Adorno pursued a free dialectic rather than a materialist one.

Evidence

It was fruitful to speak of a materialist dialectics so far as this emphasized a source that was able to act as a corrective to idealist dialectics. Strictly speaking, however, Adorno was not concerned with materialist dialectics, butas one might say, to make the analogy with his musical intentions clearwith a dialectic in which the subject was open towards the object: a free dialectics, therefore, a dialectique informelle. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2275

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘Dialectique informelle’ is a key Adornian term distinguishing his open subject-object dialectic from Marxist materialism.
• XREF: connects to: Adorno chose substantive philosophy over a material theory of society — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2528; For Adorno, rigid materialism itself reifies and becomes ideology — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1319

Broader Connections

• Adorno chose substantive philosophy over a material theory of society #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2528
• For Adorno, rigid materialism itself reifies and becomes ideology #complicates (0.78) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1319