RE: Adorno, theory & praxis & the FBI

[Claus Hansen <clausdh@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 22:55 08-04-03 -0400, you wrote:
>I never had the impression that the Frankfurt School was under
>investigation.  Marcuse was a member of the OSS of the US.  Anyway, the
>defining characteristic of Adorno, imho, is his introductory statement in
>1963, in The Positivist Dispute.  Habermas defends him against Popper.
>Adorno claims that there is something seriously wrong with Western
>civilization since WWII had actually occurred!

Could you point me to the exact location of this qoute as I was unable to
find it when trying to look it up. My impression was that Adorno - not so
much argues
against WWII but instead focused on the event of Auschwitz which as
he writes 'demands a new categorial imperative', namely that all efforts
should be used to avoid such a thing from happening again. That it could
happens indeed testifies that there is something very seriously wrong with
Western civilization.

>This statement in itself as
>condemnatory of the sociological program was disputed by both Adorno and
>his spokesman Hans Albert.

I dont quite understand your point here - sorry for my lack of english but
could
you please elaborate?

Claus