Education for Enlightenment according to Marxist philosopher Theodor W. Adorno

Zvi Tauber

Chapter 9 in Research Handbook on Critical Theory, 2026, pp 88-100 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In my chapter, I question the pedagogical ideal of “Enlightenment” (Aufklärung) explicitly discussed by Adorno. Actually, I try to answer the question of why did Adorno, who was a Marxist philosopher and sociologist, regard independence of thought, according to the bourgeois value of the “Enlightenment”, as the most important pedagogical ideal? I come to the conclusion that the “Enlightenment” served Adorno as a kind of mediator, a necessary condition (which is not sufficient, of course) for imparting emancipatory consciousness to the youth, and first to their educators in schools and to the future teachers who are trained in institutions of higher education.

Keywords: The Critical Theory of Society; Enlightenment; Education; Adorno; Horkheimer; Marcuse; Kant; Marx (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800373754
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