Against False Universals and Identitarian Thought

Adorno’s early critique of philosophy was inspired by Walter Benjamin’s theory of constellations and interpretation. Adorno never deviated from these beginnings, and his rejection of the philosopher’s search for a rational totality developed in his later writings into a critique of identitarian thought in epistemology and politics. There is a surprising convergence between Arendt’s concept of enlarged thought and Adorno on the pitfalls of identitarian thinking. The political implications of these theses for contemporary politics are significant and are explored in the context of European discussions on antisemitism and anti-Islamism.