A Companion to Adorno

“This outstanding Companion proves the usual assumption wrong that there is no possibility today to contribute something new and original to the work of Theodor W. Adorno. The three editors, all equally superb experts of his philosophy, have managed with circumspection and discretion to collect thoroughly stimulating articles that together open up a novel and fresh perspective on this central figure of critical theory. Everyone who’s keeping up with what’s going on in this tradition has to read this Companion.” Axel Honneth, Jack C. Weinstein Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University “An exemplary Companion of extremely well-formed essays together covering the extraordinary range of Adorno’s philosophical, social, and aesthetic thought. Highly recommended for anyone working through the issues and relevance of critical theory today.” Lydia Goehr, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University As one of the leading continental philosophers of the last century, and a pioneering member of the Frankfurt School, Theodor W. Adorno was the author of seminal—and at times quite radical—scholarship in aesthetics, social theory, moral philosophy, and the history of modern philosophy which concerns the contradictions of modern society in relation to human suffering and the human condition. Having made substantial contributions to critical theory which levy searching critiques of the ‘culture industry’ and the ‘identity thinking’ of modern Western society, Adorno helped establish an interdisciplinary but philosophically rigorous study of culture, and provided some of the most startling and revolutionary critiques of Western society to date. A Companion to Adorno is the largest collection of newly commissioned essays by a distinguished array of Adorno scholars, specialists, and leading interpreters ever gathered in a single volume.