Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 18:59:20 -0500
Subject: Re: PKF: Identity
From: robasso2-AT-juno.com (Robert Basso)


Wai writes:

>>Actually Identity philosophy is the product of Romanticthose german philosophers: Schelling, Fichte, Hegel.<<<

I wasn't speaking of  "identity philosophy" but only the meaning of
identity.  I find there are two basic philosophical meanings of identity:
individual identity and group (or institutional) identity that often
cosmically clash.  The German Idealists were clearly only interested in
group identity, engendering existentialism as a rebellious
counter-identity philosophy. 

>>But such philosophy is
criticized by Theodor W. Adorno (school of Frankfurt).<<

I'll have to look into it sometime.

>> Maybe the work of
Adorno is not famous enough for Robert!<<

Well, wasn't Adorno a creative Marxist like Marcuse and Fromm?  I believe
he also critically attacked "instrumental" reason because of its
domination of nature and humans, while still believing in achieving a
"rational" society as the Frankfurt school's ultimate goal or desire. 

Adorno's anti-identity is problematic because in seeking to avoid
identity in philosophy he looks for "non-identical" constructs in art but
art has its own representational identity transcending reality.  He's an
aesthetic idealist who fails to see that art comes out of human suffering
and opinion and if you invalidate either of these you invalidate art.


Robert Basso.

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