In this article, I illuminate the simultaneous connection between aesthetics and enlightenment, with the aim of bringing into focus certain essay films as an art of society. These films seek to contribute to enlightenment and knowledge of the liberation from domination, but do not themselves wish to be absolutized or reified as a lifeline of critique. In contrast to present-day so-called political art, which is often understood as a political intervention in society, but does no more than stimulate the permanently demanded creativity in late capitalism, Theodor W. Adorno’s constellation is used to explain the extent to which the essay film can serve as a medium of knowledge and is therefore suitable as an art of society.