Filosofia, música e sociedade: a noção de progresso em Theodor W. Adorno

Abstract

The study proposed here aims at understanding the notion of progress in Theodor W. Adorno from the focus given by the author in his two main texts: Dialectic of Enlightenment, and The Philosophy of New Music. The traditional vision of progress concerns the increasing humanity conquests in the scope of techniques. Common sense has understood the category of progress as getting things better" only with relationship to the development of science and techniques in order to move fear of lack of resources away. Adorno explores a criticism that questions this concept of progress. In Dialectic of Enlightenment, written with the collaboration of Max Horkheimer, Adorno uses his previous studies on music and philosophy to criticize the development process of western reasoning that was turned into an instrumentalization of life. In this study, technical progress seems to be the responsible for the loss of autonomy and individuals' freedom, as they are subjected to the control of irrational ideological systems. However, his studies on philosophy and music presented scenery for techniques, once the latter would not be the only ones to cause man's domain, but a decisive object for such interests, linked to the economical functionality. The study of Philosophy of the New Music and other philosophical texts by the author will enlighten the discussions in which Adorno talks about progress and its limits, demystifying the idea that he would have abandoned the notion of technical progress for his involvement with instrumental reasoning. This way, a new approach of the concept in Adorno can be carried out from his research in relation to music, being used a philosophical reflection in order to relate it to society.