Soziologische Schriften I

by Theodor W. Adorno

Als Band 8 der Gesammelten Schriften Adornos erscheint der erste Teil seiner soziologischen Arbeiten. Gesellschaftliches ist der Gegenstand dieser Aufsätze. Es ist im Grunde der Gegenstand des gesamten Denkens von Adorno, da es in allen geistigen, kulturellen und sozialen Phänomenen die Spuren der Vergesellschaftung aufzuweisen trachtet. Deshalb bilden die Soziologischen Schriften nicht eigentlich eine Sondergruppe in seinem Werk, sie sind vielmehr ein integraler Bestandteil der Adornoschen Philosophie. Aber sie zeigen vielleicht leichter, weil direkter auf die gesellschaftliche Wirklichkeit und ihre Diagnose bezogen, welchen Beitrag dieses Philosophieren zur »Kritischen Theorie der Gesellschaft« geleistet hat. Sie zeigen auch, warum Adornos Denken bei manchen seiner Schüler eine Wendung hat nehmen können, die in ihm selbst nicht vorgeprägt ist, für die es aber gleichwohl, dialektisch vermittelt, die Weichen gestellt hat.

Genres: Sociology

587 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2003

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.