Description
Book SynopsisTheodor Adorno s reputation as a cultural critic has been well-established for some time, but his status as a philosopher remains unclear. In Adorno and the Ends of Philosophy Andrew Bowie seeks to establish what Adorno can contribute to philosophy today.
Trade Review"Bowie combines a massive range of reading with an extraordinary power of lucid exposition, and it is hard to see how the task of turning Adorno into an intellectual peacemaker could have been better achieved."
New Humanist"Bowie's book is a highly illuminating and insightful treatise on the philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno and on its critical potential with respect to much of contemporary philosophy. In particular Bowie shows with Adorno why art is not just one of many possible topics of possible philosophical reflection, but has a philosophical significance of its own which is neglected in most of contemporary aesthetics."
Albrecht Wellmer, Free University, Berlin, Adorno-Prize Winner 2006"Bowie's distinctive and original treatment puts Adorno in sharp focus, while also offering a synoptic view of the general state of contemporary philosophy. Bowie clarifies Adorno's relation to the post-Kantian tradition and engages sympathetically yet critically with Adorno's remarkable project. The result is enlightening and highly engaging."
Sebastian Gardner, University College LondonTable of ContentsPreface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: Contemporary Alternatives 1
1 Negative Philosophy? 22
2 Contradiction as Truth-Content: Adorno and Kant 38
3 Immediacy and Mediation: Hegelian and Adornian Dialectics 54
4 Nature 75
5 Freedom 96
6 Aesthetics and Philosophy 135
Conclusion 175
Notes 189
References 198
Index 205
