The article presents results of a comparative study on how the question of technique is approached in the works of Theodor W. Adorno and José Ortega y Gasset. It looks into how this question is unfolded in relation with the notions of progress, domination of nature and mass culture. The intention is to question the theme of formation (Bildung) and its impasses in these works. The discussion starts with the analysis of Adorno's view of Ortega as a conservative critic of culture, and is followed by a theoretically confrontation between both thinkers. The analysis of the notion of technique by Adorno and Ortega takes into account the views that each one held on the human condition, extracting their analytical and formative consequences: for the first author, technique is seen as the engine of existence and of superfluous production while for the second one technique should be apprehended within a dialectic of enlightenment.
Formation; Adorno; Theodor W.; Ortega y Gasset; José, domination of nature; dialectic of progress