In this talk (above) Fabian Freyenhagen discusses his book Adorno’s Practical Philosophy: Living Less Wrongly (2015).
“Theodor W. Adorno is known for his deeply negative views of the modern world. According to him, the evils of modernity (such as the Shoa) have not been accidental to the way we structure our lives and think about the world around us. Rather, these evils have been intimately connected with the modern society and rationality. Although Adorno offers no hope for a definite remedy, he places his trust in doing philosophy, and he does philosophy in form of uncompromising critique, both of modern society and of the dominant traditions of thought within it. Yet, it is often said that Adorno’s philosophy is too negative, that his critical project tends to undermine itself. By subjecting everything to critique, Adorno seems to leave himself without a vantage point from which his critique could be justified. In this lecture, I reconstruct and defend Adorno’s philosophy – arguing that it contains a negativist ethics (an ethics based solely on a conception of the bad), which can be vindicated, once we have gained a proper understanding of what it is to account for normativity.”
*This audio is part of an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Program in Critical Theory at UC Berkley. Heathwood will be publishing a new talk every couple weeks in support of the Program.
Fabian Freyenhagen
Latest posts by Fabian Freyenhagen (see all)
- Adorno: The Good, the Bad, and the Normative | A Talk by Fabian Freyenhagen - December 10, 2015
- Adorno’s Ethics Without the Ineffable - February 12, 2014
