Theodor Adorno, Negative Dialektik [Negative Dialectics]

Andrew Edgar (Cardiff University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Philosophy (any)
Theory and History (music)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1966

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Resources

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Published in 1966, towards the end of his career,

Negative Dialectics

represents a summation of Adorno’s thoughts on philosophy, and in particular on the fields of metaphysics and epistemology. It would have been complemented by the

Aesthetic Theory

, that Adorno left unfinished upon his death, and a study of ethics.

Negative Dialectics begins with the observation that ‘Philosophy, which once seemed obsolete, lives on because the moment to realise it was missed’ (Adorno 1973a, p. 3). This problem had elsewhere been framed as ‘why still philosophy?’ (Adorno 1998, p. 5). More precisely, it is the question of why philosophy is still necessary a century or more after Marx’s invocation to change the world, not merely to interpret it. If philosophy has attempted to change the world,

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3082 words

Citation: Edgar, Andrew. "Negative Dialektik". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 May 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3251, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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