Arendt and Adorno: Political and Philosophical Investigations - Tapa dura

"This cogent, insightful account of two major intellectual figures seeks to reconstruct their theoretical contexts, to identify their respective contributions, and to establish their continuing relevance. It offers an important defense of a difference-sensitive universalism against particularisms of all kinds, from religious fundamentalism to postmodern identity fetishism. This volume helps to renew critical theory and mobilize its resources in order to explain and assess modernity." -- Douglas Moggach * University of Ottawa * "Theodor W. Adorno and Hannah Arendt are two of the most important and controversial theorists of the twentieth century. Lars Rensmann's and Samir Gandesha's Arendt and Adorno is the first and only existing English language collection of essays delving into the interconnections, overlaps, and disagreements within the respective oeuvres of these German-American emigres . . . Arendt and Adorno, in sophisticated and experimental fashion, provides a primarily academic audience with a much needed addition to the current debates (or more often lack of debate) between Arendtians and more classical Frankfurt School critical theorists, as well as an inspiring introduction for those who have only recently become interested in these thinkers." -- Bryant William Sculos * Marx & Philosophy Review of Books * "Arendt and Adorno: Political and Philosophical Investigations is a long overdue and much needed volume that takes the gaze off the personal relationship and focuses instead on the many theoretical affinities between the two thinkers . . . [O]n the whole [the essays] offer a very rich and nuanced understanding of the convergences and divergences between Adorno's and Arendt's thought." -- Peg Birmingham "The essays in this highly illuminating and thought-provoking volume are intricately and convincingly crafted to create new levels in the understanding of Arendt and Adorno as individuals, and in grasping the philosophic relationship between them, despite and because of their differences." -- Marica Morgan "Hannah Arendt and T.W. Adorno are rarely discussed in the same breath. This fine collection draws out points of overlap and causes the reader to pause and reflect about their similarities and differences on important issues." -- Stephen Eric Bronner * Rutgers University * "The book assembles the most distinguished experts on Arendt and Adorno. Despite the mutual antipathy between the two thinkers, the study reveals they had a surprising affinity, especially with regard to the critique and rethinking of modernity." -- Fred Dallmayr * University of Notre Dame *

The first comparative study of two of the most influential political philosophers and theorists of the twentieth century, Hannah Arendt and Theodor W. Adorno, this book reconstructs affinities and tensions between the two thinkers and shows their relevance for political theory and philosophy in our time.