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 Ð the
inevitable reification of truth historical movement is not the
movement of being but is concrete Ð the dialectic is not a
philosophy of foundations the temporal core of dialectic
LECTURE THREE
Critique of prima philosophia matter no first principle either Ð
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 Ð 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 Ð
contradiction as principle of diremption is also the principle of
unity dialectic as union of the a priori and experience the
objective order of the world also conceptual in character
coercive character of dialectic the systematic claim of dialectic
dialectical contradiction in Hegel�s political philosophy
dialectical system not a seamless deductive structure the concept
of experience in Hegel
LECTURE NINE
The paradoxical task of knowledge: identifying the non-identical
identity of thought and being (Hegel) non-identity and
contradiction not resolvable in thought (Marx) the materialist
priority of being over consciousness is problematic the whole and
the parts presuppose one another the materialist critique of
literature cannot proceed from unmediated instances of particular
experience (Benjamin) dialectical materialism is not vulgar
materialism the charge of metaphysically hypostasizing the
totality (Weber)
LECTURE TEN
Knowledge of the social whole precedes individual experience
prior awareness of the whole not unique to human beings rejection
of Hegel�s attempted restoration of immediate experience the
congruence of whole and parts as result of a process intuition
theory neither static nor complete the danger of a dogmatic
ossification of dialectic (Lukács) tracing knowledge back to
origins is undialectica survival of obsolete philosophical
notions in the individual sciences
LECTURE ELEVEN
Terminological remarks on the concept of role neither whole nor
part enjoys priority over the other metaphysics as science of the
ultimate ground origin as merel beginning (Hegel) the
ontological appropriation of Hegel �abstract� in Hegel the
dialectic not a dynamic ontology �being� in Hegel philosophy of
immediacy as regress to mythology dialectic and positivism the
�natural� appearance of a reified world
LECTURE TWELVE
Affinity between dialectic and positivism the constitutive
distinction of essence and appearance dialectic exposes the
apparent immediacy of ultimate givens the Darmstadt investigation
motivational analysis in industrial sociology opinion research,
empirical and critical transition from positivism to dialectic
contradiction in the given as the principle of dialectical
movement
LECTURE THIRTEEN
Scientific method in Descartes rationalism as the will to control
nature the postulate of self-evidence (Descartes) a hermeneutic
intervention self-evidence as a form of ultimate metaphysical
grounding evidence of sense-perception already mediated the
order of knowing, the order of the known experience and
conceptuality emphasis on analysis destroys the crucial interest
of knowing philosophy of nature and natural science philosophy
always bound to the material knowledge of the sciences
LECTURE FOURTEEN
Analysis alone yields no knowledge the universal concretized
through the particular attitude of dialectic to the concept of
development the family not merely a remnant society not an
organism, but antagonistic in character knowledge as a continuity
of steps the unity of society constituted by discontinuity the
presumption of continuity is merely affirmative �enthusiasm� a
necessary moment of knowledge the positive aspect of
continuity
LECTURE FIFTEEN
The coercive character of logic immanent and transcendent
critique mobility of thought is not an evasion contradictions
are constitutive against relativism dialectical cognition of
the particular object requires explicit self-reflection the
charge of groundlessness a sociological excursus on the mobility
of thought the substance of philosophy lies in the vital source
of its concepts arrested movement in Heraclitus and Hegel
LECTURE SIXTEEN
The dogmatic character of the axiom of completeness the
fulfilment of this demand in German Idealism dialectical
clarification of the objective by recourse to models �ideal
types� in Weber �intuition of essences� in Husserl thinking in
models labyrinthine communication in literary works (Kafka,
Balzac, von Doderer) historical transformations in the concept of
system
LECTURE SEVENTEEN
Consciousness as unifying principle in the modern conception of
system critique and renewal of the concept of system in 19th
century contemporary appeal of the concept of system the
spectral afterlife of the concept of system the need for system
and the closed experience of the world no categorical continuum
amongst the particular sciences (Talcott Parsons) apologetic
character of the functionalist concept of system �frame of
reference� the logic of science and debased metaphysics
complement one another today dialectic a beneficent
anachronism
LECTURE EIGHTEEN
Dichotomous consciousness dialectical mediation not a matter of
Both/And mediation as the critical self-reflection of extremes
role of Either/Or in the social sciences dialectic and the
negative concept of truth values are neither transcendent nor
merely relative the criterion of truth is immanent to the object
the dialectic is not a matter of �standpoints� dialectic
furnishes no recipes definition as logical form
LECTURE NINETEEN
The limits of deixis and definition with respect to the concept
the concept is not a tabula rasa concept and constellation life
and fluidity of the concept as the object of dialectic verbal
definitions and philosophical definitions philosophical
definition requires prior knowledge of the matter in question it
extends concepts into force fields abbreviation as specific
feature of philosophical definition operational definitions in
the particular sciences forfeiting the synthetic moment of
knowledge operational definitions and their field of application
dialectic as a critical mediation of realism and nominalism
truth moment of the phenomenological analysis of meaning
LECTURE TWENTY
Dialectical articulation of concepts as constellation and
configuration the order of ideas in Plato as an expression of the
social division of labour the exposition of the matter in
question not external exposition guarantees the objectivity of
knowledge contradiction in the identifying judgement as starting
point of dialectic truth and untruth of the logical judgement
form subjective synthesis and objective reference in the
judgement an immanent critique of logic the phenomenological
critique of inference surrender of logical subordination as index
of dialectical thought is knowledge possible without assuming the
identity of subject and object?
Adorno�s Lecture Notes
Abbreviations
Editor�s Notes
Index
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.
"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
"one of the most lucid and accessible introductions to Hegel"
—Dublin Review of Books
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