Experiencing Objectivity: Adorno's Critique of Durkheim

• In Event: 209 - Theory Section Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Rethinking Durkheim

Abstract

In the following paper, I examine Adorno’s critique of Durkheim’s sociology in light of the conception of experience that he develops through his critique of Hegel. Adorno’s understanding of the crisis of experience within modern, capitalist societies, facilitated the development of the concept of geistig (intellectual; spiritual) experience, which is the foundation of Negative Dialectics. I argue that it is only through this lens that we can grasp Adorno’s critique of Durkheim. In this critique—especially as elaborated in his introduction to Durkheim’s Sociology andPhilosophy—Adorno attempts to demonstrate Durkheim’s value by emphasizing the “experiential content” of his sociological writing. The paper begins with an explication of Adorno’s concept of geistig experience, before moving on to demonstrate its function in the critique of Durkheim.

Author

• Brian Fuller, Buffalo State College