AIANI REPORT
I was pleased and honored to participate in the July-4-6 2024 International Conference, “Adorno’s Sociology,” organized by Innsbruck Professor Frank Welz and hosted by the University of Innsbruck, at the Hotel Grauer Baer in Innsbruck’s historic Old Town. Frank was a gracious and welcoming host, and the participants of the conference were of the highest academic caliber. Bringing together Adorno scholars from around the globe was a rare experience of academic exchange, learning, and community. The presentations and keynote speakers brought many new ideas and added much creative inspiration for my own future research. Given the current Gaza war and global situation, as an Israeli scholar I especially appreciated the academic excellence fostered at the conference.
On the final day of the conference in the morning session I presented the paper, “Adorno and the Question of Theology.” My paper discussed the question of how best to understand Adorno’s abundant yet puzzling use of theological language. Is it mere rhetorical flourish, or does it have a deeper bearing on his philosophy? I first reviewed three influential views on the topic—that Adorno used theological language only rhetorically; that his philosophy evinces an “Inverted” Theology; and that his philosophy is really an example of Negative Theology. My presentation argued that Adorno’s core, non-foundationalist model for philosophy, what he calls the “constellation,” points beyond these three readings. More than this, understanding his theological usages by the logic of the constellation prefigures pressing topics at the forefront of Critical Theory today: as Jurgen Habermas recently put it, “How to save the truth content of religious traditions for the sake of secular modernity while denying at the same time its very foundation in religious belief?”
While my stay in beautiful Innsbruck was too brief, it was enough to know that it is a place I would love to come back to, and not just for the beautiful views. The conference demonstrated that the University of Innsbruck is a vital hub for international and regional excellence and of the highest academic standards.
Rachel Kontorovich Rosner
PhD Candidate, Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Research Fellow, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Israel
I was pleased and honored to participate in the July-4-6 2024 International Conference, “Adorno’s Sociology,” organized by Innsbruck Professor Frank Welz and hosted by the University of Innsbruck, at the Hotel Grauer Baer in Innsbruck’s historic Old Town. Frank was a gracious and welcoming host, and the participants of the conference were of the highest academic caliber. Bringing together Adorno scholars from around the globe was a rare experience of academic exchange, learning, and community. The presentations and keynote speakers brought many new ideas and added much creative inspiration for my own future research. Given the current Gaza war and global situation, as an Israeli scholar I especially appreciated the academic excellence fostered at the conference.
On the final day of the conference in the morning session I presented the paper, “Adorno and the Question of Theology.” My paper discussed the question of how best to understand Adorno’s abundant yet puzzling use of theological language. Is it mere rhetorical flourish, or does it have a deeper bearing on his philosophy? I first reviewed three influential views on the topic—that Adorno used theological language only rhetorically; that his philosophy evinces an “Inverted” Theology; and that his philosophy is really an example of Negative Theology. My presentation argued that Adorno’s core, non-foundationalist model for philosophy, what he calls the “constellation,” points beyond these three readings. More than this, understanding his theological usages by the logic of the constellation prefigures pressing topics at the forefront of Critical Theory today: as Jurgen Habermas recently put it, “How to save the truth content of religious traditions for the sake of secular modernity while denying at the same time its very foundation in religious belief?”
While my stay in beautiful Innsbruck was too brief, it was enough to know that it is a place I would love to come back to, and not just for the beautiful views. The conference demonstrated that the University of Innsbruck is a vital hub for international and regional excellence and of the highest academic standards.
Rachel Kontorovich Rosner
PhD Candidate, Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Research Fellow, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Israel
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