Liviu Poenaru, Feb. 4, 2025

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According to Adorno, life under capitalism is fundamentally damaged because the system distorts human experience, relationships, and thought, subordinating all aspects of existence to economic rationality and instrumental reason. In Minima Moralia (Verso Books, 2020), he argues that human subjectivity is alienated, commodified, and reduced to mere functionality within a structure designed for profit rather than genuine human flourishing. His critique, deeply influenced by Marxist theory, also incorporates psychoanalysis and critical philosophy, particularly in his concept of the "administered world"—a society in which autonomy, spontaneity, and individuality are systematically eroded.

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One of Adorno’s central concerns is the alienation and commodification of life. Under capitalism, everything—including emotions, relationships, and intellectual pursuits—is transformed into a commodity. Even art and philosophy, which traditionally stood as spaces of resistance and critical reflection, are subjected to the logic of exchange, stripped of their depth and autonomy. This results in a reified existence, where individuals no longer experience themselves as free but as economic units, conditioned to find meaning only through their roles in production and consumption.

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This loss of autonomy is exacerbated by capitalism’s dominance of instrumental rationality, a mode of thinking that prioritizes efficiency, calculation, and utility over truth, meaning, or ethical considerations. As a result, critical thinking is replaced by conformity, and individuals become complicit in their own subjugation. The logic of capitalism does not merely exploit people—it shapes their consciousness, making them internalize the system’s imperatives as if they were their own.

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A key mechanism through which this ideological control is maintained is what Adorno and Horkheimer term the Culture Industry. Rather than fostering genuine culture or intellectual engagement, mass media and entertainment standardize human experience, pacifying the population with superficial pleasures. Instead of serving as spaces of critique, art and culture become instruments of mass deception, conditioning individuals to accept the status quo. Capitalism, rather than merely controlling the economy, manufactures desires, suppresses dissent, and transforms leisure into another form of labor, in which individuals endlessly consume prefabricated experiences.

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Beyond its ideological effects, capitalism also causes psychological damage, eroding individuality and fostering repression. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, Adorno argues that capitalist societies produce individuals who are internally fractured, forced to suppress their true desires and conform to rigid social norms. The pressure to succeed, to be productive, and to market oneself at all times results in a damaged self, incapable of genuine spontaneity or authentic relationships. What is presented as “freedom” in capitalist society is, in reality, a highly structured system of coercion, where individuals internalize the demands of the system and mistake them for their own.

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Perhaps most disturbingly, Adorno sees capitalism as having an inherent totalitarian potential, not through direct political oppression but through more subtle forms of economic and cultural control. Even in so-called free societies, individuals experience domination—not through state violence but through economic coercion, social conditioning, and cultural manipulation. Capitalism functions not merely by limiting material freedoms but by shaping people’s very perception of reality, making them unable to imagine alternatives.

 

For Adorno, the good life is impossible under capitalism. Every attempt at genuine freedom, happiness, or intellectual independence is distorted by the system’s economic imperatives. Minima Moralia, written in exile, reflects his deep sense of displacement and pessimism about modernity. It is not simply a work of despair—it is also a critical tool, urging readers to resist the dehumanizing effects of capitalism through critical thought, cultural engagement, and an unwavering commitment to intellectual freedom. Life under capitalism is damaged not just because it is exploitative, but because it conditions people to accept their own subjugation, eroding the very possibility of authentic human existence.

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