The Senselessness of Reason

This paper reassesses Theodor W. Adorno’s critical thinking as presented in the Dialectic of Enlightenment. This research proposes to read his work according to a new set of foundations that take into account Adorno’s literary style and philosophical thinking. The foundations hinted at are those of early German Romanticism. To understand Adorno’s German Romantic characteristics there will be a focus on the thought of Friedrich Schiller and Novalis. Their commonality is found in the fact that all of these thinkers, belonging to the German romantic movement and Frankfurt School, represented a current of thought notable for their criticism of the Enlightenment (Aufklärung). This study will claim Adorno’s work should be considered in light of German Romanticism.