Abstracted elements must never fully separate from what they were abstracted from

Evidence

By analogy with a central theme of his more narrowly philosophical worksthat an abstract element must never be allowed to become completely separate from the element from which it had been abstractedhe explained the secret of convincing modern works of art by the fact that they never totally emancipated themselves from the things they were abolishing. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 681

Categorization

• DEFINE: States Adorno’s core philosophical principle of abstraction, which he applies beyond art to philosophy generally.
• XREF: Connects to Adorno’s negative dialectics and the primacy of the non-identical, recurring across his philosophical work and the Institute’s intellectual program. — connects to: Difference simultaneously constitutes and limits any unity or totality — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 145