Planet Philosophy!

A review of Zuidervaart ’s Social Philosophy after Adorno

Zuidervaart claims “solidarity with Adorno’s negative dialectic in the moment of its collapse” (p. 76) — a paraphrase of Adorno’s own claim at the end of his Negative Dialectics(1966) where he promised solidarity with metaphysics in the moment of its collapse (Solidarität mit der Metaphysik im Augenblick ihres Sturzes).[1] Adorno’s criticism of modern society, the author assumes, is not radical enough. Adorno tries to outbid all other philosophers and social critics with his negative radicalism, but his great negativist gesture of outbidding all radical social criticism is pseudo-radical. Adorno’s Negative Dialectics leaves us with the sad alternative: “All or Nothing” (p. 72f), but this alternative itself leaves us nothing to do to change the world because everything less than all is wrong. Adorno’s apparently most radical construction of the modern world as a totally closed universe of negativity is deeply inconsistent. If the world is ruled by his famous two laws: (1) “The whole is the false” (Das Ganze ist das Unwahre), and (2) “There is no good life in a bad society” (Es gibt kein richtiges Leben im falschen),[2] then even a first step to get all (or at least a bit of all) is impossible because in a negative universe all steps are, a priori, steps in the wrong direction. Hence, we can hope to be saved at once, and to get it all, only if this is granted by the grace of a power higher than us. Hence, we need a light on the fallen world that derives not from human enlightenment but from the messianic point of redemption.[3] From such a negative theological perspective, anything that is in the reach of our achievements is nothing else than a catastrophe.[4] Whatever we do, we do it wrong. For Adorno, the only praxis that is not a reproduction and prolongation of the bad society is thinking, and this seems problematic because it is only the praxis of a privileged philosopher. As a single individual, the critical intellectual can reflect his non-identity with the system (see below). Therefore, the negative dialectic of “all or nothing” in the end leads to nothing, and becomes, contrary to Adorno’s intention, an ideological affirmation of the already existing world, or as Adorno usually says, the existing (das Bestehende).[5]

Taken this way, Adorno’s critique of modern society is not too radical but not radical enough (p. 72f). Yet, the richness of Adorno’s criticism of modern society comes only to the fore after its collapse, after its determined negation and deconstruction. One could say with Rorty that Adorno needs a radical reinterpretation, and the Zuidervaart’s book impressively shows how such (already overdue) reinterpretation can work. Zuidervaart suggests for example that we should take Adorno’s sentence that the whole is the false not as a mere cognitive statement and a simple tit-for-tat answer to Hegel, but as one of many world-disclosing perspectives that carries a useful practical truth with it. This truth becomes manifest only in specific situations.

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UPDATE: Google has cleared the site. I am grateful for the encouraging emails, offering technical support as well as expressed sympathies. I am particularly grateful to Brian Leiter for bringing more attention to the problem. The site should be back to its full form shortly. There are many preventative measures left to implement. Thank you for your patience.

I am terribly sorry that there have not been updates for the past few days.

I had mentioned a while back that this site had been hacked and to the best of my abilities I fixed the problems. For the past few days however, a new set of problems have emerged. If you google “continental philosophy” you can see my site as the second hit (behind wikipedia). But you can also see that google does not allow anyone to visit the site from their search engine. According to google the site is infected.

Let me first say that whatever this may mean, by visiting the site your computer is not at risk. The site still receives thousands of visitors per day and no one seems to encounter any problem.

It seems as though one of the hackers has left a certain code behind that is on the black-list of google. I am doing my best to fix this and have spent too many hours on it as it is. My knowledge of Sartrean phenomenology and Ricoeurian hermeneutics does not help in this case! And google has been remarkably unhelpful. The entire experience has been quite kafkaesque as the site is on trial. (At least I can understand the existentialist angst of the whole process!)

If any expert among the readers is willing to help, please email me.

I hope that this will be resolved shortly. My apologies for the delay.

Beyond the Academy: Engaging Public Life
Call for Abstracts
June 10-11, 2008

George Mason University Arlington Campus

Meeting just outside the nation’s capital in the midst of a presidential campaign year, public scholars from across the country will discuss the ways in which their work is more than “academic,” how it helps strengthen democratic institutions and public life and can bring about civic change. To be considered for the program, send a 450-550 word abstract by April 28 to nmcafee@gmu.edu with the subject line “public scholars.” Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

* Reclaiming the civic mission of the university
* The incentive structure of university scholarship
* The self-understanding of scholars and their relationship to the public
* How to be the public’s allies in democratic work
* What kind of research does a democratic public need?
* Organic vs. traditional scholarship: How does Milton matter?
* Assessing the engaged campus movement
* Independent scholars, the academy, and the public
* the multiple ways communities, individuals and non-academic institutions contribute to public knowledge (e.g., film festivals, literary festivals, literacy initiatives)
* Advocacy versus Engagement
* Book sessions

The conference will begin late in the day on June 10 and continue all day June 11. For more information go to http://beyondtheacademy.wordpress.com/

As some readers have noticed at least twice this site was completely down. Moreover, some posts appear late (and a couple have disappeared). I have tried to deal with this to the best of my abilities and I believe that the problems are almost entirely fixed.

The site has been hacked recently. Congratulations to the hacker(s)! The first attempt may have been easy but the subsequent ones required genuine talent as I worked on the site security, though apparently not enough. These are some really gifted folk (though why bother to hack this site is a mystery to me). The latest site upgrades are in progress and I hope that you shall no longer notice any delays.

Thank you for your patience.

COGNITIVE CAPITAL & SPACES OF MOBILITY
November 1 & 2, 2008
Gothenburg, Sweden

Keynote Speakers:
Antonio Negri, College International de Philosophie, Paris
Yann Moulier Boutang, Professor in Economy, Compiègene University, France, Director of the journal Multitudes
(The list of keynote speakers may be extended)
Cognitive Capital and Spaces of Mobility is a cross-disciplinary international conference that addresses the transformation of sociopolitical conditions in contemporary global capitalism. The implications of overarching concepts such as cognitive capital, transformation of labour and new historical agencies are discussed in relation to gender relations, regional structures and cultural production.

The conference will welcome papers related to following four sections:

Virtual value, immaterial labour, Critical perspectives
The mobility of people across pre-established inner frontiers of the global system.
The impact of emerging and new regional structures. Case studies are especially welcomed. Key terms will be sovereignty and the relationship between regional, national and supranational structures.
Critical reassessment of the notion of historical and social agency in the imperial order.
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Though not directly philosophical, most should appreciate this latest column from The Onion: “Rock-Bottom Loser Entertaining Offers From Several Religions”

The site had to undergo an upgrade, which did not go as smoothly as expected. The last few posts have not appeared though I hope that everything will be back to normal within the next 24 hours. Thank you for your patience.

Farhang

Philosophical criticisms of the psychoanalytic concept of sexuality. 

Leuven, Institute of Philosophy

Wednesday (March 5, 2008). Read the rest of this entry »