Negative dialectics

Jordi Maiso

Chapter 15 in Research Handbook on Critical Theory, 2026, pp 162-172 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The notion of negative dialectics refers to the philosophical way of proceeding characteristic of Theodor W. Adorno's critical theory, which seeks to keep the emancipatory drive alive in an unreconciled reality. This requires a critical revision of Hegelian dialectics, which ultimately results in the hypostasis of spirit and the philosophy of identity in order to halt the collusion between thought and the logics of domination. Adorno locates the link between epistemology and social theory in the affinity between the principle of identity and the social logic of exchange. From this arises a critique of a false, coercive totality that forces the whole world into identity under the aegis of capital. In contrast, negative dialectics advocates the epistemological centrality of the experience of suffering, giving rise to a model of critical theory based on the impulsive sense of solidarity with tormentable bodies that resists all attempts at rationalisation.

Keywords: Dialectics; Negativity; Non-identity; False Totality; Suffering; Reconciliation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800373754
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