Problems of moral philosophy

Abstract

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), one of leading social thinkers of twentieth century, long concerned himself with problems of moral philosophy, or whether good life is genuine possibility in present. This book consists of course of seventeen lectures given in May-July 1963. Captured by tape recorder (which Adorno called the fingerprint of living mind), these lectures present somewhat different, and more accessible, Adorno from one who composed faultlessly articulated and almost forbiddingly perfect prose of works published in his lifetime. Here we can follow Adorno's thought in process of formation (he spoke from brief notes), endowed with spontaneity and energy of spoken word. The lectures focus largely on Kant, a thinker in whose work question of morality is most sharply contrasted with other spheres of existence. After discussing number of Kantian categories of moral philosophy, Adorno considers other, seemingly more immediate general problems, such as nature of moral norms, good life, and relation of relativism and nihilism. In course of lectures, Adorno addresses wide range of topics, including: theory and practice, ethics as bad conscience, repressive character, problem of freedom, dialectics in Kant and Hegel, nature of reason, moral law as given, psychoanalysis, element of Absurd, freedom and law, Protestant tradition of morality, Hamlet, self-determination, phenomenology, concept of will, idea of humanity, The Wild Duck, and Nietzsche's critique of morality.