Původ negativní dialektiky

This book by American philosopher Susan Buck-Morris traces the formation of the theory of Theodor Adorno, a key representative of the first generation of the “Frankfurt School”. It acquaints the reader with Adorno’s exceptionally complicated thoughts in a readable way while still maintaining their subtlety and complexity. It pays special attention to the development of his thinking in a dialog with Walter Benjamin and other contemporaries. She explains the key moments in Adorno’s philosophy, for instance his approach to dialectics, emphasis on the objectivity of truth, as well as the creative role of the subject in the cognitive process. She reconstructs Adorno’s philosophical method and very carefully clarifies the relationship between theory and practice, philosophy and art, and conceptuality and illustration. It represents a key contribution enabling a more adequate understanding and appreciation of critical theory in the Czech context.