Theodor Ludwig
Wiesengrund Adorno (1903-1969), philosopher, sociologist, music
theorist and composer, was one of the key figures of the Frankfurt School of
critical social theory. Under the influences of neo-Marxism and psychoanalysis,
this group of researchers developed theories around the mechanisms of power and
society. Such theory was critical in that amongst other things, it was rooted in
a concern to question the 'taken for granted' and seeks human emancipation. As
Horkheimer (1995: 246) put it, critical theory seeks 'to liberate human beings
from the circumstances that enslave them'. They gathered around the Institute of
Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung)
(established in 1923)at
Frankfurt University and included Max Horkheimer (the Institute's Director from
1930), Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Walter Benjamin
and, later on, Jürgen Habermas and Oskar Negt. Theodor Adorno became co-director
in
Theodor Adorno was born in Frankfurt am
Main
as a son of the wine merchant Oscar Alexander Wiesengrund (of Jewish origin,
converted to Protestantism) and singer Maria Barbara Calvelli-Adorno (a Catholic
of Corsican-Italian origin). Already as a child, Adorno developed his ongoing
interest in classical music and was regarded as intellectually gifted. Also
during his school years he had first encounters with anti-Semitism, which would
influence his later work very strongly.
After only three years of studies in
philosophy, musicology, psychology and sociology he graduated with a PhD thesis
on Edmund Husserl at Frankfurt University in 1924. During the years 1925 and
1926 he studied music theory, composition and piano in Vienna. Here he was
influenced by his teachers Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg and twelve-tone
music. After his return to Frankfurt he finished his Habilitation on
Kierkegaard 's aesthetics in 1931
(see Adorno 1933) and started to work as a Lecturer at
Frankfurt University.
After the takeover of the National
Socialists in 1933 he was impeached as a university teacher on ground of his
Jewish descent. Soon he realised that the Nazi dictatorship was to become more
dangerous and fled to England where he became a PhD student and teacher at
Oxford's Merton College (1934 to 1937). In 1938 he emigrated
to the USA - staying there until 1949. There his collaboration with Max Horkheimer continued, firstly at
New York's Columbia University and later on at the University of California in
Los Angeles. During his American years he worked on studies around the
“Authoritarian Personality” and published his (later on) most influential work
Dialectic of Enlightenment together with Max Horkheimer.
Theodor
Adorno
was not fully happy in the USA, and gladly returned to Frankfurt in 1949.
He found a position as professor for philosophy and sociology at Frankfurt
University which he held until his death in 1969. In Frankfurt Adorno
(pictured front right in 1964 with Horkheimer and Habermas - in the background
on the right)
directly
participated in the re-establishment of the Institute for Social Research (it
had moved to the USA in 1934) and
became a highly influential and publicly engaged philosopher who shaped many key
intellectual debates in post-war Germany. He was especially engaged in the
analysis of the legacy of totalitarian systems (see his books Minima Moralia
and Negative
Dialectic); philosophy's and sociology's critical function in society
(the 'positivism' debate); and the critical dialogue with the emerging student
movements and the extra-parliamentary opposition in 1968. Firstly he sympathised
with the student's emancipatory movements; later on he criticised totalitarian
tendencies amongst the political left and also received criticism for his
positions. During a vacation in Switzerland, and after leaving some major
conflicts with students from Frankfurt University, he died in 1969 after having
a heart attack.
The foundations of Adorno's thought can be
found in his early studies on the “Authoritarian Personality” (Adorno et al.
1950). With his research team at University of California, Berkeley, he searched
for explanations for authoritarian behaviour, predominantly during the National
Socialist's regime in Germany but also within other totalitarian regimes. In his
studies, he identified typical character attributes in persons that were growing
up with authoritarian education: conventionalism, authoritarian submission,
authoritarian aggression, anti-intraception, superstition and stereotypy, power
and toughness, destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity, and exaggerated
concerns over sex (Adorno et al. 1950: 228). Based on the studies on the
Authoritarian Personality he was looking for explanations for the existence of
totalitarian systems and the possibilities for prevention of authoritarianism.
In his article
“Theory of Half Education” (Theorie der Halbbildung, Adorno 1959) he
argued that education (Bildung) in its full sense is continuously under
threat of becoming reduced to form of “half-education” (Halbbildung).
He regards education (Bildung) as a
persisting area of conflict between an individual's autonomy and their adaptation
to the demands of society. Education therefore entails an ongoing dialectic
process between individual emancipation and the demands for submission to
culture and society. Adorno's concept of (full) education is clearly connected
to the idea of Bildung used by educational reformers like Wilhelm
von Humboldt, who regarded it as the highest possible development
and perfection of the personality. This process is seen as necessary to gain full and
free individuality. Here, education does not aim to reach “useful” purposes or
material aims. Rather it is designated to the long term interest of the subject
and its personal development.
With the term "half education" (Halbbildung)
Theodor Adorno is referring to a disconnection from this dialectic. This could either
happen if education is merely oriented towards certain purposes or if education
is becoming ideology itself. This happens where interests of the dominant groups in society
define the aims of education, while, at the same time, neglecting the true interests of the subjects of
education. The “survival of the fittest” becomes the
remaining interest (Adorno 1959, 96).
How can the tendencies towards “half
education” be explained? Some explanations can be found in Horkheimer's and
Adorno's book Dialectic of Enlightenment (Horkheimer/Adorno 1998.
It was first published in English in 1947). Facing the
cruelties of the Holocaust and based on empirical evidence from the studies on
the Authoritarian Personality, Adorno and Horkheimer formulated a general
critique of reason and rationality. This publication is
often regarded as the most influential text for the critical theory of the
Frankfurt School.
Enlightenment has always been based on
reason. But reason continuously is in danger of becoming “instrumental reason”.
Such a form of reasons tries to govern nature, produces the “affirmation of the already existing”
and invalidates the individual in an “administrated world” that is merely
oriented to the interest of economic powers. Later on, Adorno described this
phenomenon as the “double character of progress”: liberation is closely
connected to tendencies of oppression (Adorno 1951, 167).
To escape this connection, reason needs
to be reflected about where it leads to emancipation and where to new forms of
submission. One key factor for this reflection is to have educated
individuals.
Under the title “Education to Maturity (Erziehung
zur Mündigkeit, Adorno 1971a), a collection of radio interviews with Hellmut
Becker from the years 1959-1969, was published after Theodor Adorno's death in 1971. In
these interviews, Adorno presented his ideas on education in a very accessible
form. The aim was to illustrate his ideas about education
towards personal and political maturity (Mündigkeit) (Adorno 1971a, 133).
The key article of this book, named
“Education after Auschwitz” (Adorno 1971b), formulates the essence in
the first sentence: “The premier demand upon all education is that Auschwitz not
happen again”. Theodor Adorno describes the characteristics of the perpetrators and
followers of the Holocaust as blind submission, the glorification of functions,
no interest in self-determination and the treatment of others as anonymous
members of a mass (Adorno 1971b, 97).
The only way to leave such personal
short-sightedness behind is through an education towards autonomy, reflection
and self-determination; an education that enables individuals to become resilient towards
authoritarian tendencies (Adorno 1971b, 93). In this sense, education is a task
for democratic societies, and real democracy can only be understood as a society
of mature citizens and personalities (Adorno 1971a, 107). Therefore, education to maturity becomes the key strategy for enlightened societies.
Like all classic thinkers, Adorno is in
danger to be treated as an important, but distant authority, with dwindling
relevance for the life of today (Bonß 2008). But, many inspiring
ideas can be found in his thought.
Following his conviction “the whole is the
untrue” (Das Ganze ist das Unwahre - first mentioned in his inaugural lecture
in 1931), Adorno perceived his thoughts as ongoing streams of ideas rather than
as closed systems of thought. As a critic of rationality he followed the idea,
that in a world full of contradictions, thinking needs to stay contradictory as
well. In this sense, he is still an inspiring thinker for current times of rapid
changes, emerging risks and new challenges.
Translated into modern conditions, his
ideas are leading to questions about education like:
Do we have the right conception
about education itself? Is the current discourse about education
creating autonomous and responsible human beings that are regarded as
purposes of their own? Or is our conception of education rather oriented
towards external purposes like employability, becoming a “useful” citizen or
“good” market subject? Is education a commercial good that has to be
subordinated to certain purposes? Or can education still be thought as a
purpose for itself?
Can education be planned and
standardised? Are the current strategies to measure education by
achieved outcomes in exams and internationally standardised curricula meeting
the core ideas of education towards maturity? Are we on the right way with
strategies like the “Program of International Student Assessment” (PISA),
the “Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study“ (TIMSS) or the
creation of a standardised and strongly ruled “European higher education
area” through the “Bologna process”?
How do we meet tendencies towards
authoritarianism and totalitarianism? Are we prepared to embrace people
that are not willing to follow the hegemonic rules of society? Do our
education systems prepare us to meet with groups that do not follow the
mainstream of society like minorities, sub cultures, drug users, the “new
underclass” or people that are not willing to adopt the leading ideas about
sexuality, religion or work? Are we ready to life in a world that demands a
growing tolerance for diversity? Or does our desire for order, orientation
and security still bring us to wish authoritarian solutions and to blame the
“maladjusted”?
Does our current form of education
prepare us to the fullest and highest participation possible? Have we
already reached the highest grade of democracy possible?
Could informal education support
the education of more capable subjects? Are the concepts of self
directed learning, holistic learning, learning with all senses and all
talents, the possibilities for different ways of learning and the ideas of
learning with personal and social reflexivity feasible to reach “full
education” in Adorno's sense?
Keeping in mind that education happens
within an ongoing dialectic between individuals and the demands of society,
education means an ongoing balancing of interests (Kappeler 1999). Neither
functionalisation and the mere connection to hegemonic interests, nor the idea
of absolute independence and individualism can solve this dilemma. Personal
autonomy is always a socially connected situation that consistently has to be
established and developed. Education therefore means a persistent process of
reflection about the needs of subjects and the challenges of society that can
only be established in democratic collaboration with all participating actors.
Adorno, Theodor W. (1933) Kierkegaard: Construction of the Aesthetic, trans. R. Hullot-Kentor, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Adorno, Theodor W. (1951): Minima Moralia. Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp. English version - (1951) Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life, trans. E. F. N. Jephcott. London: NLB
Adorno, Theodor W. (1959): Theorie der Halbbildung. In: Adorno, T. W. (1998): Gesammelte Schriften, Band 8; Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, pp. 93-121.
Adorno, Theodor W. (1971a): Erziehung zur Mündigkeit. Vorträge und Gespräche mit Hellmut Becker 1959-1969. Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp.
Adorno, Theodor W. (1971b): Erziehung nach Auschwitz.
In: Adorno (1971a), pp. 88-104
Adorno, Theodor W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E.,
Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950): The Authoritarian Personality. New
York: Harper and Row.
Bonß, Wolfgang. (2008): Wie weiter mit Theodor W. Adorno?. Hamburg, Hamburger Edition.
Horkheimer, Max/ Adorno, Theodor W. (1998): Dialektik der Aufklärung. Frankfurt a.M., Fischer (original: 1947). English version: (2002) Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments (1947), ed. G. S. Noerr, trans. E. Jephcott. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kappeler, Manfred (1999):
Rückblicke auf ein sozialpädagogisches
Jahrhundert. Essays zur Dialektik von Herrschaft und Emanzipation im
sozialpädagogischen Handeln. Frankfurt a.M., IKO.
Acknowledgements: Picture – Sculpture in Reykjavik’s
Laugavegur, taken by the author in February 2010.
About the writer:
Prof. Dr. Christian Spatscheck is a Professor for Theories and Methodology of
Social Work at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Bremen University of Applied
Sciences. His main fields of work are theories and methodology of social work
and social pedagogy, spatial and systemic paradigms, youth work and the
international exchange on social work, social pedagogy and social development.
How
to cite this article:
Spatscheck, Christian (2010). 'Theodor W. Adorno on Education' the
encyclopaedia of informal education. Retrieved from
www.infed.org/thinkers/adorno_on_education.htm
on
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©
Christian Spatscheck 2010.
