Towards a Theory of Aesthetics 131remained unpublished, conveys the impression that he wished simul-
taneously to make a comment on Adorno’s inaugural lecture as a
Privatdozent, which he had given in May 1931 in the University of
Frankfurt. This lecture had been something of a sensation, and I shall
discuss its content and direction against the background of the develop-
ment of the situation of the university from the early 1930s, above all in
connection with the debates of the day about the causes of the crisis in
the sciences and the future of a critical philosophy.