For Adorno, the essay was the very form of free thought.

Evidence

The fact that the first volume of Notes to Literature opened with an essay on `The Essay as Form’ was a confession of his own attitude to knowledge in general, and the essay could just as well have opened a volume of his essays on the aesthetics of music, or on philosophy, sociology or contemporary issues. The essay was, for him, the very form of free thought. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 564

Categorization

• DEFINE: Etymology-style definition: ‘The Essay as Form’ names the genre Adorno treated as the formal embodiment of free thought.
• XREF: Cross-links to his essays on music, sociology, and philosophy as the same form applied across domains. — connects to: Adorno’s free essayistic thought was meant to become empirical knowledge — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 565; Adorno’s essayistic free thought was a utopia that avoided empirical engagement — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2287; Horkheimer and Adorno chose the essay form to present independent philosophical fragments. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 348
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Adorno’s free essayistic thought was meant to become empirical knowledge — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 565; Adorno’s essayistic free thought was a utopia that avoided empirical engagement — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2287; Horkheimer and Adorno chose the essay form to present independent philosophical fragments. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 348