> this respect. The concept of "things in themselves," set in stark
> contrast to "appearance," therefore was not born in a politically
> neutral adventure of philosophy. The concept enabled Kant to refine
> that of private property. The concept is an intellectual equivalent of
> enclosure.
I.e. of the commodity form. But not identical to such. Adorno's return-serve: only new and better concepts can complete what previous concepts have excluded. The thinking of the concept of the commodity form was an amazing advance: for the first time, it was possible to grasp society as just that -- a construct, capable of being improved, changed, etc., instead of a natural domicile or eternalized realm. Concepts identify things before they classify them; thus their affinity with aesthetics, and the power of naming.
-- Dennis