Adorno returned to pure theory after two decades of empirical research work.
Evidence
The only implicit conclusion to be drawn from Adorno’s assessment of his experiences in empirical social research was: to do in future what one could do alone, but without at the same time exposing oneself to accusations of being amateurish or merely pottering aboutnamely to work on theory. But what sort of theory? And how was the theory to protect itself from declining into mere speculation? Two years later, Adorno started work on his Negative Dialectics, which can be said to have taken the place of his project to continue the Dialectic of Enlightenment in collaboration with Horkheimer. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 522
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the earlier Frankfurt School chapters on Adorno’s Radio Research and Berkeley Public Opinion Study collaborations, which supplied the frustration driving this retreat. — connects to: Adorno sought to repurpose empirical social research for critical theory. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1927; Adorno conceived theory and empirical research as mutually constitutive via the dialectical method. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 990; Adorno came to see critical reflection and team-based empirical research as practically irreconcilable — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2114
- DEFINE: Establishes that Negative Dialectics occupies the slot of the abandoned joint Dialectic of Enlightenment sequel.
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Adorno sought to repurpose empirical social research for critical theory. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1927; Adorno conceived theory and empirical research as mutually constitutive via the dialectical method. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 990; Adorno came to see critical reflection and team-based empirical research as practically irreconcilable — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2114
Broader Connections
- Adorno conceived theory and empirical research as mutually constitutive via the dialectical method.
#complicates(0.82) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 990