Theodor Adorno (1903–69) was a highly influential German philosopher, social theorist, and cultural critic, recognized as a key member of the Frankfurt School. His intellectual range was vast, encompassing influential writings on music, literature, philosophy, sociology, and contemporary mass culture. Adorno is considered one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century due to the profound way his thought grappled with the challenges posed to philosophy by a tumultuous historical period. His work responded to the rapid cultural shifts brought about by modernism, exploring both its achievements and its negative consequences. He also critically analyzed the social transformations resulting from the evolution of late capitalism and, most significantly, offered an uncompromising and relentless critique of fascism. Adorno famously declared that philosophy had failed humanity in the face of such horrors. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Adorno studied philosophy, psychology, and sociology. The rise of fascism significantly impacted his life and thought, leading to his exile in the 1930s. Although his personal life as an exile in Santa Monica might have had its comforts, his writings from this period, including _Minima Moralia_ begun in 1942 and published in 1951, were far from optimistic. A central theme in Adorno's philosophy is the critique of "identity thinking". As Peter Dews notes, this concept is a crucial point of convergence between Adorno and post-structuralist thought. Adorno argued that "the concept is always less than what is subsumed under it". When something (B) is defined as an (A), it is always different from and more than (A). Conversely, every concept also contains a pointer to something that goes beyond the specific characteristics it subsumes. For Adorno, the horrors of the twentieth century were a direct consequence of identity thinking, a mode of thought that denies difference and the provisional nature of categories. Dialectical thinking, in contrast to identity thinking, seeks to say what something _is_, while identity thinking focuses on what something _falls under_, thereby neglecting its unique essence. Identity, in Adorno's view, is the "primal form" of all ideology, homogenizing the world and falsely equating distinct phenomena. His project of "negative dialectics" strives to include within thought that which is heterogeneous to it, resisting the reduction of the non-identical to the identical. Adorno's thought is deeply marked by the Holocaust. His famous pronouncement that there can be no poetry after Auschwitz stemmed from his belief that it was literally impossible to arrange one's thoughts in an era where the accidental nature of fortune had been so brutally exposed. He argued that there was no logical or automatic response to the Holocaust and that any attempt to exploit it for aesthetic or political purposes was utterly repugnant. For Adorno, Auschwitz epitomized the radical evil of the modern social world, demonstrating that this evil was not accidental but intimately connected to it. The failure of culture to prevent such barbarity was a key concern for him. In response to the perceived failure of traditional morality and culture after Auschwitz, Adorno introduced the "new categorical imperative". He stated that the "primal demand upon all education is that Auschwitz not happen again" and that thought and action should be arranged so that Auschwitz will not repeat itself. This imperative is historically indexed and substantive, focusing on the prevention of a concrete horror rather than abstract universal principles, setting it apart from Kant's original categorical imperative. Adorno emphasized the importance of a physical element in morality, "the now practical abhorrence of the unbearable physical agony," arguing that it is this element that allows morality to continue after Auschwitz. Adorno famously asserted that "there is no right life in the wrong life". This statement is both descriptive, analyzing how right living has become problematic, and evaluative, condemning current forms of living and suggesting that some are less bad than others. Given this premise, his practical philosophy focuses on how to "live less wrongly," outlining an "ethics of resistance". This involves resisting the dominant social world in both private and public spheres, although Adorno suggested a temporary focus on the private sphere and philosophy due to the current limitations on social practice. His recommendations are negativist and minimalist, highlighting pitfalls rather than offering a full-blown morality or positive aspirations. This "minima moralia" provides limited guidance, acknowledging the inherent tensions in moral practice within the current social context. Adorno was a sharp critic of much of modern moral philosophy, particularly Kant's theory, which he saw as "moral philosophy par excellence". He argued that Kant's ethics, despite its attempts, could not "underwrite" right living. Adorno raised numerous criticisms against Kant, including the "Empty Formalism Objection," arguing that Kant's categorical imperative is unsuitable for deriving specific guidance for concrete situations. He was also skeptical of the underlying motivations for universal moral responsibility, suggesting a connection to the urge to punish and an individualization of social problems. While acknowledging Nietzsche's insights into the ascetic ideals and power relations behind morality, Adorno was also critical of Nietzsche's views. He also engaged with Hegel's ethics of responsibility but expressed concerns about its potential to endorse existing reality. A significant challenge in understanding Adorno's philosophy is the "Problem of Normativity": how can his deeply critical and evaluative theory account for its own normative claims, especially given his skepticism about knowing the good? Adorno rejects the idea that morality can or should be discursively grounded, viewing attempts at such grounding as an "outrage" that disregards the normativity inherent in specific situations. He distinguishes between "grounding" (_Begründung_) and "vindication" (_Rechtfertigung_), rejecting the demand for the former but seeking the latter through an explanatory account of normativity. One interpretation suggests that Adorno's negativism operates within a "Negative Aristotelianism," where the good and the bad are indexed to humanity and inhumanity, respectively. Because we cannot know fully realized humanity, we cannot know the good, but we can know the bad by observing what hinders basic human functioning and causes misery. This framework allows for a critique of inhumanity without relying on a positive conception of the good. Adorno's relationship with other philosophical traditions is complex. While he critiqued Heidegger's concept of authenticity as "the jargon of authenticity," he also engaged deeply with Heidegger's thought. His "negative dialectics" can be seen as a way to undermine the speculative identity of concept and object that Hegel postulated, constantly transforming concepts into their opposites to reveal what could be but is not. He shared with early German Romantics an awareness of the loss of spontaneity imposed by the formation of the modern autonomous individual. In conclusion, Adorno's philosophy offers a profound and critical analysis of the modern condition, shaped by the horrors of fascism and the pervasive influence of capitalist social structures and "identity thinking." His "negative dialectics" seeks to expose contradictions and the non-identical, while his ethics of resistance, guided by the imperative that Auschwitz not happen again, urges us to live less wrongly in a world where right living is deemed impossible. Although faced with the "Problem of Normativity," various interpretations, including the idea of a "Negative Aristotelianism," attempt to account for the normative force of his deeply critical project, which remains a significant and challenging voice in critical theory.