Critical Models - (European Perspectives: A Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) Annotated by Theodor W Adorno

Book Synopsis

Critical Models combines into a single volume two of Adorno's most important postwar works - Interventions: Nine Critical Models (1963) and Catchwords: Critical Models II (1969). Written after his return to Germany in 1949, the articles, essays, and radio talks included in this volume speak to the pressing political, cultural, and philosophical concerns of the postwar era. The pieces in Critical Models reflect the intellectually provocative as well as the practical Adorno as he addresses such issues as the dangers of ideological conformity, the fragility of democracy, educational reform, the influence of television and radio, and the aftermath of fascism.

This new edition includes an introduction by Lydia Goehr, a renowned scholar in philosophy, aesthetic theory, and musicology. Goehr illuminates Adorno's ideas as well as the intellectual, historical, and critical contexts that shaped his postwar thinking.

Review Quotes

Critical Models... introduce[s] a more accessible Adorno to the public.... In an age of cynicism and practicality, he is more essential than ever.-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review"

[A] collection of essays that offers a view of Adorno in his role as... public intellectual.... Adorno's essays are truly urgent.-- "The Nation"

About the Author

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) was one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. He is the author of such seminal works as Minima Moralia, The Philosophy of New Music, and, with Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment.

Lydia Goehr is professor of philosophy and aesthetic theory at Columbia University. She is the author of The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An Essay in the Philosophy of Music and The Quest for Voice: Music, Politics, and the Limits of Philosophy.