Walter Benjamin's Philosophy of History and its connection to the subject in German

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370037
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Philosophy/Ethics
• Research Institution: Seinan Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Morita Dan 西南学院大学, 国際文化学部, 准教授 (40554449)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 歴史哲学 / 言語哲学 / イメージ / 終末論 / ライプニッツ / エルンスト・ブロッホ / ヤーコプ・タウベス / フランツ・オーファーベック

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The philosophy of history in the early 20th century in Germany is defined as an attempt at self-understanding. In that sense, the philosophy of history provides us with the fundamental form of self-understanding. From that perspective, this study tries to comprehend Walter Benjamin's philosophy of history. Benjamin's thought is characterized by his pursuit of the state of the self through the analysis of the experience of language and imagery. The act of translation, for example, is nothing but a form of expression, in which self-understanding is accomplished by confronting a foreign language. In "The Arcades Project", he tries to detect the unconscious hopes embraced by the masses, which are expressed in cultural productions. It is the concept of "dialectic image" that makes the expression of those hopes possible. Thus the concept of history is unthinkable without executing an act of expression. Benjamin's messianism needs to be interpreted on the basis of the concept of expression.

Free Research Field

哲学