Abstract
The article undertakes an analysis of the "religious" element in Theodor W. Adorno's philosophy, taking up the thesis that it should be read as a specific form of "theology".
Following Hent De Vries, I argue that it may be adequate to interpret Adorno's critical theory as a "minimal theology" with eschatological connotations; however, considering Martin Seel's argument about "contemplation" as a positive core of Adorno's negative dialectics, I cast aside the widespread assumption that Adorno's philosophy is largely negative and interpret it as a "contemplative eschatology". In so doing, I investigate the paradox of contemplation, which disables us from action, and eschatology, which seems to demand radical revolutionary action, maintaining that the paradox does not represent the blind spot of Adorno's philosophy, but one of its strong points.