Happiness and Pleasure in Adorno's Aesthetics

Since Kant, the role of pleasure in the appreciation of art and beauty has been a frequent issue in German aesthetics. This article discusses Adorno's aesthetics in the light of this question. According to Alexander Nehamas, modernist art and aesthetics, starting with Kant and culminating in the twentieth century with Clement Greenberg, sacrificed pleasure for the sake of other aesthetic values. Although Adorno also was a deeply committed modernist, unlike the Kantians he did accept the need to relate aesthetic appreciation to pleasure and, ultimately, to a desire for happiness. The article compares this stance to that of Kant, who dismisses emotion completely. It also confronts Adorno with his criticisms of the culture industry. Ultimately, Adorno advocates a view of art as emotionally engaging, albeit often in negative, oblique ways, anticipating rather than directly presenting states of happiness and human integrity.