A Critic Science Of Man

Adorno's Negative Dialectics is one of the classics of Western Marxism, which emerged from the self-questioning of the traditional Marxist revolutionary theory and the modern western revolutionary practice. On the one hand, in contrast to other Western Marxists, especially those in the Frankfort School, Adorno not only deplayed concrete critiques concerning ideology, technological reason, wholescale commercial exchange, totalitarian politics, popular cultural, and instrumentality reason, but also touched deeply the essential source of those criticized, that is, the identity of ruling and suppression. From the very start point, Adorno cherished a cultural critique about the root of identity. It is because of this that Adorno's negative dialectics is regarded as the "theory" or the theories and the "logic" of the logic of Frankfort School. Adorno's negative dialectics, on the other hand, corresponds wholly to the "existential turn" of modern philosophy, espousing a reasonable existential reflection about man's subject-object unification, while criticizing the subject-object dichotomy of traditional philosophy. Compared with other existential philosophers, however, Adorno expresses his uniqueness and thoroughness by pointing out that the root for the subject-object dichotomy of traditional philosophy is the abstract identity. But because man's existence is a non-identical process of becoming, taking any aspect of man's existence as the absolute and proceeding from this to identity is an over-stepping. The essence of the existential turn is thus transforming from criticizing identity to the non-identical. Adorno's Negative Dialectics pursues the freedom and liberation of man as the intrinsic value and, starting from man's non-identical existence, criticizes any form of identity that suppresses and devours man. By way of man's self-negating and self-transcending, man displays multiple co-existence equally and freely. So, negative dialectics is the non-identical critique of and reaction to the non-humane identity, the essence of which is a critic science of man.Adorno criticizes the "reasonable" identical form of traditional philosophy, advocating the non-identical form of philosophy that is "humane". The standard form of traditional philosophy is that which is based on the rational, conceptual logic systems, which is also a sign of the accomplishment of modern spirit of enlightenment. However, with the formation and exquisite of these systems, the true spirit of reason that aimed at enlightenment and liberation was lost. According to Adorno, this is the result of reason that moves toward absoluteness to become the ultimate identity. Systematic forms of philosophy are just the ultimateidentification of reason. When reason becomes the philosophical form of enclosed conceptual logic system, the deep self-reflection and critic spirit of reason will end. We can see from this that there is nothing wrong on the part of reason itself, what is wrong is to uphold reason as the ultimate identity. Adorno's critique about traditional philosophy is not aimed at reason itself. Rather, it is aimed at the traditional forms of philosophy that enslaved the reflective spirit of reason. Adorno opposes firmly the absolutism of identity. He advocates to construct non-identical philosophy that is "humane", starting from the existence of man and his world. Adorno's "humane" philosophy, as a critique of "reasonable" philosophy, establishes the principle of equality between subject and object, the aim of which is to draw subject back to its objective relationship and the richness of the interaction between subject and object. The "humane", non-identical philosophy represents Adorno's understanding of modern point of view of philosophy. What he intends is that, in the modern times, philosophy is no longer the "knowledge of knowledge"; rather, it is reflection. Modern philosophy should move from the "reasonable" knowledge form into the "humane", reflective form of reason.Adorno's negati...