Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words

DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Durham, UK
Programme of Research
for the MA in Theology (Catholic Studies):
Aesthetics, Dialectics and Transcendence in the works of Adorno and Balthasar.
Anonymous Assessment Code: Z0931281
Submitted to the Department of Theology and Religion in fulfilment of the
requirements of the Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology module
Word Count: 4994
27 April 2012
1
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
Aesthetics, Dialectics and Transcendence in the works of Adorno and Balthasar.
At the monastery of otre-Dame de l!Atlas, solidarity was not "oiced. #n Beau"ois! Of Gods and
Men
1
, the decision to remain in Algiers des$ite continuing hostility is cemented in a scene without
words. %ather, the &rethren eat in silence whilst Tchaiko"sky!s Swan Lake $lays from a cassette
$layer.
'
The scene communicates so much through the use of music, something which would &e
s$oilt if the res$lendent solidarity felt was $ut into words. This is a moment of &eauty, a moment
untranslata&le which condemns any comment as hu&ris. As Adorno says( )The !*ow &eautiful! at
the sight of a landsca$e... insults its mute language and reduces its &eauty.+
,

Although this scene affirms the ineffa&ility of &eautiful art, it nonetheless communicates something
o&-ecti"e and real yet more than what is contained within the o&-ect itself. Both Balthasar and
Adorno would agree( a $urely su&-ecti"e rece$tionist theory denies art $ower. we are left with a
Ba&el-aesthetic, where&y the caco$hony of intuiti"e inter$retations $re"ents the $iece from ha"ing
any "oice.
4
*owe"er, to attem$t to fully /ualify the content of this communicati"e e"ent
undermines the act of communication.
0

1 Of Gods and Men, dir. &y 1a"ier Bea"ois 2Armada 3ilms, '4145.
' This is &y no means irrele"ant( the $iece!s discerni&le effect testifies to the $ower of music des$ite its mechanical
re$roduction which Adorno was so critical of. 6ee( 7ichael %osen, !Ben-amin, Adorno, and the decline of the aura!,
in The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, ed. &y 3red %ush 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 44-0: 2$. 0,5.
, Theodor ;. Adorno, Aesthetic Theory 2<ondon( Continuum, 199=5, 94.
4 Balthasar!s need to concei"e of a ia media &etween a $ositi"istic o&-ecti"ity in artistic a$$reciation and the
relati"ism of a $urely su&-ecti"ist inter$retation is highlighted &y Block who argues that, for Balthasar, an
o&-ecti"ity in art is irrele"ant if the su&-ect cannot a$$ro$riate it. 6ee( >d Block ?r., !Balthasar!s literary criticism!, in
The Cambridge Companion to !ans "rs on #althasar, ed. &y >dward T. @akes, and Da"id 7oss 2Cam&ridge(
C89, '4445, '4=-'', 2$. '495.
;e see a similar tension in Adorno( whereas Bernstein sees Adorno!s determination of truth-content in art as
indication of his o&-ecti"ist understanding of art, the $rimacy of the critic o"er the artwork due to its historically-
em&edded nature leads others, like ;eitAman, to call it a )rece$tion-theory.+ 6ee(
?. 7. Bernstein, !+The dead s$eaking of stones and stars+!, in The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, ed. &y
3red %ush 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 1,9-1:4 2$. 1095.
;eitAman, >rica, !o $%n!, The German &%arterly, B1.1 2'44B5, 1B0-'4' 2$. 19B5.
0 As seen in Adorno!s $raise of modern art( its esotericism $re"ents neutraliAation through inter$retation. 6ee(
Bernstein, 10:,
'
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
This $a$er will com$are and contrast Adorno!s aesthetic theory with *ans 8rs "on Balthasar!s
theological aesthetics. This is necessary for three reasons(
3irst, the historically and socially em&edded nature of Balthasar!s theology needs eC$loring. #n
doing so, # ho$e to free Balthasar from the i"ory tower many accuse him of inha&iting.
:
The idea of
the theological aesthetics &eing the contem$lati"e counter$art to Balthasar!s theological dramatics is
$erha$s guilty for this misunderstanding.
=
Both Adorno and Balthasar!s conce$tion of immanent
mo"ement within art towards that which eCists outside of its form in"okes a )transcendent
materialism+
B
which refutes the accusation of &eing remo"ed from the world
9
&y maintaining a
sense of conce$tual $ro-ection. 3or Balthasar, history needs other than reason(
14
)only &eautiful
theology... has the chance of making any im$act in human history &y con"iction and
transformation.+
11
#n Balthasar, the Dantian $rimacy of reason is undermined &y the ineCtrica&le and
indissolu&le link &etween the transcendentals of truth, &eauty, goodness and &eing.
1'
To s$eak of
&eauty is there&y to s$eak &oth ethically and ontologically.
1,
#n Adorno, there is also the idea of
&eauty as the )other+ of reason,
14
a ri$oste of the *egelian aesthetic which saw art as an inferior
conce$tual tool com$ared with rationality.
10
Beauty in Adorno is that which &reaks the
>nlightenment s$ell of instrumental reason and frees us from the suffocating confines of system. #n
: )*e has &een accused of failing to offer a theological ground for $olitical action in the world.+ 6ee( @li"er Da"ies,
!The theological aesthetics!, in The Cambridge Companion to !ans "rs on #althasar, ed. &y >dward T. @akes and
Da"id 7oss 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 1,1-14' 2$. 1415.
= Ben Euash, !The theo-drama!, in The Cambridge Companion to !ans "rs on #althasar, ed. &y >dward T. @akes
and Da"id 7oss 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 14,-10= 2$. 14,5.
B ?ohn 7il&ank, !7aterialism and Transcendence!, in Theology and the 'olitical, ed, &y Creston Da"is et. al. 2Durham
F <ondon( Duke 8ni"ersity 9ress, '4405, ,9,-4'= 2$. ,9,5.
9 Also le"elled at Adorno. 6ee( Christo$her Craig Brittain, Adorno and Theology 2<ondon( TFT Clark, '4145, 11=.
14 <ouis Du$rG, !The Hlory of the <ord!, in !ans %rs (on #althasar) !is Life and *ork, ed. &y Da"id <. 6chindler 26an
3rancisco( #gnatius 9ress, 19915, 1B,-'4: 2$. 1945.
11 *ans 8rs "on Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord ++ 26an 3rancisco( #gnatius 9ress, 19B45, 1,.
1' *ans 8rs "on Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord + 26an 3rancisco( #gnatius 9ress, 19B'5, 1B-19.
1, +bid,
14 Bernstein, 144.
10 7ichael #nwood, !*egel!, in The -o%tledge Companion to Aesthetics, ed. &y Berys Haut et. al. 2%outledge, <ondon,
'4415, =4-=1.
,
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
Balthasar, the uni/ue claim a work of art can make on a reader is also affirmed as alterior to
rationality.
1:
Therefore, for &oth thinkers, art is not ancillary to the historical $ro-ect &ut essential.
6econdly, we hel$ reco"er a critical theology of art. Balthasar!s incarnational-sacramental ontology,
the awareness of the $ermeation of the natural and su$ernatural realms which nonetheless res$ect
their incommensura&ility,
1=
allows for a transcendental analogy of &eauty which holds a tension
&etween autonomous and eC$licitly $ur$osi"e art.
1B
The need to tread this "ia media is also a key
theme in Adorno who recognises that a )religious element+ is the only way to $re"ent the reification
of art.
19
*ow to concei"e of this sacramental admiCture &etween the material and the transcendent is
something we can eC$lore &y &ringing these thinkers together.
3inally, &y &ringing these two thinkers together, we can eC$lore the relationshi$ &etween the
a$o$hatic and cata$hatic and assess the $ossi&ility of a wholly negati"e dialectics of a&sence. # shall
now eC$lore &oth thinkers! conce$t of &eauty, mo"ing on to /uestion the location of art!s alterity.
Then, the relationshi$ &etween a$o$hatic and cata$hatic theology will &e eC$lored with reference to
*eidegger, concluding &y eC$loring transcendentality in relation to the <acanian %eal.
#ea%ty, ineffability, .nlightenment
Hood art is not &eautiful in-itself &ut testifies to a &eauty outside of itself. 3or Balthasar, this &eauty
1: Block, '4B. 6ee also( *ans 8rs "on Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord +( 26an 3rancisco( #gnatius 9ress, 19B95, 'B.
1= @n Balthasar!s sacramental ontology, see( *ans Boersma, /o%elle Theologie, and Sacramental Ontology 2@Cford(
@89, '4495, 11:-1,0.
1B Bernstein, 104.
19 %o&ert *ullot-Dentor, !%ight <istening and a ew Ty$e of *uman Being!, in The Cambridge Companion to Adorno,
ed. &y Thomas *uhn 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 1B1-19= 2$. 945.
4
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
resides in the Hlory of Hod. #n Adorno, it eCists in nature. Art does not seek to imitate nature,
'4
&ut
the &eauty of nature
'1
defined as the inimita&le, the unassimilata&le.
''
Beauty, for Adorno, highlights
the failures of the >nlightenment attem$t to dominate, su&sume and assimilate all things through
instrumental reason. ature eCists as &eing-in-itself,
',
an affront to the >nlightenment $ro-ect
which, in the stress on the $rimacy of the su&-ect, yearns for full identity &etween the su&-ect and
o&-ect, not through the mimetic a$$reciation of the o&-ect,
'4
&ut through the clea"ing of it to the
human will.
'0
atural &eauty, then, )ru&s on a wound.+
':
#t is )the trace of the non-identical in
things under the s$ell of uni"ersal identity+
'=
and, as such, eCists as aesthetically analogous to the
negati"e dialectic. as long as natural &eauty eCists, the total reification feared under the
>nlightenment $ro-ect has not yet arri"ed.
'B
That &eauty can s$eak at all threatens the Dantian $rimacy of reason, a fundamental tenet of
>nlightenment rationality. Balthasar makes this a&undantly clear when he re"erses the traditional
order of the transcendental $ro$erties, making &eauty the centre of his discussion &y $lacing the
theological aesthetics at the heart of his wider trilogy.
'9
#n reco"ering sense $erce$tion as a critical
category, &oth thinkers make art a de facto criticism of >nlightenment rationality. The
indetermina&ility of &eauty im$lies a certain transcendent /uality. This transcendence, for Adorno,
'4 This is no longer $ossi&le. since the death of mimesis and the alienation of the su&-ect in the >nlightenment, to
attem$t to o"ercome this and get &ack to )the %eal+ would force the artist )into an imitati"e stance that would smack
of arts and crafts... he would end u$ with insuffera&le kitsch...+ 6ee( Theodore ;. Adorno, /otes to Literat%re,
ol%me one 2ew Iork( Colum&ia 8ni"ersity 9ress, 19915, ,4.
'1 Adorno, Aesthetic,,,, B:.
'' +bid, B:.
', +bid, BB.
'4 Theodore Adorno, and 7aC *orkheimer, 0ialectic of .nlightenment 2<ondon( Jerso, 19=9. re$r. 199=5, 14-11.
'0 +bid, 4-0.
': Theodore ;. Adorno, .ssays on M%sic 2Berkeley( 8ni"ersity of California 9ress, '44'5, ,1.
'= Adorno, Aesthetic,,,, 94.
'B As witnessed in the call to )mindfulness+ of nature in order to a"oid reification. 6ee( ?oel ;hite&rook, !The marriage
of 7arC and 3reud!, in The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, ed. &y 3red %ush 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445,
=4-14, 2$. B45.
'9 #n fact, Balthasar goes further, re"ersing Dant!s transcendental ty$ology. 6ee Da"ies, 1,,.
0
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
lies within the o&-ect itself. &y way of its thingness, it goes &eyond itself.
,4
#f the artwork tried to
transcend itself &y $ointing outside of itself, it would &etray itself.
,1
This is the same in Balthasar,
who affirms the )immanental self-transfiguration+
,'
of the artwork. Art is an acti"ity )that
transcends through to the di"ine+
,,
yet still achie"es this through its own measure( )A li"ing
eCisting thing cannot &e measured with anything that is outside it. rather... it itself must gi"e the
measure.+
,4
The form does not merely $oint to the infinitude outside of it &ut $artici$ates within it.
,0

As such, the moment of transcendence is not achie"ed outside the form &ut is internal to it. the
material o&-ect effects its own transcendence.
,:

A%thenticity
Adorno!s fundamental error is that &y arguing )&eauty demands, $erha$s, the sla"ish imitation of
what is indetermina&le in things,+
,=
he tries to determine the indetermina&le. ;hilst &oth thinkers
locate the truth-content of an artwork in its form, Adorno!s desire to retain a conce$t of authenticity
in order to $rotect art against the culture industry undermines his own argument and leads him to
reify his own conce$tion. Balthasar, howe"er, manages to retain a su&"ersi"e element to art &y
focusing its transcendality not in the $articulars of artistic form &ut in the conce$t of form itself.
,4 Adorno, Aesthetic, 144.
,1 +bid, 144-140.
,' Balthasar, GOTL +, ,4.
,, Balthasar, GOTL +(, '4.
,4 +bid, ,4.
,0 +bid,
,: The critical conse/uences of this idea are seen in Adorno!s criticism of the $edagogical nature of Brecht. 6ee( <ydia
Hoehr, !Dissonant ;orks and the <istening 9u&lic!, in The Cambridge Companion to Adorno, ed. &y Thomas *uhn
2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, '''-'40 2$. '44-'45.
Balthasar!s reluctance to discuss the $atristic understanding of &eauty, $referring to focus on the &eauty dis$layed
through their use of style and form eC$resses a similar sentiment. 6ee( Balthasar, GOTL ++, 14.
,= Adorno, Aesthetic,,,, 94.
:
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
Art communicates ineffa&ly yet, for Adorno, this ineffa&ility $aradoCically eCists as a formal
feature. the form has to contain a $oint of tension with society!s musical standards. The successful
artwork is the authentic artwork, that which stands outside of social con"ention and retains an aura,
a distance from society!s conce$tual framework.
,B
Contra Ben-amin who resigns himself to the
conclusion that the aura of artwork is a dead conce$t, Adorno holds on to the $ossi&ility of aura,
well aware that to close this ga$ &etween su&-ect and o&-ect is to destroy the $ossi&ility of
dialectical mo"ement.
,9
;e see this in Adorno!s criticisms of 6choen&erg( contra to 6choen&erg!s
own understanding of his music, Adorno argues it must remain unlistena&le and dissonant to remain
critical.
44
The moment of non-identity eCists in this dissonance and $re"ents reification, &ut we run
the in"erse risk of transfiguration through creating a $iece com$letely different to what we are used
to hearing.
41,4'
7ore so, the a"ant-garde, for Adorno, is deemed irrele"ant straight away &y the
dictates of the Culture #ndustry
4,
thus denying it transformati"e $otential. The &eing-in-itself of
natural &eauty has to &e &oth affirmed and denied for this same $ur$ose.
44
;e see in 7ahler a
$ossi&le synthesis, how the )moment of inauthenticity... unmasks the lie of authenticity...+
40
By
ironically su&"erting $o$ular $hrases, 7ahler can transform inauthentic commodified music into a
negati"e moment which could not &e achie"ed in $ure a&straction.
3or Balthasar, the ineffa&ility of art is the result of the incarnation. The e"ent of the incarnation was
the e"ent of the final form, the moment where the transcendent enters contingent form. #t is the
,B 7ichael %osen, !Ben-amin, Adorno, and the decline of the aura!, in The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory,
ed. &y 3red %ush 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 44-0: 2$. 4=5.
,9 +bid, 01.
44 Hoehr, ',1.
41 +bid, ','.
4' Thus his a"ersion to conce$tual 2)ha$$ening+5 art, see( Thomas *uhn, !Adorno!s Aesthetics of #llusion!, The 1o%rnal
of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 44.' 219B05,1B1-1B9 2$. 1B,5. 6ee also( ;eitAman, 19,.
4, Hoehr, ',B.
44 *uhn 1B'.
40 7aC 9addison, !Authenticity and 3ailure in Adorno!s Aesthetics of 7usic!, in The Cambridge Companion to Adorno,
ed. &y Thomas *uhn 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, 19B-''1 2$. '1=5.
=
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
moment of com$lete identity
4:
&etween the finite $articular and infinite uni"ersal which $ermits us
to draw finite &oundaries around the infinite.
4=
#t is this e"ent which li&erates art from mere
materiality and gi"es it its transformati"e $ower. As such, the su&"ersi"e moment of art is not tied
to the $articular formal characteristics of that $iece, as in Adorno who o&sessi"ely yearned to find
that final form which gras$ed the real image, $ro"iding a $erfect criticism of society!s illusion.
4B

#ndeed, the incarnation mandates a "ariety of forms and styles, testifying that although none of them
can eChausti"ely re"eal that which eCceeds our conce$tions, they all do ineCora&ly manifest it.
49
#n
this sense, Balthasar is e"en more radically negati"e than Adorno in that he denies the logic of
identity, knowing that the $erfect form of Christ creates a $aradoC where&y identity can occur
des$ite the remainder &etween the transcendent and its image..
The )&lackness of art,+ its indeterminacy, comes in Adorno from &eing eC$licitly a&stract,
04
from
an eC$licit refusal of meaning.
01
#n Balthasar, it comes from &eing concrete.
0'
This is the $aradoC at
the heart of Glory of the Lord) the concrete eC$ression of an a&stract truth, the identity within the
$articular of something &eyond identity. Blackness, the )daAAling darkness,+ is not then an a&sence
or trace, &ut a su$era&undant s$lendour which )gi"es itself without remainder.+
0,

That Adorno needs to formally define and locate this su&"ersi"e and negati"e element within form
undermines his own &elief that the material from which we create will continue to elude us( when
he s$eaks of language, it is the mythical remainder of language which gi"es it its $ower. in
4: Balthasar, GOTL +, 109.
4= *ans 8rs "on Balthasar, !The 9lace of Theology!, in -eadings in Ch%rch A%thority, ed. &y Herard Mannion et. al.
2Aldershot( Ashgate, '44,5, ,91-,9= 2$. ,9,5.
4B *ullot-Dentor, 190
49 )Although his &eauty a$$ears in them, it still lies &eyond all &eauty, num&er, $ro$ortion and measure.+ 6ee( ?effrey
Ames Day, Theological Aesthetics 2Bern( *er&ert <ang F Co. <td., 19=05. 6ee also( Balthasar, GOTL ++, '0. GOTL
+(, 11.
04 Bernstein, 149-104.
01 ;eitAman, 194.
0' Balthasar, GOTL +(, '0.
0, Balthasar, GOTL ++, 11.
B
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
$ositi"ism, language loses its dialectical force &ecause there is no longer any dis$arity &etween the
word and that which it refers to.
04
#n art, Adorno is aware of the same $aradoC, that to eC$lain is to
neutraliAe. the more we analyse, the less meaning the $iece has.
00
Adorno does not a$$reciate that
this refers to the remainder itself. &y locating and defining the remainder, it falls under the s$ell of
identity and instrumentality. in trying to locate the negati"e in art, he reifies his own $hiloso$hy.
0:

#n creating ironic s$aces of dissonant tension, he undermines the wholly-other motorforce of the
dialectical endea"our.
0=
Adorno could &enefit from Balthasar!s insight that all elements of form &ear
the tension &etween the immanent and transcendent, that if the artwork seeks to su&sume the
uni"ersal within the $articular, its content cannot &e eChausti"ely determina&le &ut must remain
)not gras$ed, not yet su&sumed.+
0B

/egatie 0ialectics and 'ositie Transcendence
Art, then, &ears witness to a transcendent otherness which stands in negati"e critical tension with
society. #s this transcendentality a $ositi"e forceK 7any commentators on Adorno would ruthlessly
deny any $ositi"ity to his thought, denouncing him as wholly $essimistic, a dialectician of a&sence
im$erce$ti&ly gro$ing towards s$aces of nothingness.
09
This is not the case, howe"er( for Adorno
recognises a truth &eyond reason, a truth that cannot &e eC$ressed due to the bildererbot, the
$rohi&ition on images.
:4
This conce$t is eC$lained further in his lectures on negati"e dialectics(
04 Theodore ;. Adorno, The 1argon of A%thenticity 2@Cford( %outledge, '44,5, ,4.
00 Theodore ;. Adorno, #eethoen 2Cam&ridge( 9olity 9ress, '44'. re$r. '4405, 4.
0: A similar $oint is made &y *ardy( )... the account comes dangerously close to the formulation of immuta&le criteria
which artefacts meet in order to &e art.+ That is, Adorno instrumentaliAes art in order to think critically 6ee(
;eitAman, 190.
0= )#s this real not so much more $owerful... than the knowing wink im$licit in the hi$ster!s
ironic nodK+ 6ee( 9hili$ 9ilkington, !9sychoanalysis and egati"e Dialectics!, The Symptom, 1'.4 2'4115
Lhtt$(MMlacan.comMsym$tom1'MK$N,4O Paccessed ', 3e&ruary '41'Q.
0B Adorno, /otes,,,, ,B. 6ee also( Balthasar, GOTL +(, '0. '9.
09 6ee Hillian %ose, The Melancholy Science 2<ondon( 7acmillan, 19=B5, 1B. 1',.
:4 Brittain, 9,.
9
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
Although the world )o"erflows with $ositi"ity,+
:1
this turns out to &e a negati"ity, in that the o"er-
a&undance of $ositi"ity creates an insurmounta&le chasm &etween us and the world.
:'
;e can
therefore s$eak of a )&ad $ositi"ity.+
:,
Although in *egel, the $ositi"e sets dialectics in motion,
Adorno fears this im$lies the $ossi&ility of full identity with the A&solute. Because the A&solute
must remain wholly-other to $re"ent reification,
:4
this otherness in a sense is &oth negati"e and
$ositi"e. This &ears remarka&le resem&lance to Balthasar!s claim that(
) >ach ia negatia, which... may &e set o"er the ia positia, stands in the
ser"ice of a $ositi"e way, indeed the negating ineffa&ility of the gift s$eaks
only of the still greater o"erwhelming of man...+
:0

3or Balthasar, that Hod is &eyond $ositi"ity does not destroy Christianity!s $ositi"e content.
although the uni"ersal is infinitely &eyond our com$rehension, the incarnational $aradoC is that the
uni"ersal has still &ound itself to the $articular, that the &eyondness of the transcendent is still
re"ealed and attesta&le.
::
The bildererbot still eCists, howe"er, in that although Christ manifests
infinite through finitude, the e"ent of the incarnation is still an ineChausti&le mystery.
:=
#t is &ecause
of this mystery that Balthasar can only go as far as Adorno does in su$$ort of *egel.
:B
The
difference is, then, that although Adorno acce$ts a $ositi"e moens yet refuses to acce$t it may
eC$ress itself,
:9
for Balthasar this $ositi"ity has eC$ressed itself. *owe"er, this eC$ression does not
$re"ent mo"ement &ecause it is an eC$ression of ineChausi&le meaning. the more we recognise that
:1 Theodore ;. Adorno, Lect%res on /egatie 0ialectics 2Cam&ridge( 9olity, '44B5, '=.
:' +bid,
:, +bid, ',.
:4 +bid,
:0 Balthasar, GOTL ++, 11.
:: Balthasar, GOTL +(, 10.
:= #t is this $aradoC which leads to Balthasar!s ina&ility to condemn or condone icons. 6ee( Balthasar, GOTL +, 44.
:B )... his idea of a&solute knowledge must necessarily de$ri"e the &eautiful of its summit of glory.+ 6ee( Balthasar,
GOTL +(, 1,.
:9 Adorno, Lect%res,,,, ''.
14
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
our own )&eing is in Hod!s image and likeness, the more is Hod known as the !@ne e"er &eyond all
similarity, the e"er more im$ro&a&le, the e"er ungras$a&le @ne.+
=4
#n this sense, incarnational
theology &reaks down the dichotomies of identity and non-identity. Through form we can draw
&oundaries around the infinite without undermining the infinite as long as we remain aware )of the
$resence, within the &oundary, of the un&ounded, the $resence in the conce$t of what is &eyond
conce$t.+
=1,='
That is, the negati"e way comes out of the su$era&undance of the $ositi"e. the
a$o$hatic eCists through the cata$hatic.
=,

Transcendental #ea%ty
Although Adorno affirms the transcending nature of &eauty, he would not affirm its transcendental
nature for the same reason he would not affirm the transcendental &eing inherent in *eidegger!s
formal ontology. #ndeed, Balthasar argues that &eauty can &e su&-ect to the same )range of
a$$lication and the same inwardly analogous form that we ascri&e to the @ne, the true, the good.+
=4

That Balthasar considers &eauty, truth and goodness as transcendental determinations of the $rimary
transcendental )Being+
=0
solidifies this corres$ondence, as does *eidegger!s own understanding of
&eauty as that which radiates &eing within &eings.
=:
<ike Balthasar!s claim that Christians are the
only true holders of Dasein, &eing the only true $eo$le to &e a&le to wonder and contem$late
Being,
==
so we ha"e an aesthetic e/ui"alent in his idea of Christian contem$lation as reflection on
=4 3ergus Derr, !Balthasar and meta$hysics!, in The Cambridge Companion to !ans "rs on #althasar, ed. &y >dward
T. @akes and Da"id 7oss 2Cam&ridge( C89, '4445, ''4-',B 2$. ''=5.
=1 Balthasar, !The 9lace...!, ,9,.
=' Balthasar here gi"es almost a word-for-word re$etition of Adorno!s definition of reification, 6ee( %ose 04.
*e also $ossesses a similar conce$t of transfiguration, see( Balthasar, GOTL +(, 14.
=, oel @!Donaghue, !A Theology of Beauty!, in The Analogy of #ea%ty, ed. &y ?ohn %iches 2>din&urgh( TFT Clark,
19B:5, 1-14 2$. ,5.
=4 Balthasar, GOTL +, ,B.
=0 Du$rG, 1B9.
=: 9atrick 7c*ugh, !>cstasy and >Cile!, C%lt%ral Criti2%e, '0., 2199,5, 1'1-10' 2$. 1'=5.
== 3ergus Derr, Twentieth3Cent%ry Catholic Theologians 2@Cford( Blackwell, '44=5, 1,,.
11
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
transcendental &eauty.
=B
*eidegger!s )&eing-in-itself+ is e/ually attri&uted to &eauty &y Balthasar.
=9

3or Balthasar, *eidegger!s $hiloso$hy allows us to esca$e the $ro&lems of transcendental idealism
&y grounding eCistence in Being, )which is $rior to all su&-ecti"ity.+
B4
Balthasar sees this
fundamental ontological $ers$ecti"e as a return to the 9lontinian notion of the @ne,
B1
)a return to
the $rimordial Hreekness+
B'
which affirmed the )all-com$rehending+ nature of Being, a Being
which su&sumes and makes redundant all the classic antinomies of ;estern meta$hysics such as
&etween Being and non-Being, su&-ect and o&-ect, uni"ersal and $articular.
B,
Adorno finds this
dangerous. for without the non-identity of o&-ect and su&-ect, dialectical mo"ement cannot &e
concei"ed.
B4
The mystical /uality of Being, which is )neither a fact not a conce$t+ means it is
&eyond criticism. it hy$ostatiAes itself, &ecoming an entity &eyond reification. )#t &orrows the aura
of &eing more than factual( the sanctity of transcendence.+
B0
#t )stri$s &eing of e"erything other than
$ure thought,+
B:
making his formal ontology nothing &ut a glorified #dealism.
Also, such a system )com&ines the claim to totality with the renunciation of com$rehension.+
B=

<anguage of transcendence and Being falls a$art when we consider Being as for-itself. for in doing
so, the language &ecomes uncritical, transfigurati"e. there is no remainder in the language of
Being,
BB
it is com$rehensi&le neither in conce$t or )sensory ascertainment.+
B9
The conce$t of
illumination which Balthasar deri"es from *eidegger, that although the infinitude of the
transcendentals dwarfs us, we can still )mo"e into+ them and illuminate them,
94
leads to what
=B Balthasar, GOTL +, ,9.
=9 +bid, 0,.
B4 !ans "rs on #althasar, The Glory of the Lord ( 26an 3rancisco( #gnatius 9ress, 19915, 4,,.
B1 +bid, 4,0.
B' +bid, 4,4.
B, 7c*ugh, 1'4-1'0.
B4 Adorno, /egatie,,,, B0.
B0 +bid, =:.
B: #&id, B=.
B= Adorno, Lect%res,,,, ,B.
BB Adorno, /egatie,,,, =1.
B9 +bid, =1. 6ee also( Adorno, 1argon,,,, B.
94 Balthasar, GOTL (, 4,:.
1'
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
<ukacs calls )transcendental homelessness,+
91
the 6artrean condition of a $ositi"e call to action
cou$led with the denial of telos. )9recisely in the unconditioned state of any gi"en momentary
engagement, the eCistentialist is es$ecially eC$osed to the tem$tation of inconstancy and
faithlessness.+
9'

Art, for Adorno, is dialectic at a standstill, a $regnant moment.
9,
#f the $ossi&ility of uto$ian "ision
and consummation in the A&solute is denied in Adorno, howe"er, we are left with the same
am&iguous, meandering sense of mo"ement and there is little that se$arates him from Balthasar or
*eidegger eCce$t that whereas Balthasar can criticise society in a s$irit of o$timism and -oy,
Adorno!s attacks can only &e fashioned from a $essimistic and melancholic dis$osition. Adorno!s
mistake is that he cannot concei"e of mo"ement outside of the dialectical tension &etween su&-ect
and o&-ect. #f, howe"er, our ultimate o&-ect is a transcendent entity, to gras$ it does not lead to
reification &ut $er$etual transcendence. Balthasar!s sacramental ontology further reminds us that a
call to mo"e into the fullness of the transcendentals does not negate the contingent order &ut o$ens
u$ the s$ace needed from which we can criticise it.
Transcendence and Tra%ma
Balthasar has so far hel$ed us to recognise the $aradoC at $lay in Adorno( Adorno!s insistence on
negati"ity still has to concede an o"erarching $ositi"ity. The mediation &etween su&-ect and o&-ect
has to concede an o"erarching reality. The mistake of *eidegger is in assuming that &eing engulfs
and destroys the tension &etween su&-ect and o&-ect. #nstead, we should concei"e of it more like an
91 Adorno, 1argon,,,, '4.
9' +bid, '0.
9, Adorno, Aesthetic,,,, 111-'.
1,
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
amniotic fluid which nurtures them, or an atmos$here which ena&les communication. Another
image would &e that of the Borromean ring. 3or <acan, &eing in *eidegger and Balthasar refers to
the %eal,
94
that transcendental $ro$erty par e4cellence, eCisting as that which is irreduci&le to the
sym&olic order &ut which is eCtrica&ly linked to &oth the sym&olic and imaginary in such a way that
if any one chain is missing, all links are &roken. *owe"er, not only does Adorno deny the %eal &y
re-ecting *eidegger!s ontic distinction, &ut also in thinking he can negotiate the &oundaries &etween
inauthenticity and authenticity. &y determining truth content &ased on the constituti"e ga$ &etween
harmony and dissonance, he turns negati"ity into a $ositi"ely delineated &oundary, destroying the
total un&oundednessMineffa&ility of the %eal. Also, &y holding on to the $ossi&ility of critical
thought through sym&olic negotiation alone, Adorno masks the 6ym&olic order!s limit, there&y
$re"enting the %eal!s in-&reaking.
Being eCists in <acan, then, as that which is irreduci&le to the sym&olic order &ut which is
ineCtrica&ly linked to &oth the sym&olic and imaginary. #n denying the %eal, transcendence is
nothing more than a mo"ement within the sym&olic, a reconfiguring of relations &etween ar&itrarily
concei"ed signifiers and signifieds which do not ha"e any conce$tual relations to any true o&-ect.
we ha"e entered the Baudrillardian simulation where&y a system of com$eting signifiers and
signifieds &ar access to the %eal. #ndeed, Baudrillard criticises those who try to $ro"e the %eal of art
through anti-art
90
as Adorno attem$ts through dissonance( he fails to esca$e the sym&olic and only
ser"es in his dichotomising to strengthen the simulcra that &lind us.
3or the %eal is the <acanian e/ui"alent of the noumena, the ding-an-sich which we must affirm in
order to $re"ent sli$$age into idealism F the end of dialectic. *owe"er, the %eal eCists as wholly-
94 Charles 6he$herdson, !<acan and 9hiloso$hy!, in The Cambridge Companion to Lacan, ed. &y ?ean-7iche %a&atG
2Cam&ridge( C89, '44,5, 11:-10' 2$$. 1'4-1''5.
90 ?ean Baudrillard, Sim%lcra and Sim%lation 27ichigan( 8ni"ersity of 7ichigan, 19945, 19.
14
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
other and therefore necessarily undermines the socio-sym&olic network that guarantees the su&-ect!s
identity. Contact with the %eal is a moment of 5o%issance, trauma,
9:
where our desire for what is
lacking within our system is met yet threatens to fracture the unsta&le network of signs that
constitutes our self. #t eCists as the Dantian su&lime,
9=
&eyond negati"ity and $ositi"ity. ;hilst
Adorno is stuck in the <acanian death-dri"e, $eri$atetically ti$toeing around the %eal and thus
strengthening the sym&olic order!s incommensura&ility,
9B
Balthasar &reaks through, concei"ing of
&eauty as a moment of trauma $ossi&le through the incarnation, what RiAek calls the )historical
emergence of the ultimate su&lime o&-ect,+
99
that ineC$lica&le moment where finitude and
contingency meet the ineffa&le and infinite otherness of the %eal. Beauty, for Balthasar, is the
<acanian point de capiton, the anchoring of the sym&olic within the %eal which allows us to
reco"er a )meta$hysics of $resence+
144
which Adorno yearns for. #t is $aradoCically &oth a moment
of 5o%issance &ut also the ob5ect petit a( through consummation with the incommensura&le, a
moment occurs where identity with the wholly other is achie"ed, shattering our sym&olic uni"erse,
&ut which also $oints to the remainder &etween our desire for the other and the other itself in that
this infinitude is $aradoCically still confined &oth s$atially and tem$orally.
Adorno seeks emanci$ation from harmony &ecause he sees within it the lie of wholeness, yet the
$aradoC of consummation with the %eal is that it does not im$ly wholeness &ut a ru$ture( the %eal
tears o$ens the s$aces within our sym&olic uni"erse and allows for mo"ement. Balthasar recognises
the $aradoCical nature of the traumatic e"ent, where&y )in its "ery identity, it em&odies a&solute
otherness.+
141
#t )materialiAes its own im$ossi&ility,+
14'
something Balthasar affirms not only in the
9: 6la"o- SiTek, The S%blime Ob5ect of +deology 2<ondon( Jerso, '44B5, 191.
9= SiTek, 19'.
9B Dylan >"ans, An +ntrod%ctory 0ictionary of Lacanian 'sychoanalysis 2ew Iork( %outledge, 199:5, '4'.
99 7il&ank, ,9B.
144SiTek, 1='.
141+bid, 1=0.
14'+bid,
10
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
idea that Beauty can manifest itself in ugliness &ut in the con"iction that the infinite can s$eak
through finitudeU That is, )the !shock of the truth! consists in its sudden emergence in the midst of
the realm of reassuring $henomena.+
14,
However, although Balthasar retains the Real through
the subliminal act of incarnation, Adorno ruptures the Borromean ring, divorcing the
symbolic from the imaginary and leaving himself to the fate of either the transfiguration or
reification which he sought to escape.
Bibliography
Adorno and Critical Theory
Adorno, Theodor W., and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (London: Verso,
1979; repr. 1997)
Adorno, Theodor W., Aesthetic Theory (London: Continuum, 1997)
Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002; repr. 2005)
Critical Models: Interventions and Catchwords (New York: Columbia University Press,
2005)
The Culture Industry (Abingdon: Routledge, 2001)
Essays on Music, selected, with introduction, commentary and notes by Richard Leppert,
trans. by Gillespie, Susan H. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002)
In Search of Wagner (London: Verso, 2005; repr. 2009)
The Jargon of Authenticity (Oxford: Routledge, 2003)
Lectures on Negative Dialectics (Cambridge: Polity, 2008)
Minima Moralia (London: Verso, 2005)
Negative Dialectics, trans. by Ashton, E. B. (New York: Continuum, 2007)
Notes to Literature, volume one, trans. by Nicholsen, Shierry Weber (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1991)
Bauerschmidt, Frederick Christian, 'The Lamb of God in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction', Communio 30.4 (2003), 581-598
Benjamin, Walter, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, trans. by Blundon,
Andy (California: UCLA, 1998) <http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/
philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm> [accessed 26 January 2012]
Bernstein, J. M., 'The dead speaking of stones and stars: Adorno's Aesthetic Theory', in The
Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004), 139-164
Bowie, Andrew, 'Adorno, Heidegger, and the Meaning of Music', in The Cambridge
14,+bid, '1:.
1:
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
Companion to Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 248-278
Brittain, Christopher Craig, Adorno and Theology (London: T&T Clark, 2010)
Caroll, Nol, Beyond Aesthetics: Philosophical Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001)
Dallmayr, Fred, 'The Underside of Modernity: Adorno, Heidegger, and Dussel',
Constellations, 11.1 (2004), 102-120
Eagleton, Terry, Walter Benjamin or Towards a Revolutionary Criticism (London: Verso, 1981;
repr. 2009)
Goehr, Lydia, 'Dissonant Works and the Listening Public', in The Cambridge Companion to
Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004),
222-245
Geuss, Raymond, 'Dialectics and the Revolutionary impulse', in The Cambridge Companion
to Critical Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2004), 103-138
Huhn, Thomas, 'Adorno's Aesthetics of Illusion', The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,
44.2 (1985), 181-189
The Cambridge Companion to Adorno (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
Hullot-Kentor, Robert. 'Right Listening and a New Type of Human Being', in The Cambridge
Companion to Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 181-197
Kaufman, Robert, 'Adorno's Social Lyric, and Literary Criticism Today', in The Cambridge
Companion to Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 354-375
McHugh, Patrick, 'Ecstasy and Exile: Cultural Theory between Heidegger and Adorno',
Cultural Critique, 25.3 (1993), 121-152
Nicholsen, Shiery Weber, 'Toward a More Adequate Reception of Adorno's Aesthetic Theory:
Configurational Form in Adorno's Aesthetic Writings', Cultural Critique, 18.1 (1991),
33-64
Paddison, Max, 'Authenticity and Failure in Adorno's Aesthetics of Music', in The Cambridge
Companion to Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 198-221
Rose, Gillian, The Melancholy Science: An Introduction to the Thought of Theodor W. Adorno
(London: Macmillan, 1978)
Roberts, Julian, 'The Dialectic of Enlightenment', in The Cambridge Companion to Critical
Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 57-73
Rosen, Michael, 'Benjamin, Adorno, and the decline of the aura', in The Cambridge
Companion to Critical Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 40-56
Rush, Fred, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004)
-- 'Conceptual Foundations of early Critical Theory', in The Cambridge Companion to
Critical Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004),
6-40
Schmidt, James, 'Mephistopheles in Hollywood: Adorno, Mann, and Schoenberg', in The
Cambridge Companion to Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge
1=
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
University Press, 2004), 148-179
Smith, Nick, 'Adorno vs. Levinas: Evaluating points of contention ', Continental Philosophy
Review, 40.3 (2006)
Tiedemann, Rolf, 'Adorno's Tom Sawyer Opera Singspiel', in The Cambridge Companion to
Adorno, ed. by Huhn, Thomas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 376-
377
Weitzman, Erica, 'No Fun: Aporias of Pleasure in Adorno's Aesthetic Theory', The German
Quarterly, 81.1 (2008), 185-202
Whitebrook, Joel, 'The marriage of Marx and Freud: Critical Theory and psychoanalysis', in
The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, ed. by Rush, Fred (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2004), 74-103
Balthasar
Babini, Ellero, 'Jesus Christ: Form and Norm of Man according to Hans Urs von Balthasar',
in Hans urs Von Balthasar: His Life and Work, ed. by Schindler, David L. (San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991), 221-230
Block Jr, Ed, 'Balthasar's literary criticism', in The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von
Balthasar, ed. by Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004), 207-223
Davies, Oliver, 'The theological aesthetics', in The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von
Balthasar, ed. by Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004), 131-142
Dupr, Louis, 'The Glory of the Lord: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics', in
Hans urs Von Balthasar: His Life and Work, ed. by Schindler, David L. (San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991), 183-206
Freer, Mark, 'The Triune Conversation in Mozart: Towards a Theology of Music', Communio,
32.1 (2005), 128-136
O'Donaghue, Noel, 'A Theology of Beauty', in The Analogy of Beauty: The Theology of Hans
Urs von Balthasar, ed by. John Riches (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1986), 1-10
O'Donnel, John, Hans Urs von Balthasar (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1992)
Kay, Jeffrey Ames, Theological Aesthetics: The Role of Aesthetics in the Theological Method of
Hans Urs von Balthasar (Bern: Herbert Lang & Co. Ltd., 1975)
Kerr, Fergus, 'Balthasar and metaphysics', in The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von
Balthasar, ed. by Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004), 224-238
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007)
Moss, David, 'The Saints', in The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar, ed. by
Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004),
79-92
Nichols, Aidan, The Word Has Been Abroad: A Guide Through Balthasar's Aesthetics
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998)
Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von
Balthasar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
Quash, Ben, 'The theo-drama', in The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar, ed.
by Oakes, Edward T., and David Moss (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1B
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
2004), 143-157
Riches, John, ed., The Analogy of Beauty: The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1986)
Roten, Johann, 'The Two Halves of the Moon: Marian Anthropologicla Dimensions in the
Common Mission of Adrienne von Speyr and Hans Urs von Balthasar', in Hans urs
Von Balthasar: His Life and Work, ed. by Schindler, David L. (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1991), 65-86
Schindler, David L., ed., Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1991)
'Metaphysics within the Limits of Phenomenology: Balthasar and Husserl on the Nature of
the Philosophical Act', Teologia y Vida 50 (2009), 243-258
Sicari, Antonio, 'Hans Urs von Balthasar: Theology and Holiness', in Hans urs Von
Balthasar: His Life and Work, ed. by Schindler, David L. (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1991), 121-132
von Balthasar, Hans Urs, Explorations in Theology I: The Word Made Flesh (San Francisco,
Ignatius Press, 1993)
The Glory of the Lord I: Seeing the Form (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1982)
The Glory of the Lord II: Studies in Theological Style: Clerical Styles (San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 1984)
The Glory of the Lord III: Studies in Theological Style: Lay Styles (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1986)
The Glory of the Lord IV: The Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1989)
The Glory of the Lord V: The Realm of Metaphysics in the Modern Age(San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 1991)
'The Place of Theology', in Readings in Church Authority, ed. by Gerard Mannion, Richard
Gaillardetz, Jan Kerkhofs and Kenneth Wilson (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), 391-397.
'Tribute to Mozart', Communio 28.2 (2001), 398-399
von Speyr, Adrienne, The Book of All Saints: Part One, ed. & trans. by von Balthasar, Hans
Urs (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008)
Other
Baudrillard, Jean, Simulcra and Simulation (Michigan: University of Michigan Press,
1994)
Butler, Judith, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj iek, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality:
Contemporary Dialogues on the Left (London: Verso, 2000)
Cunningham, Conor, Genealogy of Nihilism (London: Routledge, 2002)
Evans, Dylan, An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis (New York: Routledge,
1996)
Heidegger, Martin, Being and Time (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008)
Inwood, Michael, 'Hegel', in The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, ed. by Gaut, Berys, and
Dominic McIver Lopes (Routledge, London, 2001)
Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).
<acan, ?ac/ues, !Vcrits!, trans. &y 3ink, Bruce 2<ondon( ;. ;. orton F Co., '44'5
19
Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology 4994 words
W !6eminars - Book 11##( %.6.#., 19=4-0!, Lacan in +reland) Collected Translations and 'apers by
Cormac Gallagher Lhtt$(MMwww.lacaninireland.comMwe&Mw$-contentMu$loadsM'414M4:M%6#-
Com$lete-;ith-Diagrams.$dfO Paccessed 1' 7arch '41'Q
7il&ank, ?ohn, !7aterialism and Transcendence!, in Theology and the 'olitical) The /ew 0ebate,
ed, &y Da"is, Creston, ?ohn 7il&ank and 6la"o- SiTek, eds., 2Durham F <ondon( Duke
8ni"ersity 9ress, '4405, ,9,-4'=
Pilkington, Philip, 'Psychoanalysis and Negative Dialectics', The Symptom, 12.4 (2011)
<http://lacan.com/symptom12/?p=34> [accessed 23 February 2012]
Pound, Marcus, Theology, Psychoanalysis, Trauma (London: SCM Press, 2007)
Rabat, Jean-Michel, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Lacan (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2003)
Ross, Stephen, 'A Very Brief Introduction to Lacan' (Victoria: University of Victoria,
2002) <http://web.uvic.ca/~saross/lacan.html> [accessed 23 February 2012]
Shepherdson, Charles, 'Lacan and Philosophy', in The Cambridge Companion to Lacan, ed.
by Rabat, Jean-Miche (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 116-152
Valente, Joseph, 'Lacan's Marxism, Marxism's Lacan (from iek to Althusser), in The
Cambridge Companion to Lacan, ed. by Rabat, Jean-Miche (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003), 153-172
iek, Slavoj, The Sublime Object of Ideology (London: Verso, 2008)
Of Gods and Men, dir. by Beauvois, Xavier (Armada Films, 2010)
'4