Lectures 1949-1968, Volume 2: Social Theory and Politics

by Theodor W. Adorno, Nicholas Walker (translator)

When Theodor W. Adorno returned to Germany from his exile in the United States, he was appointed as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Frankfurt and he immediately made a name for himself as a leading public intellectual. Adorno’s widespread influence on the postwar debates was due in part to the public lectures he gave outside of the university in which he analysed and commented on social, cultural and political developments of the time.

This second volume brings together Adorno’s lectures given between 1949 and 1968 on social and political themes. With an engaging and improvisational style, Adorno spoke with infectious vigour about architecture and city planning, the relationship between the individual and society, the authoritarian personality and far-right extremism, political education and the current state of sociology, among other subjects. After Auschwitz, it was incumbent on Germany to undertake intensive memory work and to confront the reality of its own moral destruction, while rebuilding its political and economic systems. To rebuild was taken to mean rediscovery and looking outward, but Adorno also nurtured a vision of tradition which – far from being unthinkingly conservative – would attest to society’s honestly-appraised relationship to the past while it underwent the process of modernization. The volume illustrates Adorno’s deep commitment to holding society to standards commensurate with the aspirations of a modern world emerging from the horrors of war.

This volume of his lectures is a unique document of Adorno’s startling ability to bring critical theory into dialogue with the times in which he lived. It will be of great value to anyone interested in the work of Adorno and critical theory, in German intellectual and cultural history and in sociology and politics.

264 pages, Paperback

Published February 19, 2025

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

[neantx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much worthwhile nearly only for Adorno scholars like myself. There is not much new here, apart from useful contexts for his more serious texts - which is not unsurprising given the contents. The text on education stands out as something novel.

[Kai Jie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that's really well-suited to reading its "chapters" out of order. Just skip around to what interests you at the moment. It's a casual read because each chapter is an independent transcribed lecture delivered to a live audience, so it's always less dense than a full essay. Two main topics of the book are universities and politics; since those are common things high-schoolers talk about, it's really enjoyable to skim the table of contents, notice a chapter title that reminds you of some random argument you overheard a week prior, and flip to the chapter to see what Adorno has to say about it.

It's truly shocking how accurately Adorno articulates and responds to modern attitudes about (for example) STEM vs. humanities, when you know that all these lectures actually happened in the 1960s. Realizing the fact that so many seemingly modern debates actually have roots in WWII-era developments was incredibly interesting in itself.

[Gin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of lectures that Adorno gave at various settings, and covering a range of topics, many of which continue to be relevant to the social and political issues of our day. Some knowledge of his world is useful but not necessary. I probably enjoyed the chapter on Unity and Teaching the least because it felt excessively long for why I felt was a relatively simple point.

In my reading, charted by journey extracting quotes (see my activity on this book) and relating them to the world of 2026. Sadly, but presciently, maybe Adorno’s observations have come to pass.

The last chapter on new right-wing extremism was written in 1967 but you would be forgiven for thinking he was describing that Trump and the MAGA movement. Forms may change, but the underlying mechanisms continue to thrive. But the book ends with Adorno refusing to allow that right-wing extremism is natural inevitable, as it shows a firm of resignation on our part, and “expresses a harmfully spectator-like relationship with reality.” Instead, the “responsibility for how they will continue… ultimately lies in our hands.”