The imperative of the enlightenment and the critical intellectual Theodor W. Adorno

No abstractThe interest for Theodor W. Adorno, the most important representative of the ‘Critical Theory’ or the ‘Frankfurt School’ remains undiminished. This became evident on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2003. The first part of this article refers to this fact. The second part treats the question concerning which stylistic and linguistic means are considered by Adorno as adequate for a critical social theory. It is also a question of the role of intellectuals as critics and not least of the way Adorno sees himself. The following chapter refers to the perhaps most well-known example of a theoretically elaborate critique of Adorno, the Dialectic of Enlightenment, which he wrote with Max Horkheimer. The greatest emphasis is given to the chapter which refers to the Odyssey of Homer, because nowhere else in the book is the intertwinement between myth and enlightenment so evident