The Jargon of Authenticity

Introduction

Adorno originally conceived the text as part of Negative Dialectics and published it separately in 1964; the subtitle, “On German Ideology”, recalls the book by Marx and Engels. He analyses a vocabulary that had spread from existential philosophy into speeches, sermons and educational writing in post-war West Germany – words such as encounter, commitment, concern and authenticity – which suggest depth and meaning without saying anything definite. The second half deals mainly with Heidegger, whose analysis of death and authenticity Adorno reads as ideology. Jaspers is another target. The polemic has been praised as linguistic criticism and criticised as unfair to its subjects.

Connections

Criticizes

• Being and Time1927 · Martin Heidegger

More works by Theodor W. Adorno

• 1944Dialectic of Enlightenment
• 1951Minima Moralia
• 1966Negative Dialectics