Abstract

As a central legacy to the dialectical journey chronicled in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the uniquely Hegelian proviso to think concretely poses a special challenge when developed as the chief motif in Theodor Adorno’s attempt to guide us through the maze of Hegel’s texts. In Hegel: Three Studies, Adorno shows with extraordinary intensity how the continual challenge of grappling with Hegel’s writings converges with the apparently separate effort to pioneer novel philosophical insights. The passivity of reading and the activity of original thinking are not disparate tasks, but may instead distinguish complementary sides of the life of spirit in its historical movement.