Adorno chose substantive philosophy over a material theory of society

Evidence

Why was it a philosophy, and not a theory, of society? However much Adorno might wish to emphasize the `primacy of substantive thought’ and promise a concretization of philosophy that would be more than spuriouswhy substantive philosophy and not a material theory of society? — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2528

Categorization

• QUESTION: The question of why Adorno refused a materialist theory of society in favor of philosophy is left open here — worth chasing through the introduction that follows.
• XREF: connects to: Adorno recovered theological motifs materialistically for post-Auschwitz metaphysics — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2569; Adorno located society’s crucial problems within autonomous art as a model of salvation — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 875; Adorno held that post-idealist social theory degrades philosophy’s concepts into obscurantist tools. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1928 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno saw philosophy as unable to grasp totality yet kept it over social theory #expands (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2532
• Adorno developed an independent theory of class beyond Marx’s #complicates (0.70) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1468