Is Theodor W. Adorno an interdisciplinary thinker? Ten theses on critical theory and individual sciences

Abstract

The insight that interdisciplinary work is a task in contemporary academic life has become a widely recognized consensus. However, the hegemonic notion of interdisciplinarity has the problem that it accepts the theoretical frameworks as well as the contents of the various disciplines as given, i.e., in an a-critical and a-historical manner. This essay consists of ten theses that show another view of interdisciplinarity as it unfolds in Adorno’s thought. Adorno remains relevant in various disciplines, such as Sociology, Psychoanalysis, Pedagogy, and Literary Studies. It is important to argue that his discourse can be understood as interdisciplinary, only that the hegemonic conception of interdisciplinarity fails to transcend a conformist conception of science. Adorno proposes a way of thinking across disciplines in such a way that thought is placed at the service of the object, detecting particular needs in it without predetermining it. The present article argues that Adorno’s view of interdisciplinarity is non-conformist and that his philosophy is an interdisciplinary discourse.