Thomas, Colin (1997) T.W. Adorno : the memory of utopia. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis has two principal aims: to demonstrate the centrality of memory to
the philosophy and aesthetics of T. W. Adorno, and to assess its philosophical
significance. Although in recent years Adorno's work has been the object of increased
scrutiny within Anglo-American philosophical circles, as yet little sustained attention has
been devoted to the concept of memory within Adorno's oeuvre. However, in Dialectic
of Enlightenment Adorno and Horkheimer proclaimed that it is "by virtue of this
memory of nature in the subject" that "enlightenment is universally opposed to
domination. "Given that all of Adorno's work is concerned to redeem enlightenment
from domination, the importance of a philosophical interpretation of the concept of
memory is pivotal for an engagement with the legacy of Adorno's thought today.
It will be argued that, for Adorno, memory always operates in relation to
reification. The construal of this relation enjoins the consideration of a number of
significant categories within Adorno's work: notably tradition, experience, mimesis and
utopia; and further, it serves to situate and distance Adorno from those thinkers - Kant,
Hegel, Heidegger and Benjamin - with whom he incessantly engages. Finally, by
focusing on the relation between memory and reification, one can gauge the stakes of
the Habermasian critique of Adorno, for it is Adorno's understanding of reconciliation
(utopia) as the "remembrance (Eingedenken) of nature in the subject" that is the crux
of the agon between Habermas and Adorno. I will argue that it is Habermas's failure to
fully engage with the ramifications of Adorno's concept of memory that vitiates his
critique, and indeed, that this failure provides the means for an Adornian critique of
Haberman. It will be argued that memory is not an object of Adornian thought, but
rather, that it provides the utopian texture of that thought.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Adorno, Theodor W., 1903-1969 -- Criticism and interpretation, Memory (Philosophy)
Official Date:	September 1997
Dates:	Date Event September 1997 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	238 p.
Language:	eng

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