Theodor W. Adorno emerged as a pivotal German philosopher and social critic in the post-World War II era. His influence is rooted in the interdisciplinary nature of his research and his affiliation with the Frankfurt School. He rigorously examined Western philosophical traditions and offered a radical critique of contemporary Western society. Initially hampered by unreliable translations, Adorno's work has seen a resurgence in English-speaking countries, with improved translations and posthumous publications solidifying his impact on epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and cultural theory.
"Early in the 1960s Adorno gave four courses of lectures on the road leading to Negative Dialectics, his magnum opus of 1966. The second of these was concerned with the topics of history and freedom. In terms of content, these lectures represented an early version of the chapters in Negative Dialectics devoted to Kant and Hegel. In formal terms, these were improvised lectures that permit us to glimpse a philosophical work in progress." -- Cover, p. [4].
Notes to Literature is a collection of the great social theorist Theodor W.
Adorno's essays on such writers as Mann, Bloch, Goethe, and Benjamin, as well
as his reflections on a variety of subjects. This edition presents this
classic work in full in a single volume, with a new introduction by Paul
Kottman.
Two volumes by Theodor W. Adorno are combined in this volume: Interventions - Nine Critical Models (1963) and Catchwords: Critical Model II (1969). Both books are examples of Adorno's postwar commitment to unmasking the culture that engendered Nazism.
In summer 1960, Adorno gave the first of a series of lectures devoted to the relation between sociology and philosophy. One of his central concerns was to dispel the notion, erroneous in his view, that these were two incompatible disciplines, radically opposed in their methods and aims, a notion that was shared by many. While some sociologists were inclined to dismiss philosophy as obsolete and incapable of dealing with the pressing social problems of our time, many philosophers, influenced by Kant, believed that philosophical reflection must remain ‘pure’, investigating the constitution of knowledge and experience without reference to any real or material factors. By focusing on the problem of truth, Adorno seeks to show that philosophy and sociology share much more in common than many of their practitioners are inclined to assume. Drawing on intellectual history, Adorno demonstrates the connection between truth and social context, arguing that there is no truth that cannot be manipulated by ideology and no theorem that can be wholly detached from social and historical considerations. This systematic account on the interconnectedness of philosophy and sociology makes these lectures a timeless reflection on the nature of these disciplines and an excellent introduction to critical theory, the sociological content of which is here outlined in detail by Adorno for the first time.
This volume comprises one of the key lecture courses leading up to the publication in 1966 of Adorno's major work, Negative Dialectics. These lectures focus on developing the concepts critical to the introductory section of that book. They show Adorno as an embattled philosopher defining his own methodology among the prevailing trends of the time. As a critical theorist, he repudiated the worn-out Marxist stereotypes still dominant in the Soviet bloc – he specifically addresses his remarks to students who had escaped from the East in the period leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Influenced as he was by the empirical schools of thought he had encountered in the United States, he nevertheless continued to resist what he saw as their surrender to scientific and mathematical abstraction. However, their influence was potent enough to prevent him from reverting to the traditional idealisms still prevalent in Germany, or to their latest manifestations in the shape of the new ontology of Heidegger and his disciples. Instead, he attempts to define, perhaps more simply and fully than in the final published version, a ‘negative', i.e. critical, approach to philosophy. Permeating the whole book is Adorno’s sense of the overwhelming power of totalizing, dominating systems in the post-Auschwitz world. Intellectual negativity, therefore, commits him to the stubborn defence of individuals – both facts and people – who stubbornly refuse to become integrated into ‘the administered world’. These lectures reveal Adorno to be a lively and engaging lecturer. He makes serious demands on his listeners but always manages to enliven his arguments with observations on philosophers and writers such as Proust and Brecht and comments on current events. Heavy intellectual artillery is combined with a concern for his students’ progress.
Adorno's exploration of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" reveals the significant influence Kant has on his philosophical framework. This volume compiles Adorno's lectures, offering insights into Kant's critical philosophy and its implications for modern thought. Through these discussions, Adorno engages deeply with Kant's ideas, shedding light on their relevance and impact on subsequent philosophical discourse.
'Radical Thinkers' is a selection of Verso's leading titles, celebrating 40 years of New Left Books and Verso. The volumes collected here are new editions of the highlights from 4 decades of uncompromising, radical publishing.
This volume makes available in English for the first time Adorno′s lectures on metaphysics. It provides a unique introduction not only to metaphysics but also to Adorno′s own intellectual standpoint, as developed in his major work Negative Dialectics. Metaphysics for Adorno is defined by a central tension between concepts and immediate facts. Adorno traces this dualism back to Aristotle, whom he sees as the founder of metaphysics. In Aristotle it appears as an unresolved tension between form and matter. This basic split, in Adorno′s interpretation, runs right through the history of metaphysics. Perhaps not surprisingly, Adorno finds this tension resolved in the Hegelian dialectic. Underlying this dualism is a further dichotomy, which Adorno sees as essential to metaphysics: while it dissolves belief in transcendental worlds by thought, at the same time it seeks to rescue belief in a reality beyond the empirical, again by thought. It is to this profound ambiguity, for Adorno, that the metaphysical tradition owes its greatness. The major part of these lectures, given by Adorno late in his life, is devoted to a critical exposition of Aristotle′s thought, focusing on its central ambiguities. In the last lectures, Adorno′s attention switches to the question of the relevance of metaphysics today, particularly after the Holocaust. He finds in ′metaphysical experiences′, which transcend rational discourse without lapsing into irrationalism, a last precarious refuge of the humane truth to which his own thought always aspired. This volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in Adorno′s work and will be a valuable text for students and scholars of philosophy and social theory.
