Abstract

This discussion presents the tension and similarities of Nietzsche's and Adorno's relentless critique of ideology, reason, Enlightenment, and culture. While many scholars at the Frankfurt School perceive Nietzsche as an ambiguous philosopher with questionable visions, Adorno praises him as the most consequent anti-metaphysical thinker and an outspoken critic of modernity. ;The discussion begins with an exploration of Nietzsche's and Adorno's critiques of rationality in the context of the contemporary debates about reason, irrationality, and postmodernism. This includes Nietzsche's and Adorno's shared critique of the ideological presuppositions ruling rational and metaphysical thought, such as identity thinking, logic, and notions of truth. Examined are also Adorno's disagreements with Nietzsche, including Nietzsche's notion of amor fati, the call for affirmation of life and for amorality, and Nietzsche's degrading remarks about women. The writing of history is another point of discussion. Departing from Nietzsche's concept of genealogy, consideration is given to Foucault's understanding of the genealogical project and to Habermas' critique of it. This analysis includes a genealogical interpretation of Adorno's historical-philosophical narrative in the Dialectic of Enlightenment. ;The fourth chapter explicates Nietzsche's and Adorno's critiques of modernity. For both Nietzsche and Adorno, Richard Wagner represents the modern artist par excellence. This chapter uses their critiques of Wagner's aesthetics to exemplify their critiques of modern art and culture. Nietzsche and Adorno find Wagner's works to be totalitarian, calculated, and fatalistic commodities that aim to erase their difference from reality. ;The discussion of Wagner is followed by a comparative reading of Nietzsche's and Adorno's critiques of Bildung, a concept, both claim, that has been demolished by modern mass culture. The sixth chapter compares and contrasts Nietzsche's and Adorno's use of aphorisms and essays to express their thought. It provides an analysis of the relationship between Nietzsche's and Adorno's ideas and their textual presentation.