Talk:Theodor W. Adorno

The Beatles
The Beatles aren't mentioned on Theodor Adorno's page, his main claim to fame?184.147.234.152 (talk) 04:42, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

That's because we aren't supposed to know that. There's no mention of the various security clearances he held either... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2405:6582:8580:C00:1C63:C011:6957:77B0 (talk) 09:26, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Not only did Adorno ghostwrite many Beatles songs, he also ghostwrote for other 'artists'. These include such works of layered symbolism advocating sexual promiscuity and drug experimentation foist on the public via the Tavistock Institute as 'Spinning Wheel' (Blood, Sweat & Tears), 'The Wind Cries Mary' (Hendrix), and 'The Mighty Quinn' (Manfred Mann). Spinning Wheel ends with a snippet of the 1815 Austrian tune "O Du Lieber Augustin" which was Adorno's inspiration for the tune and was included as a personal calling card by Adorno. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2405:6582:8580:C00:150F:BDC5:D00C:CD91 (talk) 08:08, 12 October 2020 (UTC)


 * "Adorno ghostwrote many Beatles songs"?? Which ones were they exactly? Martinevans123 (talk) 13:36, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Natural history
I'll preface this by saying that my own understanding of philosophy is very minimal. The intro to this article mentions Adorno's approach to "natural history." Does "natural history" have a different meaning in philosophical contexts? The study of plants, animals, and fungi in their natural habitats doesn't really seem to fit with his other areas of work. What am I missing? --JDspeeder1 (talk) 17:47, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I have to agree with you that sentence is very unclear to me too. "Natural history" is never mentioned in the article again and that sentence has no references. the twin temptations of ontology and empiricism sounds very bad too. This sentence probably needs to be re-written. -- Mvbaron (talk) 17:59, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Everyone seeems to having fun here - except possibly the shade of Adorno himself. But in the music section the direct reference to Alex Ross's 1914 New Yorker article is either illiterately punctuated (one comma too many - that after "Ross") or sloppily edited, (failure to delete the comma indicating a now missing section). And whoever thinks "The Mighty Quinn" should be credited to Manfred Mann has never heard of The Scaffold. Mind you, he/she would have to be at least 83 now to have done so. I give notive that, unless someone has a serious objection, I propose to edit out the surplus comma after "Ross" in due courseDelahays (talk) 08:08, 26 July 2022 (UTC)

What happened to his father in Germany after he himself fled Germany?
Did I miss something? Did his Jewish father survived in Nazi-Germany? 2003:C6:BF46:4901:1FB:94DA:A06C:EF0C (talk) 07:58, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
 * According to this article (in German), his parents fled to the US in 1939. This article (in German) in the Stolperstein project is more extensive. Both parents fled via Cuba to the US and died in New York, Oskar in 1946, Maria in 1952. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 12:42, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

edit to first sentence of lead
Hi all,

I propose that the first sentence of the lead be rewritten as follows:

Theodor W. Adorno (/əˈdɔːrnoʊ/ ə-DOR-noh, German: [ˈteːodoːɐ̯ ʔaˈdɔʁno] ⓘ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, social theorist, and musicologist.

We should keep it to no more than three roles unless there is very good reason to the contrary. (See the WP policy, which in this case I think is good.) There might be a better variant of "social theorist", but the other two seem obvious. He was not a psychologist, and is not known for being a composer. Another option would be simply "philosopher".

I read the entire article yesterday and gave it a (little-needed) copy edit in the process of checking for the introduction of material inserted to support the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, which has made its way into related articles. This one seems clean. Must be too intimidating!

That is just to say that my proposal is based, not only upon my own estimation of my own knowledge of the subject, but also upon what is supported by the article.

I'll leave this here a while for discussion and swing back around to make the change if no one responds within a few days. We can always reopen the issue if anyone who disagrees only finds this after the edit.

Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 23:25, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

Jewish?
The article says "His mother, a Catholic from Corsica, was once a professional singer, while his father, an assimilated Jew who had converted to Protestantism, ran a successful wine-export business." So in what way was Theodor Jewish? Presumably only just by descent, not by religion, although he did have some contact with Jewish organisations? Are all of the six Jewish Categories justified? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:35, 15 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Well that had the effect of an IP trying to remove the context of his father's conversion. I've reverted that change but I think we should probably open the discussion with what reliable sources say about Adorno's religion. I know far right types like to think all us scary neo-Marxists are part of a Jewish conspiracy but what do the actual sources say? Simonm223 (talk) 12:24, 25 April 2024 (UTC)