Epilogue

This chapter assesses how Adorno's critical theory was later perceived in relation to conservative thought, particularly through the reception of his work in the 1960s. It discusses how critiques from figures like Wolf Lepenies and radical students associated Adorno's skepticism about immediate social change with conservative resignation. The chapter details Adorno's response to these critiques, emphasizing his defense of critical thinking against instrumental activism. It explores how Adorno's engagement with Zivilisationskritik during the interwar years laid the foundations for his later thought, notably his efforts to repurpose conservative ideas for emancipatory aims. It then reviews how this reinterpretation does not displace the acknowledged influences on Adorno's work, such as Marxism, psychoanalysis, modernism, and theology, but highlights their coexistence with radical conservative elements. The chapter outlines the book's broader argument that Adorno's philosophical development involved a critical reworking of Spengler's and Klages's ideas alongside his Marxist commitments. It demonstrates how Adorno's “gamble” with interwar conservative critiques contributed to the emergence of key concepts like mimetic reason, the frailty of democracy, and the dialectic of enlightenment.