{"product_id":"an-introduction-to-dialectics-hardback-9780745693118","title":"An Introduction to Dialectics (Hardback) 9780745693118","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAn Introduction to Dialectics\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eTheodor W. Adorno (Author), Christoph Ziermann (Edited by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780745693118, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 10 February 2017\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e336 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.1 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm, 0.658 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Despite Adorno's abiding suspicion of easy communicability, he was fully capable of explaining complex ideas lucidly and accessibly, never more so than in the lecture hall. There can be few concepts that demand as much careful exposition as 'dialectics,' whose multiple uses and frequent abuses have frustrated countless attempts to render it comprehensible. Still fewer exponents of dialectical thought have been as skilled in unpacking its meaning, while at the same time performatively demonstrating its virtues, as Adorno.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"The twenty lectures that Adorno held in 1958 constitute the first comprehensive articulation of his thinking. The challenge to which he responds is that of wresting conceptual thinking from its narcissistic tendencies, as outlined in \u003ci\u003eDialectics of Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e. 'Suffering and Happiness,' he insists, must be recognized as 'the immanent substance of dialectics'. Adorno's effort to turn thinking inside-out by revealing the affective origin of its transformative potential, remains his most enduring legacy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Samuel Weber, Northwestern University \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"one of the most lucid and accessible introductions to Hegel\"\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eDublin Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume comprises Adorno's first lectures specifically dedicated to the subject of the dialectic, a concept which has been key to philosophical debate since classical times. While discussing connections with Plato and Kant, Adorno concentrates on the most systematic development of the dialectic in Hegel's philosophy, and its relationship to Marx, as well as elaborating his own conception of dialectical thinking as a critical response to this tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDelivered in the summer semester of 1958, these lectures allow Adorno to explore and probe the significant difficulties and challenges this way of thinking posed within the cultural and intellectual context of the post-war period. In this connection he develops the thesis of a complementary relationship between positivist or functionalist approaches, particularly in the social sciences, as well as calling for the renewal of ontological and metaphysical modes of thought which attempt to transcend the abstractness of modern social experience by appeal to regressive philosophical categories. While providing an account of many central themes of Hegelian thought, he also alludes to a whole range of other philosophical, literary and artistic figures of central importance to his conception of critical theory, notably Walter Benjamin and the idea of a constellation of concepts as the model for an 'open or fractured dialectic' beyond the constraints of method and system.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese lectures are seasoned with lively anecdotes and personal recollections which allow the reader to glimpse what has been described as the 'workshop' of Adorno's thought. As such, they provide an ideal entry point for all students and scholars in the humanities and social sciences who are interested in Adorno's work as well as those seeking to understand the nature of dialectical thinking.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEditor’s Foreword\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE ONE\u003cbr\u003e Prejudices against the dialectic \u003cbr\u003ethe double character of the dialectic \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic as method of articulating the Ideas (Plato) \u003cbr\u003ethe order of concepts expresses the order of things \u003cbr\u003ethe vital nerve of the dialectic \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic as necessary ‘exaggeration’\u003cbr\u003ethe positivist element of the dialectic\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE TWO\u003cbr\u003e ‘The movement of the concept’ (Hegel)\u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic hypostasizes the identity of thought and being \u003cbr\u003eHegel’s dialectic as the union of identity and non-identity\u003cbr\u003enon-identity in the process, identity in the result\u003cbr\u003eintroduction to the dialectic as a model of dialectic\u003cbr\u003ethe movement of the concept is not sophistical \u003cbr\u003ethe movement of the concept as the path of philosophical science \u003cbr\u003ethe object of knowledge is internally dynamic\u003cbr\u003ethe movement of the object is not arbitrary \u003cbr\u003ethe metaphysical concept of truth\u003cbr\u003e the inevitable reification of truth \u003cbr\u003ehistorical movement is not the movement of being but is concrete \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic is not a philosophy of foundations\u003cbr\u003ethe temporal core of dialectic\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE THREE\u003cbr\u003e Critique of prima philosophia \u003cbr\u003ematter no first principle either \u003cbr\u003eHegel’s dialectic also a preservation of first philosophy\u003cbr\u003eall determination implies mediation \u003cbr\u003ethe movement of the concept is no external contribution of thought \u003cbr\u003ea sophistical displacement of meaning in Gehlen \u003cbr\u003ethe whole is the true solely as the result of all mediations Ð the idea of an open dialectic \u003cbr\u003ethe whole is neither a pantheistic totality of nature nor a seamless unity \u003cbr\u003e‘the truth is essentially result’ \u003cbr\u003eindividual phenomena only intelligible in terms of the whole \u003cbr\u003erecourse to the whole is mediated through the self-movement of the individual\u003cbr\u003ethe concept of the whole as already given\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE FOUR\u003cbr\u003e The traditional concept of system: derivation of the whole from one fundamental principle \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectical concept of system \u003cbr\u003edeterminate negation \u003cbr\u003econtradiction in Kant \u003cbr\u003econtradiction in Hegel \u003cbr\u003eantithesis arises from thesis \u003cbr\u003ethe measure of the absolute lies in objectivity\u003cbr\u003edialectical criticism is necessarily immanent \u003cbr\u003erefutation of a thought as development of the thought \u003cbr\u003ethe emergent absolute is essentially temporal\u003cbr\u003ethe interaction of theory and practice\u003cbr\u003ethe truth as result is concrete\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE FIVE\u003cbr\u003e The charge of universal rationalization\u003cbr\u003edialectical thought is not rationalistic thought \u003cbr\u003ethe dispute over rationalism \u003cbr\u003econceptual thought is indispensable \u003cbr\u003ethe truth moment of irrationalism \u003cbr\u003ethe irrational as a moment of ratio \u003cbr\u003esuffering and happiness are immanent to thought \u003cbr\u003ebeing in itself, being for itself, being in and for itself \u003cbr\u003erelationship of thesis, antithesis, synthesis \u003cbr\u003edialectical method concerns the contradictory life of the object \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic not immune to ideological abuse\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE SIX\u003cbr\u003e Dialectical method not a formal conceptual schema \u003cbr\u003ethe objectivation of truth \u003cbr\u003eevery true thought becomes untrue once it is isolated \u003cbr\u003ethe triadic schema irrelevant in Hegel \u003cbr\u003ethe charge of universalizing contradiction \u003cbr\u003econtradiction is not a first principle \u003cbr\u003eHegel’s critique of Kant’s transcendental dialectic\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE SEVEN\u003cbr\u003e Hegel’s dialectical principle of development is a principle of real being\u003cbr\u003edialectic in Kant is only the negative side of the critique of reason \u003cbr\u003e the positive moment of the critique of reason\u003cbr\u003ereflection as the principle of the speculative self-knowledge of reason \u003cbr\u003eknowledge of knowledge also the principle of substantive knowledge \u003cbr\u003edialectic and formal logic – the ‘example’ in Hegel \u003cbr\u003elogical form of the judgement and the ‘emphatic concept’ \u003cbr\u003edialectical contradiction expresses the disparity of thought and world\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE EIGHT\u003cbr\u003e Dialectic names the negative state of the world by its proper name \u003cbr\u003econtradiction not only in thought, but is objective \u003cbr\u003econtradiction as principle of diremption is also the principle of unity \u003cbr\u003edialectic as union of the a priori and experience \u003cbr\u003ethe objective order of the world also conceptual in character \u003cbr\u003ecoercive character of dialectic – the systematic claim of dialectic \u003cbr\u003edialectical contradiction in Hegel’s political philosophy \u003cbr\u003edialectical system not a seamless deductive structure \u003cbr\u003ethe concept of experience in Hegel\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE NINE\u003cbr\u003e The paradoxical task of knowledge: identifying the non-identical \u003cbr\u003eidentity of thought and being (Hegel)\u003cbr\u003enon-identity and contradiction not resolvable in thought (Marx) \u003cbr\u003ethe materialist priority of being over consciousness is problematic \u003cbr\u003ethe whole and the parts presuppose one another \u003cbr\u003ethe materialist critique of literature cannot proceed from unmediated instances of particular experience (Benjamin) \u003cbr\u003edialectical materialism is not vulgar materialism \u003cbr\u003ethe charge of metaphysically hypostasizing the totality (Weber)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE TEN\u003cbr\u003e Knowledge of the social whole precedes individual experience \u003cbr\u003eprior awareness of the whole not unique to human beings \u003cbr\u003erejection of Hegel’s attempted restoration of immediate experience \u003cbr\u003ethe congruence of whole and parts as result of a process \u003cbr\u003eintuition – theory neither static nor complete \u003cbr\u003ethe danger of a dogmatic ossification of dialectic (Lukács) \u003cbr\u003etracing knowledge back to origins is undialectica\u003cbr\u003esurvival of obsolete philosophical notions in the individual sciences\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE ELEVEN\u003cbr\u003e Terminological remarks on the concept of role\u003cbr\u003eneither whole nor part enjoys priority over the other \u003cbr\u003emetaphysics as science of the ultimate ground \u003cbr\u003eorigin as merel beginning (Hegel) \u003cbr\u003ethe ontological appropriation of Hegel \u003cbr\u003e‘abstract’ in Hegel\u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic not a dynamic ontology\u003cbr\u003e‘being’ in Hegel\u003cbr\u003ephilosophy of immediacy as regress to mythology\u003cbr\u003edialectic and positivism \u003cbr\u003ethe ‘natural’ appearance of a reified world\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE TWELVE\u003cbr\u003e Affinity between dialectic and positivism \u003cbr\u003ethe constitutive distinction of essence and appearance \u003cbr\u003edialectic exposes the apparent immediacy of ultimate givens \u003cbr\u003ethe Darmstadt investigation – motivational analysis in industrial sociology \u003cbr\u003eopinion research, empirical and critical \u003cbr\u003etransition from positivism to dialectic \u003cbr\u003econtradiction in the given as the principle of dialectical movement\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eECTURE THIRTEEN\u003cbr\u003e Scientific method in Descartes \u003cbr\u003erationalism as the will to control nature \u003cbr\u003ethe postulate of self-evidence (Descartes) \u003cbr\u003ea hermeneutic intervention\u003cbr\u003eself-evidence as a form of ultimate metaphysical grounding \u003cbr\u003eevidence of sense-perception already mediated \u003cbr\u003ethe order of knowing, the order of the known \u003cbr\u003eexperience and conceptuality \u003cbr\u003eemphasis on analysis destroys the crucial interest of knowing \u003cbr\u003ephilosophy of nature and natural science \u003cbr\u003ephilosophy always bound to the material knowledge of the sciences\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE FOURTEEN\u003cbr\u003e Analysis alone yields no knowledge \u003cbr\u003ethe universal concretized through the particular \u003cbr\u003eattitude of dialectic to the concept of development \u003cbr\u003ethe family not merely a remnant \u003cbr\u003esociety not an organism, but antagonistic in character \u003cbr\u003eknowledge as a continuity of steps \u003cbr\u003ethe unity of society constituted by discontinuity \u003cbr\u003ethe presumption of continuity is merely affirmative \u003cbr\u003e‘enthusiasm’ a necessary moment of knowledge \u003cbr\u003ethe positive aspect of continuity\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE FIFTEEN\u003cbr\u003e The coercive character of logic \u003cbr\u003eimmanent and transcendent critique\u003cbr\u003emobility of thought is not an evasion \u003cbr\u003econtradictions are constitutive \u003cbr\u003eagainst relativism \u003cbr\u003edialectical cognition of the particular object requires explicit self-reflection \u003cbr\u003ethe charge of groundlessness \u003cbr\u003ea sociological excursus on the mobility of thought \u003cbr\u003ethe substance of philosophy lies in the vital source of its concepts \u003cbr\u003earrested movement in Heraclitus and Hegel\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE SIXTEEN\u003cbr\u003e The dogmatic character of the axiom of completeness\u003cbr\u003ethe fulfilment of this demand in German Idealism \u003cbr\u003edialectical clarification of the objective by recourse to models\u003cbr\u003e'ideal types’ in Weber\u003cbr\u003e ‘intuition of essences’ in Husserl\u003cbr\u003ethinking in models \u003cbr\u003elabyrinthine communication in literary works (Kafka, Balzac, von Doderer) \u003cbr\u003ehistorical transformations in the concept of system\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE SEVENTEEN\u003cbr\u003e Consciousness as unifying principle in the modern conception of system \u003cbr\u003ecritique and renewal of the concept of system in 19th century\u003cbr\u003econtemporary appeal of the concept of system\u003cbr\u003ethe spectral afterlife of the concept of system \u003cbr\u003ethe need for system and the closed experience of the world \u003cbr\u003eno categorical continuum amongst the particular sciences (Talcott Parsons) \u003cbr\u003eapologetic character of the functionalist concept of system – ‘frame of reference’ \u003cbr\u003ethe logic of science and debased metaphysics complement one another today \u003cbr\u003edialectic a beneficent anachronism\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE EIGHTEEN\u003cbr\u003e Dichotomous consciousness \u003cbr\u003edialectical mediation not a matter of Both\/And \u003cbr\u003emediation as the critical self-reflection of extremes \u003cbr\u003erole of Either\/Or in the social sciences \u003cbr\u003edialectic and the negative concept of truth \u003cbr\u003evalues are neither transcendent nor merely relative\u003cbr\u003ethe criterion of truth is immanent to the object \u003cbr\u003ethe dialectic is not a matter of ‘standpoints’ \u003cbr\u003edialectic furnishes no recipes \u003cbr\u003edefinition as logical form\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE NINETEEN\u003cbr\u003e The limits of deixis and definition with respect to the concept \u003cbr\u003ethe concept is not a tabula rasa – concept and constellation \u003cbr\u003elife and fluidity of the concept as the object of dialectic \u003cbr\u003everbal definitions and philosophical definitions \u003cbr\u003ephilosophical definition requires prior knowledge of the matter in question \u003cbr\u003eit extends concepts into force fields \u003cbr\u003eabbreviation as specific feature of philosophical definition \u003cbr\u003eoperational definitions in the particular sciences\u003cbr\u003eforfeiting the synthetic moment of knowledge \u003cbr\u003eoperational definitions and their field of application \u003cbr\u003edialectic as a critical mediation of realism and nominalism \u003cbr\u003etruth moment of the phenomenological analysis of meaning\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLECTURE TWENTY\u003cbr\u003e Dialectical articulation of concepts as constellation and configuration \u003cbr\u003ethe order of ideas in Plato as an expression of the social division of labour \u003cbr\u003ethe exposition of the matter in question not external\u003cbr\u003eexposition guarantees the objectivity of knowledge\u003cbr\u003econtradiction in the identifying judgement as starting point of dialectic\u003cbr\u003etruth and untruth of the logical judgement form\u003cbr\u003esubjective synthesis and objective reference in the judgement \u003cbr\u003ean immanent critique of logic – the phenomenological critique of inference \u003cbr\u003esurrender of logical subordination as index of dialectical thought \u003cbr\u003eis knowledge possible without assuming the identity of subject and object?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAdorno’s Lecture Notes\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAbbreviations\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eEditor’s Notes\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Philosophy [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Philosophy\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Philosophy%20%5BHP%5D%22\"\u003eHP\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52407342203160,"sku":"9780745693118","price":44.19,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9780745693118.jpg?v=1784163583","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/an-introduction-to-dialectics-hardback-9780745693118","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}