What is Adorno's position on 'interdisciplinary studies' as commonly practiced?

Correct answer: He is skeptical, believing that simple collaboration does not solve the problem of the division of labor.

Explanation

This question gauges the student's understanding of Adorno's critical stance on the popular notion of 'interdisciplinary studies,' which he sees as a superficial solution to the deep problem of intellectual fragmentation.

Other questions

Question 1

In Lecture Thirteen, how does Adorno describe the fundamental role of sociology in relation to other academic disciplines?

Question 2

According to Adorno, what is the primary danger for sociology as a discipline that consists 'essentially in reflection'?

Question 3

How does Adorno's conception of sociology's task differ from that of Talcott Parsons's structural-functional theory?

Question 4

Adorno uses Freudian psychoanalysis as a model to demonstrate how a discipline focused on the individual inevitably encounters social concepts. Which Freudian term does he reinterpret as being rooted in the 'simple fact of shortage' in society?

Question 5

What is the 'dialectical motif' Adorno identifies within Freudian theory?

Question 6

How does Adorno critique Jung's theory of the 'collective unconscious' in relation to Freud's work?

Question 7

According to Adorno, what is the 'super-ego' a representation of within the individual psyche?

Question 8

What is Adorno's main criticism of Durkheim's study of suicide?

Question 9

Why, according to Adorno, did the Frankfurt School find it necessary to incorporate psychological considerations into the 'objective' theory of society?

Question 10

Adorno claims that the dialectic of the particular and the general was rediscovered in the scientific project of Freud. What does he mean by this?

Question 11

What does Adorno identify as the social root of the category of the individual itself?

Question 12

In his critique of Durkheim, Adorno paradoxically claims that Durkheim attributes properties to the 'conscience collective' that he had previously...

Question 13

What is Adorno's advice to students regarding the study of sociology and other disciplines?

Question 14

Adorno critiques the Freudian tendency to underestimate the possibility of individuation and variability in human beings. To which Freudian concept does he link this tendency?

Question 15

What is the 'Freudian slip' Adorno makes and then reflects upon during his discussion of socialization and the super-ego?

Question 16

Adorno argues that a sociology which forgets the mediation through individual subjectivity is as false as one that reduces sociology to psychology. Why does he find the latter idea, which he attributes to Freud, to be invalidated?

Question 17

What does Adorno identify as the 'true task of sociology'?

Question 18

In Lecture Thirteen, Adorno suggests that when combining two scientific disciplines, the concepts taken from one into the other almost always lack what?

Question 19

Which book does Adorno still consider the 'best introduction to the whole field of psychoanalysis' and urge 'every sociologist to study'?

Question 20

What is the consequence of Freud's theory regarding the 'Oedipus complex' and the supposed unalterable nature of human beings?

Question 21

Adorno defines the social universal embodied in the super-ego through several commandments. Which of the following is NOT one of the commandments he lists?

Question 22

In his discussion of Durkheim on suicide, Adorno mentions a hierarchy of religions in 1890s France based on the definiteness of their social norms. What is the correct order of this hierarchy, from most to least definite norms?

Question 23

What temptation of sociology does Adorno point out concerning the mediation of the general through psychology?

Question 24

How does Adorno define 'socialization' in the context of his discussion of the super-ego?

Question 25

What is Adorno's critical take on the use of 'keywords' or 'maxims' like Jung's 'collective unconscious' in intellectual discourse?

Question 26

Adorno states that sociology is prone to a 'misapprehension' regarding psychology. What is this misapprehension?

Question 27

In his critique of Durkheim, Adorno uses a term from Marx to describe what happens to social regularity when psychological mediation is ignored. What is that term?

Question 28

What is the study 'Die revidierte Psychoanalyse', mentioned by Adorno in Lecture Thirteen, about?

Question 29

Adorno argues that a sociology that ignores individual subjectivity is dogmatic. What is the equal and opposite error he identifies?

Question 30

What is the significance of the distinction between Max Weber's 'mind mania' (Geisthuberei) and 'fact mania' (Stoffhuberei) in Lecture Thirteen?

Question 31

Adorno states that Freud's psychoanalysis, by being centered on the individual, seems furthest removed from the social context. Why then does he choose it as a model for his argument?

Question 32

In what way does Adorno see Freud's concept of 'archaic images' as containing a 'dialectical motif'?

Question 33

What is Adorno's final conclusion about Durkheim's theory of suicide?

Question 34

Adorno claims his own work in musicology and psychology has been beneficial to his sociological thought. What principle does this personal experience support?

Question 35

When Adorno discusses the 'dialectic of the particular and the general' in relation to Freud, he is making a point that he explicitly states was 'taught by' which philosopher?

Question 36

What does Adorno argue is the objective, sociological basis for what Freud called the 'vital need' (Lebensnot) that compels renunciation?

Question 37

How many Freudian psychological categories does Adorno use as examples to illustrate his point about the super-ego in Lecture Thirteen?

Question 38

Adorno argues that the category of the individual is not antithetical to society but is a social category itself. How does he define individuality in this context?

Question 39

In his final remarks on Durkheim, Adorno refers to the 'conscience collective'. How does he characterize this concept?

Question 41

Adorno mentions a study he developed twenty years prior from a lecture to the Psychoanalytic Society in San Francisco. What is the title of this study?

Question 42

Adorno criticizes a tendency in Freudian theory to regard human beings as 'very largely unalterable'. What does he suggest is the source of this view within the theory?

Question 43

What does Adorno suggest is the relationship between the commandments internalized in the super-ego (e.g., 'thou shalt work hard') and social reality?

Question 44

Adorno's critique of Durkheim's 'conscience collective' claims it performs a miracle. What is this 'miracle'?

Question 45

What does Adorno ultimately conclude about the relationship between sociology and psychology?

Question 46

Adorno characterizes his own sociological approach, in contrast to that of Talcott Parsons, as seeking what?

Question 47

What is the primary reason Adorno gives for Freud's positing of a 'vital need' (Lebensnot)?

Question 48

In Lecture Thirteen, what does Adorno describe as the first of two things a sociologist might see when examining Freud's theory of the 'id'?

Question 49

What is Adorno's view on the work of the revisionist psychoanalysts he mentions?

Question 50

Adorno ends Lecture Thirteen by thanking the students for their attention. What principle does he use the example of Durkheim's study of suicide to illustrate immediately before this?