On One Key Paradox of Adorno’s “Minimal Theology”. Adorno’s Oeuvre as Contemplative Eschatology Cover Image

K centrálnímu paradoxu Adornovy „minimální theologie“. Adornovo dílo jako kontemplativní eschatologie
On One Key Paradox of Adorno’s “Minimal Theology”. Adorno’s Oeuvre as Contemplative Eschatology

Author(s): Karel Hlaváček
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum

Summary/Abstract: The article undertakes an analysis of the “religious” element in Theodor W. Adorno’s philosophy, taking up the thesis that it should be read as a specific form of “theology”. Following Hent de Vries, I argue that it may be adequate to interpret Adorno’s critical theory as a “minimal theology” with eschatological connotations; however, considering MartinSeel’s argument about “contemplation” as a positive core of Adorno’s negative dialectics, I cast aside the widespread assumption that Adorno’s philosophy is largely negative and interpret it as a “contemplative eschatology”. In so doing, I investigate the paradox of contemplation, which disables us from action, and eschatology, which seems to demand radical revolutionary action, maintaining that the paradox does not represent the blind spot of Adorno’s philosophy, but one of its strong points.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 51
  • Page Range: 79-103
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Czech