Introduction to Dialectics

This volume comprises Adorno's first lectures specifically dedicated to the subject of the dialectic, a concept which has been key to philosophical debate since classical times. While discussing connections with Plato and Kant, Adorno concentrates on the most systematic development of the dialectic in Hegel's philosophy, and its relationship to Marx, as well as elaborating his own conception of dialectical thinking as a critical response to this tradition.
 
Delivered in the summer semester of 1958, these lectures allow Adorno to explore and probe the significant difficulties and challenges this way of thinking posed within the cultural and intellectual context of the post-war period. In this connection he develops the thesis of a complementary relationship between positivist or functionalist approaches, particularly in the social sciences, as well as calling for the renewal of ontological and metaphysical modes of thought which attempt to transcend the abstractness of modern social experience by appeal to regressive philosophical categories. While providing an account of many central themes of Hegelian thought, he also alludes to a whole range of other philosophical, literary and artistic figures of central importance to his conception of critical theory, notably Walter Benjamin and the idea of a constellation of concepts as the model for an 'open or fractured dialectic' beyond the constraints of method and system.
 
These lectures are seasoned with lively anecdotes and personal recollections which allow the reader to glimpse what has been described as the 'workshop' of Adorno's thought. As such, they provide an ideal entry point for all students and scholars in the humanities and social sciences who are interested in Adorno's work as well as those seeking to understand the nature of dialectical thinking.

List of contents

Editor's Foreword
LECTURE ONE
Prejudices against the dialectic
the double character of the dialectic
the dialectic as method of articulating the Ideas (Plato)
the order of concepts expresses the order of things
the vital nerve of the dialectic
the dialectic as necessary 'exaggeration'
the positivist element of the dialectic
LECTURE TWO
'The movement of the concept' (Hegel)
the dialectic hypostasizes the identity of thought and being
Hegel's dialectic as the union of identity and non-identity
non-identity in the process, identity in the result
introduction to the dialectic as a model of dialectic
the movement of the concept is not sophistical
the movement of the concept as the path of philosophical science
the object of knowledge is internally dynamic
the movement of the object is not arbitrary
the metaphysical concept of truth
the inevitable reification of truth
historical movement is not the movement of being but is concrete
the dialectic is not a philosophy of foundations
the temporal core of dialectic
LECTURE THREE
Critique of prima philosophia
matter no first principle either
Hegel's dialectic also a preservation of first philosophy
all determination implies mediation
the movement of the concept is no external contribution of thought
a sophistical displacement of meaning in Gehlen
the whole is the true solely as the result of all mediations ? the idea of an open dialectic
the whole is neither a pantheistic totality of nature nor a seamless unity
'the truth is essentially result'
individual phenomena only intelligible in terms of the whole
recourse to the whole is mediated through the self-movement of the individual
the concept of the whole as already given
LECTURE FOUR
The traditional concept of system: derivation of the whole from one fundamental principle
the dialectical concept of system
determinate negation
contradiction in Kant
contradiction in Hegel
antithesis arises from thesis
the measure of the absolute lies in objectivity
dialectical criticism is necessarily immanent
refutation of a thought as development of the thought
the emergent absolute is essentially temporal
the interaction of theory and practice
the truth as result is concrete
LECTURE FIVE
The charge of universal rationalization
dialectical thought is not rationalistic thought
the dispute over rationalism
conceptual thought is indispensable
the truth moment of irrationalism
the irrational as a moment of ratio
suffering and happiness are immanent to thought
being in itself, being for itself, being in and for itself
relationship of thesis, antithesis, synthesis
dialectical method concerns the contradictory life of the object
the dialectic not immune to ideological abuse
LECTURE SIX
Dialectical method not a formal conceptual schema
the objectivation of truth
every true thought becomes untrue once it is isolated
the triadic schema irrelevant in Hegel
the charge of universalizing contradiction
contradiction is not a first principle
Hegel's critique of Kant's transcendental dialectic
LECTURE SEVEN
Hegel's dialectical principle of development is a principle of real being
dialectic in Kant is only the negative side of the critique of reason
the positive moment of the critique of reason
reflection as the principle of the speculative self-knowledge of reason
knowledge of knowledge also the principle of substantive knowledge
dialectic and formal logic - the 'example' in Hegel
logical form of the judgement and the 'emphatic concept'
dialectical contradiction expresses the disparity of thought and world
LECTURE EIGHT
Dialectic names the negative state of the world by its proper name
contradiction not only in thought, but is objective
contradiction as principle of diremption is also the principle of unity
dialectic as union

About the author

Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), a prominent member of the Frankfurt School, was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century in the areas of social theory, philosophy and aesthetics.

Summary

This volume comprises Adorno's first lectures specifically dedicated to the subject of the dialectic, a concept which has been key to philosophical debate since classical times.

Report

"Despite Adorno's abiding suspicion of easy communicability, he was fully capable of explaining complex ideas lucidly and accessibly, never more so than in the lecture hall. There can be few concepts that demand as much careful exposition as 'dialectics,' whose multiple uses and frequent abuses have frustrated countless attempts to render it comprehensible. Still fewer exponents of dialectical thought have been as skilled in unpacking its meaning, while at the same time performatively demonstrating its virtues, as Adorno."
Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley
 
"The twenty lectures that Adorno held in 1958 constitute the first comprehensive articulation of his thinking. The challenge to which he responds is that of wresting conceptual thinking from its narcissistic tendencies, as outlined in Dialectics of Enlightenment. 'Suffering and Happiness,' he insists, must be recognized as 'the immanent substance of dialectics'. Adorno's effort to turn thinking inside-out by revealing the affective origin of its transformative potential, remains his most enduring legacy."
Samuel Weber, Northwestern University

Product details

• Authors: Theodor W Adorno, Theodor W. Adorno, Theodor W. (Frankfurt School) Adorno, Tw Adorno, Christoph Ziermann
• Assisted by: Christop Ziermann (Editor), Christoph Ziermann (Editor)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 10.02.2017
• EAN: 9780745693118
• ISBN: 978-0-7456-9311-8
• No. of pages: 336
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; Philosophie, Dialektik, Kulturwissenschaften, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Continental Philosophy, Kontinentalphilosophie, Cultural Studies Special Topics, Spezialthemen Kulturwissenschaften, Philosophie in den Gesellschaftswissenschaften, Philosophy of Social Science