Tag Archives: Theodor W. Adorno

New Publication: Adorno’s 1961-62 Lectures on Aesthetics (German)

20 Friday Feb 2026

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The Association for Adorno Studies is pleased to highlight a new publication:

Theodor W. Adorno. Nachgelassene Schriften. Abteilung IV: Vorlesungen Band 8: Ästhetik (1961/62), Suhrkamp, 2025, 930.
Edited by Anne Eusterschulte

PUBLISHER’S BLURB

In this lecture, which spanned two semesters in the early 1960s, Theodor W. Adorno provides a basic outline of his conception of aesthetics. In an examination of the status of the arts from the perspective of the 20th century and with a socio-critical view of the art and cultural events of the postwar period, he outlines some of the central concepts of his ground-breaking aesthetic theory: appearance and expression, mimesis and rationality, art and autonomy, the beautiful in nature and the beautiful in art, the work of art as a field of energy, the primacy of the object, the sublime and form.

Adorno provides a systematic introduction to the major philosophical theories on the subject, but also pays attention to specific art forms and to the controversial question of the significance of art in society. He comments lucidly and uncompromisingly on the culturally conservative trends of his time. Most importantly, however – and this is what makes his analysis so utterly relevant to the present age – he redefines art and aesthetic experience as a critical practice.

More information:
Suhrkamp webpage for Nachgelassene Schriften. Abteilung IV: Vorlesungen Band 8: Ästhetik (1961/62)

New Publication: Adorno and the Question of Theology

09 Friday Jan 2026

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Rachel Rosner’s book, Adorno and the Question of Theology: Religion and Reason Beyond Foundations, will be published with Bloomsbury in May 2026. Click here to access the book from the publisher’s website. Request for a copy from Bloomsbury for review purpose can be submitted to here.

Rachel Rosner is a postdoctoral fellow at the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Christosemitism ERC Project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received my PhD in Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University October, 2025, and my MA in Philosophy from Northwestern University.
Her book develops a sustained interpretation of Theodor W. Adorno’s engagement with theology, arguing that his use of theological language is neither residual nor instrumental, but central to his critique of foundational reason. It show how Adorno’s method of constellation offers a model of critique that resists both secular reduction and metaphysical retrieval, with implications for debates in Critical Theory, philosophy of religion, and postsecular thought.

Here is the publisher’s blurb:

Can we move beyond the religious–secular divide and live together ethically in a shared political world?
Adorno and the Question of Theology: Religion and Reason Beyond Foundations says yes-and shows how. Through close readings of Dialectic of Enlightenment, Negative Dialectics, and Aesthetic Theory, Rachel R. Rosner examines how Adorno reconfigures the relationship between reason and theology to confront modern fragmentation. Drawing on Adorno’s usage of constellation-a way of thinking that connects ideas without locking them into fixed systems-Rosner offers a way to move beyond entrenched dichotomies. In doing so, the book intervenes in contemporary debates on postsecular theory, critical reason, and political theology by rethinking how normativity and critique operate without foundations. Accessible to newcomers and illuminating for specialists, this book serves as both an introduction to Adorno’s comprehensive philosophy and a path beyond enduring paradoxes in his reception.

What they said:

Adorno’s sporadic, under-justified invocation of certain theological concepts has
confounded all who remember his debts to those resolute atheists Marx and Freud.
Reading negative dialectics as a strategy eschewing the search for firm foundations,
transcendent truths and teleological goals, Rachel R. Rosner makes an arresting case for
their crucial function in an historically dynamic conceptual constellation that resists the
gravitational pull of the status quo.

—Martin Jay, Ehrman Professor of European History Emeritus,
University of California, Berkeley, USA

Adorno scholars disagree about why and how he uses theological concepts such as
redemption. Are they merely rhetorical? Metaphorical? Inversely or negatively theological?
Through careful and creative reconstruction, Rachel R. Rosner offers a new and thought-
provoking account of how theological concepts figure in Adorno’s thought and shows the
relevance of his approach today.

—Lambert Zuidervaart, Resident Fellow, Theory Centre, Western University, CAN

Grupo de Lectura sobre Dialéctica Negativa (Reading group on Negative Dialectics in Spanish)

15 Sunday Sep 2024

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The Group of Studies of Contemporary Critical Theory (GETeCC – IIGG/UBA) from Argentina and the Institute of Philosophy of the Diego Portales University (IDF – UDP) from Chile invite you to participate in the reading space on Theodor Adorno’s Negative Dialectics.
The space is open to the general public and will be held fortnightly on Tuesdays, through Zoom.

Schedule
– 12:00-14:00 hrs. (Mexico)
– 13:00-15:00 hrs. (Colombia).
– 14:00-16:00 hrs. (Venezuela).
– 15:00-17:00 hrs. (Chile, Argentina and Brazil).
– 19:00-21:00 hrs. (Great Britain).
– 20:00-22:00 hrs. (European Union).

Start date: Tuesday, September 3

📑 Registration requests should be made to Agustín Lucas Prestifilippo’s email: alprestifilippo@gmail.com

New Book: Peter E. Gordon, A Precarious Happiness

05 Wednesday Jun 2024

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Peter E. Gordon published a fascinating new book on Adorno earlier this year, entitled A Precarious Happiness: Adorno and The Sources of Normativity (Chicago UP). Here‘s the link to the publisher’s website. And here’s the publisher’s blurb:

“A strikingly original account of Theodor Adorno’s work as a critique animated by happiness.

“Gordon’s confidently gripping and persistently subtle interpretation brings a new tone to the debate about Adorno’s negativism.”—Jürgen Habermas
 
Theodor Adorno is often portrayed as a totalizing negativist, a scowling contrarian who looked upon modern society with despair. Peter E. Gordon thinks we have this wrong: if Adorno is uncompromising in his critique, it is because he sees in modernity an unfulfilled possibility of human flourishing. In a damaged world, Gordon argues, all happiness is likewise damaged but not wholly absent. Through a comprehensive rereading of Adorno’s work, A Precarious Happiness recovers Adorno’s commitment to traces of happiness—fragments of the good amid the bad. Ultimately, Gordon argues that social criticism, while exposing falsehoods, must also cast a vision for an unrealized better world.”

CFP – ‘Adorno’s Sociology’, July 4-6

06 Wednesday Mar 2024

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Frank Welz wrote to let us know about a conference that he and his colleagues are organizing at the University of Innsbruck which should be of interest to the readers of this blog. Here’s the detail:

International Adorno Conference, July 4-6

Research Center Social Theory

University of Innsbruck, Austria

Abstracts submission deadline: April 1, 2024.

Here’s their webpage and the call for papers.

New Book by Lambert Zuidervaart: Adorno, Heidegger, and the Politics of Truth

08 Monday Jan 2024

Posted by in Critical Theory, Publications, Theodor W. Adorno

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Lambert Zuidervaart (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Institute for Christian Studies and University of Toronto) wrote to us today about his new book: Adorno, Heidegger, and the Politics of Truth, which will appear at SUNY Press in February. You can find the details here. Lambert also published a blog post about his book: “Hope for Truth in a Post-Truth World”, which you can read it here.

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

“An elusive and complex idea of truth lies at the center of Theodor Adorno’s thought. Yet he never spells out what it is. Through close readings of Negative Dialectics, Aesthetic Theory, and related course lectures, Lambert Zuidervaart reconstructs Adorno’s conception of truth, contrasts it with the conceptions of Martin Heidegger and Michel Foucault, and explores its relevance for contemporary philosophy, art, and politics. Adorno regards truth as a dynamic constellation in which various dialectical polarities intersect. The most decisive polarity, Zuidervaart argues, occurs between society as it has developed and the historical possibility of a completely transformed world. Critically reconstructed, Adorno’s conception of truth can help inspire hopeful critiques of an allegedly post-truth society.”

And here’s a review:

“Zuidervaart, who already published numerable books on critical theory in general and Adorno in particular, again shows himself to be an excellent and critical reader of Adorno. The greatest strength of Adorno, Heidegger, and the Politics of Truth is that it offers an in-depth study of Adorno’s concept of truth, based on a thorough reading and understanding, and an original and critical interpretation of Adorno’s work. It also surpasses that in demonstrating the need for a conception of ‘truth as a whole’ beyond propositional truth, and the need to link the concept of truth to social critique and social hope. All this makes this book a must-read for Adorno scholars.” — Thijs Lijster, author of Benjamin and Adorno on Art and Art Criticism: Critique of Art

New Book: The Dynamic of Play and Horror in Adorno’s Philosophy

10 Monday Jul 2023

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Bence Kun wrote to announce the publication of his book on Adorno next fall at De Gruyter, which should be of interests to readers of this blog. At he puts it, “the work deals with Adorno’s concept of playfulness and horror, focusing on his philosophical rhetoric and ‘Negative Dialectics’.”

And here’s the publisher’s blurb:

“Long before Wittgenstein drew attention to its complexities, the concept of play had captured the interest of theorists for millennia. How do games contribute to our knowledge of the world? Wherein lies their universal appeal? Play is usually associated with a certain blitheness and buoyancy – could it nevertheless be argued that playfulness is not quite as innocent as it might seem?

Bence Kun draws on Adorno’s writings to explore the relation between philosophical play (understood here as imaginative thought as well as experimental expression) and an experience of dread Adorno links to children’s first encounter with death. By investigating his less familiar works, some of which have not yet been translated, Kun challenges the received view on Adorno’s approach to metaphysics, the role of systematic inquiry and the modern condition. As he has Adorno say, the originary impression of shock at the heart of philosophical reflection can only be fully apprehended through an open-ended and defiantly creative intellectual practice.”

The release date is Oct. 23!

2024 Meeting of the AAS

06 Thursday Jul 2023

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We are thrilled to announce that Estelle Ferrarese has very graciously accepted to host the next meeting of the Association for Adorno Studies. It will take place at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne, in Amiens, France. The meeting is scheduled for May 30-31, 2024. Details will follow.

Previous meetings:

May 5-6, 2023 – University of Sussex

April 26-27, 2019 – University of São Paulo

May 4-5, 2018 – American University in Cairo

March 24-25, 2017 – Duke University

April 29-30, 2016 – Université de Montréal

October 9-10, 2015 – The New School

March 7-8, 2014 – University College Dublin

March 22-23, 2013 – Temple University

March 2-3, 2012 – Johns Hopkins University

Recap of the 9th Annual Meeting

12 Monday Jun 2023

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The 9th annual meeting of the Association for Adorno Studies took place in the beautiful coastal city of Brighton, UK, in early May. The meeting was held over two days in the venues of the Leonardo Hotel (May 5th: Brighton Station; May 6th: Brighton Waterfront). It was the first time since 2019 that the AAS was able to hold its annual meeting. It was very exciting to reconnect in person and to see so many new speakers and participants join our adventure.

Our thanks go to the Centre for Social and Political Thought of the University of Sussex for hosting the event. A very special thanks to Gordon Finlayson and Marina Lademacher for all the work they invested in organizing this wonderful event with such a stimulating and high-calibre program! The meeting was very well attended (we counted over 45 participants) and convened speakers and participants from several countries, including the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Brazil. Amongst other things, this year’s program offered a concentration of remarkable papers on Adorno’s aesthetics and philosophy of music, which made for a very sustained and thought-provoking conversation over two days. The last day ended with a much-anticipated author-meet-critics panel devoted to Iain Macdonald’s What Would Be Different. Thanks to Taylor Carman, Peter E. Gordon, Iain Macdonald and Nick Walker for the fascinating exchanges!

We held our business meeting on the second day of the event at lunch time, as is our custom. While members of the AAS met a number of times more or less informally during our pandemic hiatus, this was our first formal business meeting since 2019. Surti Singh (President) and Pierre-Francois Noppen (Vice-President) co-chaired the meeting. They shared news about recent developments in the AAS and submitted a number of points for discussion. Significant changes have happened over the last three years. And we have many people to thank for their help and their efforts in making these changes possible. Here’s an overview:

First, Martin Shuster and Kathy Kiloh (founders of the AAS, former President and Vice-President of the AAS, respectively, as well as founders and editors Adorno Studies since its inception) stepped down from the journal in 2021. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to both of them for their long and dedicated service and their extraordinary commitment to the AAS. Since then, a new editorial team has formed (Samir Gandesha, Johan Hartle, Antonia Hofstätter, Han-Gyeol Lie and Stefano Marino) along with a new editorial board. The new editors have been very busy preparing the relaunch of Adorno Studies at Mimesis Press. Antonia Hofstätter, who was present at the meeting, relayed some very exciting news (and shared some visuals!) about the next issue. Stay tuned! The event will be publicized on this blog.

Second, the AAS has been working on the transfer of this blog to a new server at UC Berkeley (thanks to Robert Kaufmann, Debarati Sanyal and Dan Blanton). The details should be announced soon. In the meantime, if you wish to be added on the mailing list of this blog, please contact Pierre-François Noppen directly (pf.noppen@usask.ca).

Third, we have announced that our executive is to be renewed at our 2024 meeting. It is worth noting that, on the model we agreed upon in 2012 at our first meeting (Johns Hopkins University), members of our executive serve three-year terms. While the pandemic upset our plans for a renewal of the executive, we are pleased to return to our pre-pandemic model with three-year commitments.

Fourth, we discussed a number of options for next year’s meeting (2024). The location will be announced by the end of the summer on this blog. We are also thrilled to announce that Peter E. Gordon has very graciously agreed to host our 2025 meeting at Harvard University.

All of this bodes very well for the future of the AAS!

Here’s the complete schedule of this year’s meeting.

And here are some pictures that were shared with us:

Symposium on Adorno’s “Sexual Taboos and Law Today”– Sixty Years On, Feb. 25

13 Monday Feb 2023

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Antonia Hofstätter has written to us to let us know about an upcoming symposium on ‘Adorno’s “Sexual Taboos and Law Today”– Sixty Years On’, which will be held at the University of Warwick and on Zoom on February 25.

Symposium on Adorno’s ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ – Sixty Years On  

Saturday, 25 February 2023, University of Warwick, UK  

The event will also be streamed online. Registration required. 

Webpage: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/news/conference/adorno/

‘It’s a nice bit of sexual utopia not to be yourself. […] What is merely identical with itself is without happiness.’ 

Programme: 

10.00–10.30 Registration and coffee  

10.30–10.45 Introduction by the organisers (Antonia Hofstätter & Simon Gansinger) 

10.45–12.15 Panel 1: Sex and Taboo   

  • Christine Kirchhoff (International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin): Sexual Taboos and Law Today? Reflections from the Perspective of Psychoanalysis  
  • Julia König (University of Mainz): Reflections on the ‘Minors-Complex’ in Adorno’s ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ and in Current Moral Panics  

12.15–13.30 Lunch   

13.30–15.00 Panel 2: Sex and Society  

  • Marcel Stoetzler (Bangor University): Law, Lust, and Otherness in the Society of Total Domination: On Adorno’s Essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’  
  • Craig Reeves (Birkbeck): Persecution, Punishment, and the Potential for Freedom: Reactualising Adorno’s Critical Moral Psychology  

15.00–15.15 Coffee  

15.15–16.45 Panel 3: Sex and Crime   

  • Iris Dankemeyer (University of Art and Design, Halle): Presumption of Innocence: On the Topicality of Adorno’s Lines of Enquiry in ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’
  • Nicola Lacey (LSE): A Feminist Criminal Lawyer’s Retrospective on Adorno’s Text  

16.45–17.00 Coffee  

17.00–18.00 Roundtable with all speakers  

19.00–22.00 Dinner  

Description:

First published in 1963, Theodor W. Adorno’s essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ responded to changing attitudes to love and desire during a period of sexual liberation. Critiquing repressive bourgeois morality and progressive sexual values alike, ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ suggests that the utopian potential of intimacy is inseparable from the challenges sexuality poses to self and society. The essay’s most famous line – ‘It is a nice bit of sexual utopia not to be yourself’ – already locates the promise of sexuality in the momentary dissolution of identity. It meets with Adorno’s claim that without its anarchical and transgressive aspects sexuality becomes neutralised and inert. Yet, these aspects evoke society’s contempt: ‘What is specifically sexual is eo ipso forbidden,’ Adorno writes.  

‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ sheds light on the dynamics of desire and disdain, freedom and punishment, losing oneself and finding oneself that characterise the ‘brittle integration’ of sexuality into modern society. Ultimately, these dynamics destabilise the sphere of law and morality, and problematise modern conceptions of subjectivity and identity.  

Today, in times of #MeToo, identity politics, and heightened public concern for gender equality and transgender rights, ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ invites renewed scrutiny. This one-day symposium explores the tensions that Adorno’s text brings to the fore in the sphere of legal theory, social critique, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. Making these tensions fruitful for the present moment is the overarching aim of this event.  

This event has been organised with the generous support of the Department of Philosophy and the Humanities Research Centre at the University of Warwick, the Aristotelian Society, the Society for Applied Philosophy, and the British Society for the History of Philosophy.

Details:

Please follow this link to register for the event (attendance in person or via Zoom):

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/485669930837

Please note that participants intending to attend the event in person will be required to leave a £5 deposit when registering. £4.09 of your deposit will be returned to you when you attend the event in person (an administrative fee of £0.91 will be kept by Eventbrite).     

Lunch, coffee, and snacks will be provided. Please indicate on the registration form whether you would like to attend the conference dinner at your own expense.  

If you have any questions about the event, please contact the organisers at antonia.hofstatter@warwick.ac.uk or simon.gansinger@warwick.ac.uk.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/485669930837

Please note that participants intending to attend the event in person will be required to leave a £5 deposit when registering. £4.09 of your deposit will be returned to you when you attend the event in person (an administrative fee of £0.91 will be kept by Eventbrite).

Lunch, coffee, and snacks will be provided. Please indicate on the registration form whether you would like to attend the conference dinner at your own expense.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact the organisers at antonia.hofstatter@warwick.ac.uk or simon.gansinger@warwick.ac.uk.