their repressed desires. Since their fury does not overcome their inner conflict,
and since there are always plenty of others on whom to practice, this routine of
suppression is repeated over and over again. Thus it tends toward total
destruction. 251
As Horkheimer puts it, fascism reveals “the fatal intimate connection between
domination of nature and revolt of nature.” 252 By allowing an outlet for pent-up
resentment and rage through violence, fascism garners the energy of repressed nature and
directs it into actions that act to maintain and enforce the repression of nature. “Der
Faschismus ist totalitär auch darin, daß er die Rebellion der unterdrückten Natur gegen
die Herrschaft unmittelbar der Herrschaft nutzbar zu machen strebt.” 253
251 Horkheimer, Eclipse of Reason (London and New York: Continuum, 2004), 82.
252 Ibid., 84.
253 Adorno and Horkheimer, Dialektik der Aufklärung, in Max Horkheimer: Gesammelte
Schriften, Vol. 5 (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1997), 215. English translation by
258