Autonomy and social criticism › The Refusal That Speaks

On January 31, 1969, students occupied Frankfurt's Institute for Social Research. Police cleared the building and detained the occupiers. The institute’s archival account distinguishes the 76 students detained during the clearance, including Hans-Jürgen Krahl, from Krahl’s arrest and prosecution. The confrontation intensified a dispute between student activists and a philosopher whose work had helped shape their criticism of society. The institute documents the episode in its [account of the occupation](https://www.ifs.uni-frankfurt.de/newsleser/schlaglichter-auf-100-jahre-ifs-19.html). The episode raises a question that runs through Adorno's philosophy: what connects criticism to action? He worried that the demand for immediate usefulness could prevent thought from questioning the purposes it was expected to serve. That concern helps explain his position, but it does not settle whether calling the police was justified. The historical dispute and the philosophical argument each require examination. The question of usefulness also shapes *Aesthetic Theory*, published posthumously in 1970 from the manuscript Adorno left unfinished. The book asks how art can criticize the society that produces it. Its difficulty partly follows from this problem: art participates in economic and social arrangements while sometimes offering experiences that challenge them. A painting can be an expensive commodity and still unsettle the values of its owners.