Adorno chose a safe Habilitation topic out of self-distrust

Evidence

But Adorno’s decision to tie himself down to Cornelius’s transcendental philosophy sprang not just from strategic considerations, but also from the fact that (as he had written to Kracauer, who had suggested that he should do a thesis with Max Scheler on the philosophy of music) he did not yet trust himself to use a genuine work as a Habilitation thesis'. — <cite>Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 327</cite> (#expands`, via linked claim)

On the one hand, it was understandable for Adorno to want to steer clear of this topic. He had repeatedly confessed self-critically that he had no understanding of the natural sciences and was therefore not in a position to counteract the regrettable alienation of philosophy from natural science. On the other hand, it was quite possible to speculate on relations to external nature from points of view quite different from that of the connection between natural science and natural philosophy. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2553 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Adorno chose a safe Habilitation topic because he lacked confidence for original work — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 327; Adorno’s neglect of external nature stemmed from scientific self-doubt — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2553; Adorno’s 1927 Habilitation failed because his supervisor deemed it unoriginal

Broader Connections

• Adorno chose a safe Habilitation topic because he lacked confidence for original work #expands (0.97) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 327
• Adorno’s 1927 Habilitation failed because his supervisor deemed it unoriginal #qualifies (0.80)
• Adorno’s neglect of external nature stemmed from scientific self-doubt #corroborates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2553