The Critical Role of Art: Adorno between Utopia and Dystopia

Abstract

Reading or hearing about Theodor Adorno's ideas always results in quibbles. He strikes many as a naïve philosopher because of his reversal of concept and object; some see him as an anarchist because of his relentless critique of rationality; while to others he simply does not make sense, and especially a critique of society based on negative dialectics simply does not make sense to many! These points, however, are precisely some of the key elements of his thought; without a deeper apprehension of these main themes, it would be impossible to arrive at a level-headed appraisal of his philosophy.

Keywords

• Theodor Adorno
• culture industry
• art