Jurgen Habermas tries to explain and criticize Walter Benjamin’s philosophy and communicate new ways of using this philosophy in “Walter Benjamin: Consciousness-Raising or Rescuing Critique.”
In “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Benjamin argues that art is no longer profanely illuminating–life no longer seems inexplicably magical– because the aura (the unconsciously mirroring [...]
Archive for the ‘Benjamin’ Category
Habermas, Jurgen : Walter Benjamin: Consciousness-Raising or Rescuing Critique
Posted in Benjamin, Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, historical materialism, progress on April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Theodor Adorno: Progress
Posted in Adorno, Benjamin, Dialectic of Enlightenment, Horkheimer, Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, critical theory, progress, regression on April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The basic goal of Theodor Adorno’s “Progress” is made apparent in the very first sentence: to provide a clear, theoretical and philosophical understanding of the concept of progress. Though he does not clarify until later, the author is referring to the progress of humanity in the widest possible sense. Simply contemplating this task [...]
Max Pensky : The Trash of History
Posted in Adorno, Benjamin, critical theory, historical materialism, historicism, history, melancholy, object, subject on April 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In Max Pensky’s “The Trash of History,” taken from the larger Melancholy Dialectics: Walter Benjamin and the Play of Mourning, Walter Benjamin’s use of the objective dialectical image is viewed in juxtaposition–and unwanted collaboration -with subjective allegorical imagery. The dialectical image, where past and present interact with one another, is Benjamin’s method and [...]
Stefan Breuer : The Long Friendship – Theoretical Differences Between Horkheimer and Adorno
Posted in Adorno, Benjamin, Horkheimer, critical theory, historical materialism, history on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Long Friendship: Theoretical Differences Between Horkheimer and Adorno originally appeared in the book On Max Horkheimer: New Perspectives. In this essay Stefan Breuer successfully highlights the contrasting viewpoints that arise when juxtaposing the works of Horkheimer and Adorno.
Max Pensky: Melancholia and Allegory
Posted in Benjamin, critical theory, melancholy, subject on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Everything is a composite of smaller group of factors, therefore everything is connected. This is why Benjamin argues that art and science must find a way to coexist. But, as the author points out, these claims also embody an aspect of hypocrisy. As he states, “the claim that the Trauerspiel study ‘is’ allegorical is as [...]
Gersholm Scholem: Walter Benjamin and His Angel
Posted in Benjamin, historical materialism, history on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Gersholm Scholem’s main focus is to discuss Walter Benjamin’s fascination with the painting Angelus Novus, by Paul Klee. He shows how Benjamin’s interpretation follow a dialectic between mystical intuition and reason. His main discussion revolves around the first two drafts found in a notebook in Benjamin’s literary remains in Frankfurt written August [...]
Summary: The Work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Posted in Benjamin, Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction on February 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In his essay, “The Work of Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, Walter Benjamin discusses a shift in perception and its affects in the wake of the advent of film and photography in the twentieth century. He writes of the sense changes within humanity’s entire mode of existence; the way we look and see [...]
Summary : “Subject and Object” : Adorno
Posted in Adorno, Benjamin, historical materialism, historicism, object, subject on February 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Below is a summary of the class discussion we had on both Wednesday of last week and this past Monday. Please feel free to add any questions and comments that you might have!
Summary : “Theses on the Philosophy of History” : Benjamin
Posted in Benjamin, historical materialism, historicism on February 6, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Below are my notes from class on Monday. I cleaned them up and also posted some of the passages that were brought up during discussion. Feel free to post any questions or comments that you might have. Hopefully this will come in handy later on!
Introducing Critical Theory
Posted in Adorno, Benjamin, Horkheimer, Marcuse, critical theory on January 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
“Critical Theory has a narrow and a broad meaning in philosophy and in the history of the social sciences. “Critical Theory” in the narrow sense designates several generations of German philosophers and social theorists in the Western European Marxist tradition known as the Frankfurt School. According to these theorists, a “critical” theory may be distinguished [...]
-
Recent Posts
-
Recent Comments
cel06 on Summary : “Theses on the… Category Cloud
