Includes bibliographical references and index.

Theodor W. Adorno was the leading philosopher of the first generation of the Frankfurt School and is best known for his contributions to aesthetics and social theory. Critics have always complained about the lack of a practical, political, or ethical dimension to Adorno's philosophy. In this highly original contribution to the literature on Adorno, J. M. Bernstein offers the first attempt in any language to provide an account of the ethical theory latent in Adorno's writings." "Bernstein relates Adorno's ethics to major trends in contemporary moral philosophy. He analyses the full range of Adorno's major works, with a special focus on Dialectic of Enlightenment, Minima Moralia, and Negative Dialectics. In developing his account Bernstein lays particular stress on Adorno's contention that the event of Auschwitz demands a new categorical imperative.