Zur Lehre von der Geschichte und von der Freiheit

by Theodor W. Adorno, Rolf Tiedemann (Editor)

Adornos Vorlesung ist eine Vorstufe der Hegel und Kant gewidmeten Kapitel der „Negativen Dialektik“. Es sind frei gesprochene Vorträge, man kann dem Philosophen bei der „Arbeit am Begriff“ zuzuschauen.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Theory, Politics

491 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno was one of the most important philosophers and social critics in Germany after World War II. Although less well known among anglophone philosophers than his contemporary Hans-Georg Gadamer, Adorno had even greater influence on scholars and intellectuals in postwar Germany. In the 1960s he was the most prominent challenger to both Sir Karl Popper's philosophy of science and Martin Heidegger's philosophy of existence. Jürgen Habermas, Germany's foremost social philosopher after 1970, was Adorno's student and assistant. The scope of Adorno's influence stems from the interdisciplinary character of his research and of the Frankfurt School to which he belonged. It also stems from the thoroughness with which he examined Western philosophical traditions, especially from Kant onward, and the radicalness to his critique of contemporary Western society. He was a seminal social philosopher and a leading member of the first generation of Critical Theory.

Unreliable translations hampered the initial reception of Adorno's published work in English speaking countries. Since the 1990s, however, better translations have appeared, along with newly translated lectures and other posthumous works that are still being published. These materials not only facilitate an emerging assessment of his work in epistemology and ethics but also strengthen an already advanced reception of his work in aesthetics and cultural theory.

Reviews

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense, seems impossible to fully unpack, but very illuminating. Two big threads for me: (1) making Kant and Hegel intelligible + going beyond them by critiquing their view of human freedom and the will, and (2) stitching psychoanalysis in through the concept of the superego and its relation to history. Sort of like a (massive, satisfying) fleshing out of the Benjamin essay on the philosophy of history, an essay that I consider absolutely foundational.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Er hat recht