Introduction to Sociology distills decades of distinguished work in
sociology by one of this century's most influential thinkers in the
areas of social theory, philosophy, aesthetics, and music. It consists
of a course of seventeen lectures given by Theodor W. Adorno in May-July
1968, the last lecture series before his death in 1969. Captured by tape
recorder (which Adorno called "the fingerprint of the living mind"),
these lectures present a somewhat different, and more accessible, Adorno
from the one who composed the faultlessly articulated and almost
forbiddingly perfect prose of the works published in his lifetime. Here
we can follow Adorno's thought in the process of formation (he spoke
from brief notes), endowed with the spontaneity and energy of the spoken
word. The lectures form an ideal introduction to Adorno's work,
acclimatizing the reader to the greater density of thought and language
of his classic texts. Delivered at the time of the "positivist dispute"
in sociology, Adorno defends the position of the "Frankfurt School"
against criticism from mainstream positivist sociologists. He sets out a
conception of sociology as a discipline going beyond the compilation and
interpretation of empirical facts, its truth being inseparable from the
essential structure of society itself. Adorno sees sociology not as one
academic discipline among others, but as an over-arching discipline that
impinges on all aspects of social life. Tracing the history of the
discipline and insisting that the historical context is constitutive of
sociology itself, Adorno addresses a wide range of topics, including:
the purpose of studying sociology; the relation of sociology and
politics; the influence of Saint-Simon, Comte, Durkheim, Weber, Marx,
and Freud; the contributions of ethnology and anthropology; the
relationship of method to subject matter; the problems of quantitative
analysis; the fetishization of science; and the separation of sociology
and social philosophy.
