The relation between totality and dialectic in Theodor W. Adorno

• Grant number: 16/20632-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: December 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Sérgio Repa
• Grantee: Gabriel Petrechen Kugnharski
• Supervisor: Rahel Jaeggi
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Humboldt University, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/18308-7 - The category of totality in Theodor W. Adorno’s Negative Dialectic, BP.MS

Abstract

The intention of the research to be developed in this internship is to improve and discuss the main contents of the master's research in development. The matter of this research is the concept of totality in Theodor W. Adorno and the relation between this concept and the conception of dialectic developed by the philosopher in the 1960s, especially in Negative Dialectics, published in 1966. The hypothesis which we intend to test through the material to be obtained from the German libraries and from the discussions and seminars with Professor Dr. Rahel Jaeggi is that, although Adorno strongly criticizes the concept of totality in the Hegelian dialectic, he nevertheless uses it in several fields of his analysis, such as the diagnosis of late capitalism through the concept of administered world. If, however, the totality is exposed only as a category that has to be criticized, or if it still keeps in itself, in a certain way, a normative horizon, is a question that does not reach consensus in the secondary literature. Thus, one of the most important aspects of this research is the analysis of this literature available in the best libraries of Berlin. Therewith, we intend to achieve a better understanding of Adorno's conception of a negative dialectics, to conclude thereby an important point in our research, and consequently to define its further steps. (AU)