Metaphysics of the Profane - The Political Theology of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem

Informationen zum Autor Eric Jacobson Klappentext Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem are regarded as two of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. Together they produced a dynamic body of ideas that has had a lasting impact on the study of religion! philosophy! and literary criticism.Drawing from Benjamin's and Scholem's ideas on messianism! language! and divine justice! this book traces the intellectual exchange through the early decades of the twentieth century -- from Berlin! Bern! and Munich in the throws of war and revolution to Scholem's departure for Palestine in 1923. It begins with a close reading of Benjamin's early writings and a study of Scholem's theological politics! followed by an examination of Benjamin's proposals on language and the influence these ideas had on Scholem's scholarship on Jewish mysticism. From there the book turns to their ideas on divine justice -- from Benjamin's critique of original sin and violence to Scholem's application of the categories to the prophets and Bolshevism. Metaphysics of the Profane is the first book to make this early period available to a wider audience! revealing the intricate structure of this early intellectual partnership on politics and theology. Zusammenfassung Benjamin and Scholem are regarded as two of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. With material dating from 1918 to 1923! this text aims to make their more obscure work accessible to a wider audience. The topics discussed include messianism! language and divine justice. Inhaltsverzeichnis I Messianism1. The Messianic Idea in Walter Benjamin's Early Writings2. Gershom Scholem's Theological PoliticsII On the Origins of Language and the True Names of Things3. On the Origins of Language4. Gershom Scholem and the Name of GodIII Justice and Redemption5. Prophetic Justice6. Judgment! Violence! and Redemption

Product details

• Authors: Eric Jacobson, Jacobson Eric
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 20.08.2003
• EAN: 9780231126564
• ISBN: 978-0-231-12656-4
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Essays, feuilletons, literary criticism, interviews; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Religious, LITERARY CRITICISM / Jewish, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies, RELIGION / Judaism / Theology, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, german, Religion & beliefs, Judaism, Western philosophy from c 1800, Literary essays, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Relating to Jewish people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities