The Negative Logic of the Unconscious: A Response to Adorno’s Most Severe Critique of Psychoanalysis*

The aim of this text is to conduct a critical analysis of Theodor Adorno’s approach to psychoanalytic theory, particularly that of Sigmund Freud, focusing on aphorisms 36 to 39 and 42 from “Minima Moralia.” In the first part, we will read the philosopher’s arguments taking into account the strongest aspects in his argumentation. In the second part, we will provide critical points to highlight possible conceptual inaccuracies present in Adorno’s approach. We will try to demonstrate the hypothesis that Adorno’s criticisms disregard three important conceptual aspects of psychoanalytic theory: the unconscious conceived from a systematic point of view, repression differentiated from suppression, and the drive impulse conceived from the dynamics of repression.