Adorno

374 Part IV: Thinking the Unconditional

the weekly Die Zeit.^30 And, from the start, he was active in the greatly
respected debating forum of the Darmstädter Gespräche, in which he
had already taken part as early as summer 1950 when they focused on
modern art, and he was a contributor once again in September 1953
when the topic under discussion was ‘The Individual and Organization’.
Parts of the Darmstädter Gespräche were broadcast, and the lectures
and discussions also appeared in book form.^31 The reason why Adorno
became such a ubiquitous presence in the media was connected with
the fact that he could claim to be an authority not just in one field, but
in equal measure in philosophy, sociology, music theory and literary
criticism. He frequently proposed the subjects of discussion himself
and had a great flair for knowing what would be of interest. His com-
mentaries were distinguished by his ability to tackle them in an inter-
disciplinary way and then to debate them in a controversial and even
explosive form. He had a particular affinity for the radio, the dominant
medium at the time. He consciously wished to make use of it to gain
a wider audience for his critical mode of thinking. Moreover, what
was expressed in this desire for media coverage was his sense that,
as an intellectual, he had a particular responsibility. He saw himself
not only as a specialized scientist but also as a committed, critical
intellectual, trying to develop a lecturing style on the radio and later
on in television that would be as comprehensible as possible. He was
skilled in expressing his complex ideas while speaking off the cuff,
well aware that he could not speak to the media ‘as he would have to
if he were to give an authoritative written account of a subject... ;
however, nothing that he says can do justice to what he would demand
from a text’.^32

In the stream, but swimming against the tide

The power of thought not to swim with its own current is the power of

resistance to what has previously been thought. Emphatic thought calls

for the courage to stand by one’s convictions.^33

In many respects Adorno led a double life. As an academic teacher
and researcher he transcended the traditional boundaries separating
philosophy, sociology, and the study of literature and music. But, in
addition, he regularly combined the role of the social researcher and
social theorist with that of the intellectual. He was well aware that this
‘suspension of the division of labour’ was held to be particularly dis-
reputable ‘since it betrayed a disinclination to sanction the activities
approved of by society, and domineering competence permits no such
idiosyncrasies. The compartmentalization of mind is a means of abolish-
ing mind where it is not exercised ex officio, under contract. It performs
this task all the more reliably since anyone who repudiates the division