Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas - Two Ways of Being a Public Intellectual

Abstract

The intellectual practice of public critique of Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas is compared as a contribution to the sociology of the intellectual. The aim of this comparative analysis is to clarify the transformation of the function of the intellectual in the context of his social position. Here it is possible to distinguish between a ‘rescuing’ critique and a ‘consciousness-raising’ critique.