The main aim of this thesis is to elicit what 'to think with one's ears' means and whether it is possible in Adorno's philosophical thought and beyond. To this purpose, this research is articulated into three focal points: The first of them ['Part 1'] is an analysis of the constitution of the theory of knowledge in the Adornian project through the critique of philosophical tradition. This analysis leads to the articulation of the meaning of the content of truth as a place where philosophy and art converge, and his model of truth as a critique of adequatio intellectus et rei. It is here where the importance of music in Adorno's theory of knowledge is first outlined, and it becomes the main topic of the second focal point ['Part 2'], where the particular relationship between knowledge and music is delineated through some of its principal constellations. It also introduces one of the claims of this research, namely, that the attempt to converge philosophy and music, which had been Adorno's main focus until the 1950s is thwarted as he establishes contact with Darmstadt School composers. The changes in this convergence between philosophy and music, which will eventually become a divergence, are shown first from an outward perspective (how music is approached, understood, analyzed and experienced) and then from an inward perspective (which elements constitute the aural phenomenon in particular). This divergence is essential in order to understand the third focal point ['Part 3'], where its potential is analyzed. This part is focused on the specificity of 'thinking with one's ears'. This involves elucidating which elements music, and the aural in general, possess so that they can rearticulate philosophical knowledge. Philosophical knowledge is traditionally constituted in the tension between presence and representation and visual logics. Therefore, the aim is to explore the possibilities of non-propositional truth in an emphatical sense. This implies the withdrawal of the primacy of the visual, which is the framework that articulates the means of knowledge in traditional Western Philosophy. To this end we place focus on Adorno's critique of rationality and his 'Materialism Imageless' proposal in Negative Dialectics.
"Pensar con los oídos": conocimiento y música en la filosofía de Th. W. Adorno
Hervas Muñoz, M. (Author). 6 Jul 2017
Student thesis: Doctoral thesis
Student thesis: Doctoral thesis