Theodor Adorno is considered one of the most influential thinkers in social theory. His work has influenced philosophy, sociology, and musicology. His two most influential sociological works were Dialectic of Enlightenment and Authoritarian Personality. Dialectic of Enlightenmen can be text searched at Amazon.com. He was born, raised, and educated in Frankfurt Germany. He was of Jewish decent but raise as a Protestant. Like many of the Jewish intelligentsia Adorno left Germany during the late 1930s. He spent many years in America at Columbia University and California University before returning to Germany in 1949. The dominion of the Nazi Party in Germany had a profound effect on Adorno’s research and writing.
Selecting an Area of Interest for Your Sociology Paper
One of the biggest mistakes undergraduates make when planning a paper is they do not narrow down their topic enough. Make sure to focus a specific area in you paper. Below are some suggestions and some helpful hints.
Critique of EnlightenmentThis is a great topic, but it is tricky. Unlike many thinkers that have unabashedly embraced the Enlightenment ideas of science and progress, Adorno argues that these ideas have had unintended negative consequences on culture, government, business, and how we see nature and one another. Reading the chapter “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” from Dialectic of Enlightenment is probably the best way to get a feel for Adorno’s position. Fortunately this chapter (not the book) is available online.
A Word of Warning: Adorno’s idea about Enlightenment becoming a myth is complex and probably not a good area to work for undergraduates.
Mistakes to Avoid: Writing that Adorno was against the Enlightenment, science, progress, and/or capitalism is incorrect. His position is more nuanced. Also be sure to credit Max Horkheimer as co-author of Dialectic of Enlightenment.
Authoritarian Personality Another great topic. The challenge with this topic is that you probably won’t be able get through the book. That means other resources will need to be found. Adorno’s argument is summarized well by Stephen Crook in the book Adorno: The Stars Down to Earth and Other Essays on the Irrational in Culture. A full text copy of Adorno is available through Google Scholar.
Mistakes to Avoid:Authoritarian personality is not the personality of an authoritative person.
Frankfurt School:Good survey topic. Martin Jay’s history of the Frankfurt School, Dialectical Imagination, is available through Google Scholar.
Mistakes to Avoid:Walter Benjamin is not a sociologist.
Books and Sources on Adorno
The online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a great overview of Adorno. This is a good place to start. Books to consider for your paper are Theodor Adorno: Key Concepts by Deborah Cook, The Cambridge Companion to Adorno by Tom Huhn, and The Frankfurt School: Its History, Theories, and Political Significance by Rolf Wiggershaus. Remember to use text search on Amazon.com to find your topics. Douglass Kellner and Ben Agger are two professors that write at length on Adorno and the Frankfurt school. Their websites and online journals are great places to go and find information. If your college gives you access the J-Stor or EBSCO databases there are a number articles that summarize Adorno’s work and cites many other sources.
Remember to include some critiques of Adorno in your paper.
Best Tools for Writing a Sociology Paper without a Book
The Gutenberg Project has many full text books available and searchable online.
Amazon.com allows you to search many academic books online.
Google Scholar has many books online available for full or limited preview.
Professors love to put many of their class notes, new ideas, and old papers online.
If your college provides you with J-Stor or EBSCO access there are numerous papers available that summarize a thinker’s works and contributions. If you have access to EBSCO Research Starters even better. This site summarizes topics specifically for undergraduates.
One last hint: Talk to your professor about Adorno and get their opinion. The last thing you want to do is write a paper about someone your professor doesn’t like or doesn’t consider relevant. You will have plenty of time to do this is graduate school.
PD Casteel - PD Casteel is a business executive, social theorist, and author. He is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University where he earned a BA in ...
