Adorno’s immanent critique drove him to a parenthetical theology.

Evidence

It was precisely Adorno’s insistence on the aporia of the immanent critique of false conditions that led him into a kind of theology in parentheses. It was like a bill of exchange whose character as such was emphasized, while one nevertheless counted on its being redeemed. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2153

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘Theology in parentheses’ — an unforgettably exact metaphor for Adorno’s provisional messianism.
• CANDY: The ‘bill of exchange whose character is emphasized while counting on its redemption’ is a quotable, striking image.
• XREF: connects to: Adorno’s critique of immanence aimed at the non-identical, the new, the transcendent — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1303; Adorno held that truth is a reflection of a transcendent theological light — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2151; Adorno and Benjamin jointly pursued a dialectical dissolution of myth through inverse theology — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 868 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno’s critique of immanence aimed at the non-identical, the new, the transcendent #expands (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1303
• Adorno held that truth is a reflection of a transcendent theological light #corroborates (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2151
• Adorno and Benjamin jointly pursued a dialectical dissolution of myth through inverse theology #expands (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 868
• Adorno supervised Benjamin’s attempt to fuse theology with historical materialism #exemplifies (0.72)