Introduction Part A: Reason and Power - two paradigmatic self-interpretations of modernity I. Enlightenment as the unleashing of power? II. Enlightenment as an unfinished project? (J. Habermas, K.-O. Apel) III. The challenge of postcolonial philosophies - For example: Latin America IV. Summary and Outlook Part B: Expansions of ancient-medieval thought Regression into Renaissance thinking I. The elements - Curiosity, self-creation, cosmopolitanism II. Negation, modification, and connection of the elements Part C: Rationalizations and expansions in the foundations of modern science, politics, and economics Regression into 17th-century philosophy I. Unleashing the productivity of humanity and nature - Francis Bacon's foundation of modern science II. Thomas Hobbes - the problem of the modern state: unleashing and limiting human power III. John Locke - the expansion of the economy Summary and Perspectives: From the Dialectic of Enlightenment to the Dialectic of Expansion.