Adorno’s essayistic free thought was a utopia that avoided empirical engagement

Evidence

Adorno’s vision of free thought in essay forman analogy with the composer’s self-abandonment to the material of music, or the writer’s self-abandonment to languagewas perhaps a utopia, one which stood the test of time in Adorno’s work to a surprising extent, although with clear limitations. It was a utopia, however, which was to be translated into an empirical form of knowledge that would be able to exploit the successful discoveries of organized science in all their breadth and at the same time provide science with fresh horizons to produce more specific, and at the same time more cautious, discoveries and applications. By defending and practising the essay form, Adorno seemed to be avoiding this problem. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2287

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Adorno’s weak utopia dissolves fixed social roles rather than institutionalizing them — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2559; Adorno held that utopia must orient inquiry yet never be depicted directly — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1486; Utopia is tested in novelistic form, not in abstract philosophy — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 359 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno held that utopia must orient inquiry yet never be depicted directly #expands (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1486
• Adorno’s weak utopia dissolves fixed social roles rather than institutionalizing them #expands (0.82) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2559