Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring/Printemps 2009
Lambert Zuidervaart
Pages 22-39
Ethical Turns
Adorno Defended against his Devotees
This essay examines the nexus of politics and ethics in Theodor W. Adorno’s thought. First, the essay takes issue with emphatic
ethical readings of Adorno that overlook both the societal reach and the inherent limitations to his politics. These limitations arise from his neglecting questions of collective agency and societal normativity. Then, the essay shows that such neglect creates problems for Adorno’s moral philosophy. It concludes by suggesting that to do justice to the insights in Adorno’s thought a democratic politics of global transformation is required.