Walter Benjamin : presence of mind, failure to comprehend / by Stephane Symons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Symons, Stephane.

Series:

Social and Critical Theory 14.

Social and critical theory ; 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophers--20th century.

Philosophers.

Philosophy, Modern.

Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940.

Benjamin, Walter.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Brill, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Walter Benjamin. Presence of Mind, Failure to Comprehend Stéphane Symons offers an innovative reading of the work of German philosopher, essayist and literary critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). Oftentimes interpreted as being either of a theological (Jewish-Messianic) or a materialist (neo-Marxist) nature, Benjamin’s writings are here characterized as \'neither a-theological, nor immediately theological.\' Starting from Benjamin’s philosophy of history, his interpretation of the work of Franz Kafka, his study on the German Baroque and his critique of modernity, Walter Benjamin. Presence of Mind, Failure to Comprehend zooms in on the issue of how a belief in the possibility of redemption and an attentiveness [ Aufmerksamkeit ] to expressions of an absolute force can endure within a universe that is nevertheless confronted as unfulfilled.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Willem van Reijen

Introduction. Melancholy, Hope, Redemption

Benjamin’s Philosophy of History: The Messianic Is Now

The Kafka-Essays and The Origin of German Tragic Drama: On Failure and the Limits of Human Understanding

The ‘Will to Allegory’ and the ‘Distortion’ of Truth in History

Appendix: Relational ‘Purity,’ the Collector and the Flâneur

Conclusion. Walter Benjamin and Joseph Roth

Bibliography

Index of Names.

Notes:

Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 23, 2012).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-63491-0

90-04-24229-5

OCLC:

814033811

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004242296 DOI