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Hegel, Adorno and the origins of immanent criticism

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:09 authored by Gordon FinlaysonGordon Finlayson
‘Immanent criticism' has been discussed by philosophers of quite different persuasions, working in separate areas and in different traditions of philosophy. Almost all of them agree on roughly the same story about its origins: It is that Hegel invented immanent criticism, that Marx later developed it, and that the various members of the Frankfurt School, particularly Adorno, refined it in various ways, and that they are all paradigmatic practitioners of immanent criticism. I call this the Continuity Thesis. There are four different claims that interest me. (i) Hegel is the originator of immanent criticism. (ii) Hegel's dialectical method is that of immanent criticism. (iii) Adorno practises immanent criticism and endorses the term as a description of his practice. (iv) Adorno's dialectical method is fundamentally Hegelian. In this article, I offer an account of immanent criticism, on the basis of which, I evaluate these four claims and argue that the Continuity Thesis should be rejected.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

British Journal for the History of Philosophy

ISSN

0960-8788

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

6

Volume

22

Page range

1142-1166

Department affiliated with

  • Philosophy Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-11-26

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2014-11-26

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2014-11-26

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