=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re: =BFWas_Adorno_a_marxist??=

In a message dated 1/18/99 1:56:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,
mthrond@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> Might one suggest that Adorno is Marxism after Heidegger, just as Lukacs
> (before AND after WWI, though more so after, disregarding his later
> disavowal of all his work while presumably under pressure from the--less
> Marxist--Soviet bloc) could be called Marxism after Weber?

Adorno is Marxist. However, this statement requires much clarification to
understand Adorno. Firstly, he is not orthodox like soviet marxists, rather
he is an Hegelian Marxist. After Hegel died, Hegel was interminably
criticised for having develop a "metaphysical system." So, today, no one
understands metaphysics and thinks it refers to religion, when in fact it
refers to our absolute understanding of reality in terms of consciousness.
Adorno was an hegelian marxist who had to steer clear of orthodoxy as well as
left-wing revolutionary practice (soviet-style politics as well as
socialist politics). Neither orientation was theoretical enough nor was
either dialectical. By dialectical, Adorno would not simply consider Hegel's
dialectic, but that was a large part of it, but also the relation of marxist
concepts to an ever changing reality. The dialectical method often refers to
a series of critiques of other writers. Adorno would not call himself marxist
but rather dialectical, or historical materialist. In fact, he was usually
tending away from any categorical label and this was because of the serious
liability any label carried given his circumstances. He had to avoid Nazi's
and therefore he had to avoid being labelled a jew, a commuist, a socialist,
or a marxist. In America, during the exile, he had to avoid being called a
German! along with the other labels, like marxist, so terms like historical
materialist were more sensitive. As it turns out, Adorno, and the other
Frankfurt School members, developed a dialectical materialism that was
"purely" theoretical since all forms of praxis inevitably 'infold' into the
system. Like Hegel, the Frankfurt School members held to a concept of
freedom.

Vunch

Partial thread listing: