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Tom Houseman
The recent engagement with �post-secular� thought has been especially pronounced within the critical tradition, in which messianic eschatology has been variously rehabilitated or reaffirmed. Amongst others, the thought of Theodor W. Adorno has recently been enlisted in this endeavour, culminating in a synthesis of critical theory and Jewish Gnosticism. This article argues that such a reading not only misrepresents Adorno�s thought, but also misses its critical contribution. In contrast to the project of revivifying the messianic in order to save critical theory from aimless nihilism, Adorno�s eschatology, inherited through a critical dialogue with Hegel, Marx and Benjamin, is a negative imprint, devoid of the theism, teleology and promises of salvation that characterise and secure other appropriations of the eschatological tradition. To recognise the originality and potency of Adorno�s critical reworking of eschatology, I argue, we must understand the theological role played by Auschwitz throughout his writings. Adorno constructs a constellation in which Auschwitz is the eschaton, the horrific fulfilment of the promise of history. In doing so, he reconfigures the ethical impulse of the critical tradition: critical theory derives its purpose and urgency not from the promise of a better world, but from the horror of the present one.
