Negative Dialectics
Encyclopedia
Negative Dialectics is a 1966 book by Theodor W. Adorno
(first translated into English in 1973) and is considered to be his magnum opus. In the book, Adorno challenges the metaphysics of Kant
, Hegel
, and Heidegger
, while simultaneously building his ideas towards emancipation from the capitalist order. A notoriously difficult work, in particular for English readers who have had at their disposal a translation known for its inaccuracies. This issue has been ameliorated by Dennis Redmond, who has posted online a translation of the text (see below). Additionally, noted translator Robert Hullot-Kentor (who re-translated Adorno's Aesthetic Theory
) is at work on a new version, to be published by the University of Minnesota Press.
Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno was a German sociologist, philosopher, and musicologist known for his critical theory of society....
(first translated into English in 1973) and is considered to be his magnum opus. In the book, Adorno challenges the metaphysics of Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
, and Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
, while simultaneously building his ideas towards emancipation from the capitalist order. A notoriously difficult work, in particular for English readers who have had at their disposal a translation known for its inaccuracies. This issue has been ameliorated by Dennis Redmond, who has posted online a translation of the text (see below). Additionally, noted translator Robert Hullot-Kentor (who re-translated Adorno's Aesthetic Theory
Aesthetic Theory
Aesthetic Theory is a book by the 20th century German philosopher Theodor Adorno which was culled from drafts written between 1961 and 1969, ultimately published posthumously in 1970...
) is at work on a new version, to be published by the University of Minnesota Press.
Further reading
- Dennis Redmond's updated translation of Negative Dialectics, with commentary.
- Buck-Morss, SusanSusan Buck-MorssSusan Buck-Morss is an American philosopher and intellectual historian. She is currently Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center.- Books :...
. Origin of Negative Dialectics. Free Press, 1979. - Jameson, FredricFredric JamesonFredric Jameson is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends—he once described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure of organized capitalism...
. Late Marxism: Adorno or the Persistence of the Dialectic. Verso, 2007.