Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 17:49:16 -0400
From: "D. Smith" <dls216-AT-psu.edu>
Subject: Re: Adorno's _Jargon of Authenticity_


You didn't miss anything, Lou.  -  DS

At 04:47 PM 9/8/02 -0400, you wrote:
>D. Smith below mentions the possible benefits of reading Adorno's _Jargon of
>Authenticity_.  I'm wondering myself how to understand the book.  I found it
>shrill, polemical, and rather unfocused.  It seemed to be more or less a
blanket
>refusal to interpret authenticity in any way other than a practical,
>down-to-earth, concrete fashion.  Didn't Adorno use the word as a
representative
>example of how philosophers turn social/material realities into abstract
>theories?  He seemed to want to pull the term away from the transcendental
>heritage that had informed its use by others, notably Buber, Kierkegaard, and
>Heidegger. Overall, I think Adorno was on a bit of a rage to discount the
>theological background of existentialism generally.  But he did so in a
rather
>dismissive tone; his arguments didn't seem to convince me, at least.  Could
>D.Smith come back on line and set me straight as to the elements of this work
>that I obviously missed (?).  Does anyone know of a good "gloss" on this
text?
>Many Thanks.
>
>Lou Caton
>Westfield SC
>lcaton-AT-wisdom.wsc.ma.edu
>
>"D. Smith" wrote:
>
>> i'm not sure how what you just wrote below has anything to do with your
>> earlier puerile statement.  as for you being tired of singing the same
>> litany over and over again, i can assure you there are many on this list
>> who are even more tired of hearing it.  in other words, your
>> martyr-independent scholar routine is getting old, ralph.  i humbly suggest
>> you read adorno's _jargon of authenticity_ very carefully.
>>
>> DS
>>
>> At 10:58 AM 9/7/02 -0400, you wrote:
>> >What it's about is the ability to pay attention, and to relate abstract
>> >ideas to concrete realities without a whole lot of intervening
>> >static.  Does applying ideas intelligently and learning how to communicate
>> >them outside of a narrow circle jerk have a place on the Frankfurt School
>> >list or not?  You know, I run into this problem at least once a year on
>> >this list.  I'm tired of singing the same litany over and over again.  So
>> >I'll leave it right here.
>> >
>> >At 10:41 AM 9/7/02 -0400, D. Smith wrote:
>> >>Ralph Dumain wrote: [...]
>> >>
>> >>"As for being intellectual or anti-intellectual, I'm more intellectual
than
>> >>you'll ever live to be." [...]
>> >>
>> >>is this a frankfurt school listserv or an elementary school playground?
>> >
>> >
>> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >The C.L.R. James Institute:
>> >      http://www.clrjamesinstitute.org
>> >Ralph Dumain's "The Autodidact Project":
>> >      http://www.autodidactproject.org
>> >
>> >"Nature has no outline but imagination has."
>> >                           -- William Blake
>> >
>