Final answer:
The Frankfurt School, with thinkers like Adorno, critiqued rather than sought to destroy the Enlightenment. They emphasized the need for knowledge that addresses oppression and real-world issues, restructuring philosophical discourse in a practical, emancipatory direction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks whether Adorno was trying to destroy the Enlightenment. The Frankfurt School, including theorists like Adorno and Horkheimer, did not seek to destroy the Enlightenment but rather critiqued it.
Their critical theory aimed to reveal the inadequacies in Enlightenment thought, especially its overemphasis on reason and detached philosophy. They argued for a more contextual and emancipatory form of knowledge that addresses real-world issues and oppressive social structures.
Max Horkheimer's critique of the primacy of reason and Walter Benjamin's disruption of the status quo are key examples of the Frankfurt School's critical approach to Enlightenment ideas.
Furthermore, the Frankfurt School adopted Marxist principles, seeking to free society from oppressive economic and cultural forces as well as to change the philosophical discourse towards something capable of making a practical difference in the world.
They critiqued the abstract Enlightenment concept of knowledge and offered new perspectives on social change and liberation from systemic oppression.