Das Ärgernis der Philosophie

The concept of metaphysics is, according to Adorno, the nuisance of philosophy. On the one hand, metaphysics is the reason why philosophy exists at all; on the other hand, it is barely possible to arrive at a general definition of what metaphysics is about. In his »Meditations on Metaphysics«, the last part of his opus magnum Negative Dialectics, Adorno grapples with this tension by reflecting on the project of metaphysics in the light of the contemporary cultural and political setting. The essays in this volume address the various facets of Adorno's engagement with metaphysics. Not limiting themselves to metaphysical issues in a narrower sense, they branch out into subjects that Adorno brings into close connection with metaphysics: the critique of concepts, history, truth, and materialism. By doing so, they map the constellation of a topic of Adorno's Negative Dialectics and his philosophy as a whole that up to now has only received scarce attention.