ADORNO FOR BEGINNERS

[Vance Bell]

According to Ralph Dumain:
> 

<previous post clipped>

> Thanks for the info, but I don't have the background to decipher all of
> this.  Are you referring to Benjamin's impact on Adorno's entire philosophy
> and its methodology, or are you referring strictly to Adorno's aesthetics?

Holds to some degree for both, I would say: one might state that Adorno's
work was very much influenced by Benjamin's.  To get from Adorno to
Benjamin intellectually you might factor in both the former's classical
training in music (with Modernist predilictions) and a deeper committment
to, and training in, Classical German philosophy.  Certainly Adorno cannot
be reduced to Benjamin, but a strong relationship is apparent at almost
every turn. 

> BTW, I just ran across a discount copy of Susan Buck-Morss' THE DIALECTICS
> OF SEEING.  Should I get this?

I would say yes!  It's a very interesting overview of Benjamin's
Passagenwerk (Arcades Project).  I've also highly respected almost
everything Irving Wolfarth has written on Benjamin (especially the longer
40+ pg. essays such as "On Some Jewish Motifs..."  MITs, On Walter
Benjamin is also a nice collection of key secondary literature from a wide
span of years... 

Best Regards,

Vance

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Vance E. Bell, Jr.             |    Other Voices
University of Pennsylvania     |    P.O. Box 31907
vbell@dept.english.upenn.edu   |    Philadelphia, PA  19104

                http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~ov

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