Theodor Adorno Reading Group

In this reading group, we will conduct a sustained introductory reading of the works of Theodor Adorno. Our conviction is that Adorno's oeuvre, while traditionally read in disciplines such as media studies and literary criticism, deserves thoughtful consideration by historically oriented scholars. Both Adorno's pivotal position within European intellectual history and his ideas on their own terms will be discussed. Key works will include excerpts from The Authoritarian Personality, Minima Moralia, and History and Freedom,  Peripheral works we may read to augment our study include texts from Susan Buck-Morss, Axel Honneth, Jurgen Habermas, Erich Fromm, and Hannah Arendt. 

Especially relevant to our intellectual environment, we believe, is Adorno's writing on ethics and art after global-historical catastrophe. After establishing a grounding in earlier essays, the group plans to take on parts of the Lectures on Negative Dialectics, where Adorno turns over the question of ethics after Auschwitz. We hope that, through this year-long study of the works of Adorno, we will create a reading community equipped to think carefully about the ethics of scholarship during periods of crisis. Undergraduates, graduates, and Stanford community members are welcome to join.

2024-2025 Graduate Student Organizer: Katherine Booska