BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260417T134057Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20120930T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20120930T100000 SUMMARY:The Philosophy of Walter Benjamin UID:20260419T193923Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-f5d4878dd-g4ggw TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:London\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:

The work of the German-Jewish critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin \;(1892-1940) spans a vast array of themes\, ranging from the metaphysics of \;youth  \;to the Paris arcades. His writings on Goethe and Scheerbart\; Kafka \;and Baudelaire\, as well as his work on the relationship between art and \;technology continue to fascinate and polarize in equal measure. His singular \;intersection of Marxian and Jewish thought is amply evidenced in the \;extensive correspondence with Ernst Bloch\, Theodor Adorno\, Bertold Brecht \;and Hannah Arendt\, amongst others. Undoubtedly it is the sheer breadth of \;Benjamin's interests that accounts for the enduring concern with his often \;fragmentary work across academic disciplines. That is to say\, Benjamin is no \;longer a stranger at the Academy. Nevertheless\, a central aspect of \;Benjamin's work is all-too-often overlooked when his aesthetic and literary \;works are treated in isolation. The manifest content of Benjamin's writing \;is never merely incidental: rather\, it is shot through with a burgeoning \;philosophical project &ndash\; from the 'Programme of the Coming Philosophy' (1917) \;to the 'Theses on the Concept of History' (1940). In this regard it appears \;that recent anniversary of Benjamin's birth in 1892 warrants a re-appraisal \;of this legacy by asking the question: how can the various strands of \;Benjamin's work be engaged to illuminate the unfolding of his philosophical \;position\, and &ndash\; vice versa &ndash\; how does Benjamin's philosophy illuminate other
aspects of his thought?

This conference aims\, then &ndash\; on the one hand &ndash\; to explore Benjamin's thought \;in relation to the various philosophical traditions that inform his project \;(Leibniz\, Kant\, Schlegel\, Luká\;cs etc.)\, and &ndash\; on the other hand &ndash\; to ask how \;these influences continue to operate between the lines even where Benjamin \;is not explicitly concerned with the philosophical canon? In short: how are \;we to understand the philosophy of Walter Benjamin?

We ask potential speakers to submit abstracts of no more than 200 words to \;sebastian.truskolaski@gmail.com \;by September 30th.

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