@article{Bruzzone_2022, title={Escaping the Metaphysics of Fate/Fact. Comparing Spengler and Adorno}, volume={15}, url={https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/13621}, DOI={10.36253/Aisthesis-13621}, abstractNote={<p class="p1"><em>The Decline of the West</em> belongs to that group of controversial books that have been more attacked than actually and properly read. Today, in deference to the myth of de-ideologisation, that polemical charge has diminished considerably. Nevertheless, Spengler is still topical, especially following the recent political and economic-health crises that evoke the «spectre of decline». From a critical perspective, Adorno was the first to acknowledge Spengler’s topicality and superiority to numerous liberal-progressive opponents. For its part, this current essay, via an ancipital impulse to critique and salvation, aims at exploring Spengler’s idea of fatal/factual decline by unmasking its aporias and ambiguities through comparing it to Adorno’s «silent and questioning utopia», dialectically preserved <em>«</em>in the image of decadence<em>»</em>. Through this close comparison and the development of Adorno’s critique, the paper urges to unveil, on the one hand, the “true” – negative – aspects of Spengler’s legacy and, on the other hand, the <em>«</em>forces<em>»</em>, hidden from his <em>«</em>attentive gaze<em>»</em>, that are «set free in decay<em>»</em>. Ultimately, in the no man’s land between decline and utopia, Spengler and Adorno meet and their legacies intertwine.<em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em></p>}, number={1}, journal={Aisthesis. Pratiche, linguaggi e saperi dell’estetico}, author={Bruzzone, Attilio Vincenzo}, year={2022}, month={Aug.}, pages={117–132} }