The Critical Pessimism of Theodor Adorno

Abstract

In response to widespread environmental concerns, a global pandemic, and authoritarian creep there has been insufficient political will to grapple with these pervasive problems. This lack of a political response is troubling, yet people are condemned as irrational, unpatriotic, or worse – conservative – if they do not maintain optimism about a better future. There is widespread repudiation of pessimism on the left, meanwhile there is little guarantee the future will deliver a brighter tomorrow. Philosophical pessimism may seem an unexpected position from which to consider the incongruent relationships among the myth of progress, contemporary political stagnation, capitalism, and climate change. However, a critical version of this orientation offers a ballast to toxic positivity, as well as a unique orientation to the myth of progress and the domination of nature. One that enables a reframed relationship to the climate crisis, income inequality, and creeping authoritarian populism.