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Materialism Without First Principles: Adorno on Matter, Thought, and the Object

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1. The Familiarity of Materialism What does it mean to be a materialist? The familiar answer seems straightforward: materialism holds that matter is fundamental and that everything else can ultimately be explained in terms of it. Yet this definition raises a difficulty. If matter becomes the ultimate principle from which reality must be derived, does materialism reproduce the metaphysical structure it seeks to overcome, merely replacing spirit with matter as the foundation of everything? This question provides a point of entry into Theodor W. Adorno’s Philosophische Terminologie , a series of lectures in which he examines philosophical concepts through the problems and historical debates that have shaped them. Adorno proceeds from the conviction that philosophical problems are largely problems of language : the terms through which philosophy thinks carry inherited distinctions and assumptions that influence how questions are formulated and which answers become possible (Adorno, 2...
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When Concepts Fall Short: Adorno, Saussure, and the Limits of Definition

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1. The Familiarity of Words: Understanding Philosophical Terminology When reading philosophy, we often encounter words whose meanings seem perfectly familiar. We know what freedom , reason , nature , or will means in ordinary conversation, and this familiarity can make a philosophical text appear more accessible than it actually is. Yet recognising a word does not necessarily mean understanding the concept an author develops through it. A familiar term may acquire a more specialised significance or perform a role that cannot be grasped from its everyday use alone. The difficulty is easy to overlook because the word itself gives us the impression that we already know what is being discussed. Consider the word will . In everyday language, it generally refers to a person's capacity to want something, make a decision, or act deliberately. Schopenhauer's Wille , however, occupies a much broader place in his philosophy. It does not designate simply an individual's psychologi...
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Peace Without Domination: Kant, Adorno, and the Possibility of Reconciliation

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“Peace is the state of differentiation without domination, with the differentiated participating in each other” — Adorno, On Subject and Object 1. What Does It Mean to Establish Peace? The absence of war does not necessarily mean that peace has been established. Hostilities may cease while the conditions that made conflict possible remain unchanged. Two States, for example, may maintain formally peaceful relations while their coexistence depends on military threats and unequal distributions of power. A society may likewise avoid open conflict while remaining organized through relations of subordination. In both cases, the absence of direct confrontation leaves an important question unresolved: what makes a relationship genuinely peaceful when the parties involved do not meet on equal terms? This question goes beyond the distinction between war and peace. It asks whether the absence of open conflict is sufficient when relations between different factions remain structured by dom...
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