Philosophical elements of a theory of society, 1964

A collection of essays and extracts, all published previously, on a wide range of topics. The editor's introduction, "'Not the First Philosophy but a Last One': Notes on Adorno's Thought" (pp. xi-xxvii), summarizes the essence of Adorno's philosophy and notes the impact of the Holocaust on his thought. Parts of the following deal with antisemitism and the Holocaust:;Introduction: "Not the First Philosophy, but a Last One": Notes on Adorno's Thought / Rolf Tiedemann -- pt. I. Toward a New Categorical Imperative -- 1. The Meaning of Working through the Past -- 2. Education after Auschwitz -- pt. II. Damaged Life -- 3. Selections from Minima Moralia -- pt. II. Administered World, Reified Thought -- 4. Reflections on Class Theory -- 5. Late Capitalism or Industrial Society?: The Fundamental Question of the Present Structure of Society -- 6. Progress -- 7. Cultural Criticism and Society -- 8. The Jargon of Authenticity -- 9. Crowds and Power: Conversation with Elias Canetti -- pt. IV. Art, Memory of Suffering -- 10. Heine the Wound -- 11. Notes on Kafka -- 12. Commitment -- 13. Trying to Understand Endgame -- 14. Beethoven's Late Style -- 15. Schubert -- 16. Wagner's Relevance Today -- 17. Mahler -- 18. Alban Berg -- 19. Art and the Arts -- pt. V.A Philosophy that Keeps Itself Alive -- 20. Elements of Anti-Semitism: Limits of Enlightenment -- 21. Selections from Metaphysics: Concept and Problems. "As an exile in America during the War, Theodor Adorno grew acquainted with the fundamentals of empirical social research, something which would shape the work he undertook in the early 1950s as co-director of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. Yet he also became increasingly aware of the 'fetishism of method' in sociology, and saw the serious limitations of theoretical work based solely on empirical findings. In this lecture course given in 1964, Adorno develops a critique of both sociology and philosophy, emphasizing that theoretical work requires a specific mediation between the two disciplines. Adorno advocates a philosophical approach to social theory that challenges the drive towards uniformity and a lack of ambiguity, highlighting instead the fruitfulness of experience, in all its messy complexity, for critical social analysis. At the same time, he shows how philosophy must also realise that it requires sociology if it is to avoid falling for the old idealistic illusion that the totality of real conditions can be grasped through thought alone. Masterfully bringing together philosophical and empirical approaches to an understanding of society, these lectures from one of the most important social thinkers of the 20th century will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, sociology and the social sciences generally"--Publisher's website