Revista de Estudios Sociales

rev. estud. soc. | eISSN 1900-5180 | ISSN 0123-885X

Aesthetic Appearance and Reconciliation: Art and Politics in Adorno

No. 34 (2009-12-01)
  • Mario Alejandro Molano Vega
    Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano. Bogotá, Colombia.
https://doi.org/10.7440/res34.2009.07

Abstract

This essay examines the relation between politics and art in the work of Theodor W. Adorno by analyzing the concepts of reconciliation, artistic truth content, and aesthetic appearance. The main argument is that Adorno relates both realms of art and politics by virtue of contradictions between the levels of totality and particularity. On the one hand, works of art transgress established ways of understanding and praxis (the level of totality) by reflecting on the contingent character of all kind of human comprehension (the level of particularity). On the other hand, the consequence of such artistic transgressions in non-aesthetic realms is to reveal their internal contradictions and their contingent character. This consequence can be interpreted as a political one if politics are understood as a phenomenon of questioning and critically reflecting on given social structures.

Keywords: Aesthetics, Critical Theory, Political theory, Contemporary Philosophy

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