Walter Benjamin's 'Theses on the Philosophy of History'

 Meeting 22 May 5pm by zoom

We are discussing Benjamin's 'Theses' in light of our recent reading of Husserl's 'Origin of Geometry' and Derrida's response to it. 

Probably the most accessible English translation is in Benjamin, Illuminations, trans. Harry Zohn, ed. Hannah Arendt (New York: Schocken, 1968), pp. 253–264.

The equivalent German is in Illuminationen. Ausgewählte Schriften 1 (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1977 [1955]), pp. 251–262 (under the title 'Über den Begriff der Geschichte'). Also in Benjamin, Zur Kritik der Gewalt und andere Aufsätze (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp 1971), pp. 78–94.

In both editions, the 'Theses' are followed by a one-page piece under the title 'Theological-Political Fragment', which is related to it and is useful to read alongside. An English translation of that piece is available in Benjamin, Selected Writings. Volume 3: 1935–1938, ed. Howard Eiland and Michael W. Jennings (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press/Belknap, 2002), pp. 305–6. 

If you wish to join the group, please get in touch with alex.samely@manchester.ac.uk.