Adorno and the Work of the Spirit: Modernism in Aesthetic Terms

Author's Department

English & Comparative Literature Department

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https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003380986-8

All Authors

William D. Melaney

Document Type

Research Article

Publication Title

Philosophy Across Borders: Perspectives from Contemporary Theory

Publication Date

1-1-2024

doi

10.4324/9781003380986-8

Abstract

Theodor Adorno’s work in aesthetics is often overshadowed by his reflections on the theory of knowledge and his contribution to social critique. In this chapter, I argue that Adorno’s work in aesthetics is at least equally important, not only for theoretical reasons but also as an attempt to interpret twentieth-century Modernism in the arts as a response to life that requires a unique set of philosophical tools. The focus of my discussion centers around Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory, a publication that is shown to engage dissimilar traditions, whose importance to art criticism is indisputable. My exposition will demonstrate how Adorno develops a new understanding of the spirit against the background of Kant and Freud, Hegel and Schelling. The thrust of the discussion, however, will indicate why Adorno gravitated toward Modernism as a cultural theorist who was deeply in touch with the most advanced art of the twentieth century, whether poetry, painting, or music. From this standpoint, the work of poet-critic T. S. Eliot will be shown to demonstrate a surprising kinship to various positions taken up by Adorno himself, particularly when his own response to art can be related to an unstable mix of the discursive and the nondiscursive. Finally, I return to the issue of Adorno’s understanding of how aesthetics can be understood as a discipline that can accompany the practice of negative dialectics, an approach to life that integrates the legacies of both Kant and Hegel.

First Page

106

Last Page

126

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