Theodor W. Adorno

Philosophical Elements of a Theory of Society (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

As an exile in America during the War, Theodor Adorno grew acquainted with the fundamentals of empirical social research, something which would shape the work he undertook in the early 1950s as co-director of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. Yet he also became increasingly aware of the 'fetishism of method' in sociology, and saw the serious limitations of theoretical work based solely on empirical findings. In this lecture course given in 1964, Adorno develops a critique of both sociology and philosophy, emphasizing that theoretical work requires a specific mediation between the two disciplines. Adorno advocates a philosophical approach to social theory that challenges the drive towards uniformity and a lack of ambiguity, highlighting instead the fruitfulness of experience, in all its messy complexity, for critical social analysis. At the same time, he shows how philosophy must also realise that it requires sociology if it is to avoid falling for the old idealistic illusion that the totality of real conditions can be grasped through thought alone. Masterfully bringing together philosophical and empirical approaches to an understanding of society, these lectures from one of the most important social thinkers of the 20th century will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, sociology and the social sciences generally.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 192
• Erscheinungstermin: 29. Mai 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780745694917
• Artikelnr.: 57129118

Autorenporträt

Theodor W. 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.

Inhaltsangabe

* Editors' Foreword
* LECTURE 1
* Philosophy and sociology as scientific disciplines - Reflection and theory - Tasks of the lecture - Provisional conception of a theory of society - The crisis of theoretical thought; positivism - Weber's relationship to theory - Weber's concept of 'understanding' - Weber's concept of 'rationality' - Bureaucracy and domination - Dialectics; theoretical aspects of atheoretical thinking
* LECTURE 2
* Facts and theory - Concretion and overcoming of the factual - Critique of the classificatory logic of positivism - The relationship between natural sciences and social sciences, nature and society - The anti-theoretical character of sociology - Hypothesis formulation and insight - The necessity of reflection; Darmstadt community studies - Theory formation presupposes a consideration of discontinuity; The status of facts within the complexion of society as a whole
* LECTURE 3
* Ibsen's Hedda Gabler; Registering facts and productive imagination - The concept of tendency - Capitalist calculus - The exchange relationship - Tendency and prophecy; The new as the core of theory - The non-identical in theory - Theory and dynamics of society -Tendency and totality - Social reality and theory
* LECTURE 4
* Tendency and trend - Dependence of theory on its object; Distrust towards theory formation - Theory as a unified system of society; Liberalism, Marxism, German Idealism - System as tendency - Modifications of 'market society' as results of class struggles - Monopolizing tendency of capital; State interventionism as a crisis outlet - Integration of the proletariat
* LECTURE 5
* Announcement of a lecture by Lucien Goldmann on 'Marxism and contemporary society' - Problems of theory formation; 'Work Climate' study - The system-immanence of the proletariat - Class consciousness and integration - Ideology and experience: The phenomenon of personalization - Insight into society in theoretical thought - System-immanent consciousness - Politics as an aspect of ideology - The meaning of changes in reality and consciousness; concretism
* LECTURE 6
* The difficulty of theory formation - Concretism as an expression of powerlessness; 'Levelled middle-class society' - Exchange value as a source of pleasure - The meaning of concretism for labour organizations - The transformation of Marxian theory into state religion - Abstractism - Accusation of the bourgeoisification of the proletariat - Everyday class struggle
* LECTURE 7
* Everyday class struggle - The politics of small steps - The dual character of the workers' realism; The consequences of mechanization - The dominance of conditions - Wage satisfaction - Subjectivism in sociological research - Communication research; The semblance of freedom in the exchange principle - Subjective experiences of the semblance of levelling - Supply and demand of labour
* LECTURE 8
* The thin crust of integrated society - Nuanced thinking - The shift of social pressure - Changes in nominalism and epistemology - Improvements within the work process - Loss of unambiguity; Social theory between dogmatic ossification and naïve faith in facts - Semblance of integration and increasing socialization - Disintegration; Rationalization and the reality principle - The function of the system; Antagonism of power and powerlessness: Disintegration through growing integration - Integration and powerlessness - False identity of the general and the particular
* LECTURE 9
* The relationship between economy and power - The negative unity of society in general unfreedom - The culture industry and analysis of ideologies - Positivism as a manifestation of ideology - The concept of the 'human being' and the 'jargon of authenticity'; ideology critique and language critique - The mythologization of antagonisms in socialist countries - The dialectic and rupture of theory and experience - Loss of experience - Theory as system and non-system; The irrationality an

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* Editors' Foreword * LECTURE 1 * Philosophy and sociology as scientific disciplines 
Reflection and theory 
Tasks of the lecture 
Provisional conception of a theory of society 
The crisis of theoretical thought; positivism 
Weber's relationship to theory 
Weber's concept of 'understanding' 
Weber's concept of 'rationality' 
Bureaucracy and domination 
Dialectics; theoretical aspects of atheoretical thinking * LECTURE 2 * Facts and theory 
Concretion and overcoming of the factual 
Critique of the classificatory logic of positivism 
The relationship between natural sciences and social sciences, nature and society 
The anti
theoretical character of sociology 
Hypothesis formulation and insight 
The necessity of reflection; Darmstadt community studies 
Theory formation presupposes a consideration of discontinuity; The status of facts within the complexion of society as a whole * LECTURE 3 * Ibsen's Hedda Gabler; Registering facts and productive imagination 
The concept of tendency 
Capitalist calculus 
The exchange relationship 
Tendency and prophecy; The new as the core of theory 
The non
identical in theory 
Theory and dynamics of society
Tendency and totality 
Social reality and theory * LECTURE 4 * Tendency and trend 
Dependence of theory on its object; Distrust towards theory formation 
Theory as a unified system of society; Liberalism, Marxism, German Idealism 
System as tendency 
Modifications of 'market society' as results of class struggles 
Monopolizing tendency of capital; State interventionism as a crisis outlet 
Integration of the proletariat * LECTURE 5 * Announcement of a lecture by Lucien Goldmann on 'Marxism and contemporary society' 
Problems of theory formation; 'Work Climate' study 
The system
immanence of the proletariat 
Class consciousness and integration 
Ideology and experience: The phenomenon of personalization 
Insight into society in theoretical thought 
System
immanent consciousness 
Politics as an aspect of ideology 
The meaning of changes in reality and consciousness; concretism * LECTURE 6 * The difficulty of theory formation 
Concretism as an expression of powerlessness; 'Levelled middle
class society' 
Exchange value as a source of pleasure 
The meaning of concretism for labour organizations 
The transformation of Marxian theory into state religion 
Abstractism 
Accusation of the bourgeoisification of the proletariat 
Everyday class struggle * LECTURE 7 * Everyday class struggle 
The politics of small steps 
The dual character of the workers' realism; The consequences of mechanization 
The dominance of conditions 
Wage satisfaction 
Subjectivism in sociological research 
Communication research; The semblance of freedom in the exchange principle 
Subjective experiences of the semblance of levelling 
Supply and demand of labour * LECTURE 8 * The thin crust of integrated society 
Nuanced thinking 
The shift of social pressure 
Changes in nominalism and epistemology 
Improvements within the work process 
Loss of unambiguity; Social theory between dogmatic ossification and naïve faith in facts 
Semblance of integration and increasing socialization 
Disintegration; Rationalization and the reality principle 
The function of the system; Antagonism of power and powerlessness: Disintegration through growing integration 
Integration and powerlessness 
False identity of the general and the particular * LECTURE 9 * The relationship between economy and power 
The negative unity of society in general unfreedom 
The culture industry and analysis of ideologies 
Positivism as a manifestation of ideology 
The concept of the 'human being' and the 'jargon of authenticity'; ideology critique and language critique 
The mythologization of antagonisms in socialist countries 
The dialectic and rupture of theory and experience 
Loss of experience 
Theory as system and non
system; The irrationality and rationality of society; Weber's theory of science * LECTURE 10 * Contradictory object and contradiction
free theory; Rationality and irrationality 
Changes in the concept of reason 
The whole, in its rationality, is irrational 
Dialectical theory 
Critique of undialectical thought 
Critique of unified sociology and the fetishization of science 
The historical change in the function of science; Openness as a key concept 
Functional change in the concept of science: Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Kant 
The equation of science with truth 
The danger of intuitionism; The relationship between method and matter 
Announcement of the next topic: Critique of Parsons's methodology * LECTURE 11 * Critique of the ideal of the scientific method 
Descartes; The postulation of method and the structure of the matter 
Parsons's unified conceptual system 
The relationship between psychology and sociology: Karen Horney, Erich Fromm 
Freud: Sociology as applied psychology; The concept of role 
Critique of the psychological reduction of social processes: Marx, Durkheim 
Subject and socialization in Weber's 'understanding' sociology 
The antagonistic relationship between the individual and society 
The necessity of a critical reflection on method * LECTURE 12 * Fetishization of methodology instead of insight into the matter 
Method I; Spontaneity of thought 
Formal and transcendental logic in Kant; The character of reason 
Method II; Dialectical philosophy and self
determination 
Didactics; The complexity of capitalism and the Marxian method 
Marx's toying with dialectics 
The disastrous consequence of the primacy of method 
Two meanings of the concept of method * LECTURE 13 * The dispute between positivist and critical thinking 
Scientific fetishism and the acquisition of naïveté 
Perfectionism of method and irrelevance of results 
Weber: Material and spirit collecting 
Instrumentalization of reason 
The defamation of spirit 
Self
examination of thought in the material 
Causes of scientific fetishism 
Ego weakness as a subjective reason for scientific fetishism 
On the 'fear of freedom'; The employee mentality 
Theory and system * LECTURE 14 * The ideal of system in rationalism: Reduction of the many to the one 
Critique of systems that proceed from the subject: Hegel, Erdmann; Spinoza and Leibniz 
The empiricist critique of rationalism 
System frenzy and the disintegrated cosmos 
The problem of the concept of system in Kant's idealism 
Nietzsche and Kierkegaard; Rejection of system 
On dogmatic attitudes 
Systems regress to modes of representation 
Systematic thinking and the administered world; Equation of theory and system in Parsons 
Focus on the essence * LECTURE 15 * Inspiration and spontaneity 
The reified consciousness 
Kant: The worldly and scholastic concepts of philosophy; Unregulated experience 
Empiricism as a corrective 
The relationship between knowledge and democracy; Experimental situations 
Realism and power relations; Objectivity and subjectivity * LECTURE 16 * Elements of a theory of society 
'Transcendental reflection' 
The classes and the production process 
The irrationality of the whole and particular rationality in the administered world Ð The armament apparatus 
Class character and unfreedom 
'Pluralism' as a phenomenon of concealment 
Changes in the sphere of competition and consumption 
The intertwinement of rationality and irrationality in the processes of concentration and disintegration * LECTURE 17 * Rationality and irrationality 
Power relations and control over production; Bureaucracy and domination; Sociological concept formation 
Personalized epiphenomena and fascism 
The independence of bureaucracy in Russia 
Armament and overall social structure 
The position of ideology today: De
ideologization; The consumer world 
The 'consciousness industry': The change in ideology and its contemporary production 
The technological veil 
Language critique and reified consciousness 
 Critique * Editors' Notes * Index

Rezensionen

"Against the alleged waning of Adorno's radical commitments in his last years, these lectures of 1964 on the relationship between social theory and empirical research testify to his abiding Marxist loyalties. Exhorting his students to pierce the "technological veil" of their "administered world," he insists on the power of class, reified consciousness, and the impoverishment of experience in the irrational totality of late capitalism."
Martin Jay, Berkeley