The seminar will be devoted to the understanding of the inherent connection between Benjamin’s philosophy of language and his conception of history. We will discuss how Benjamin considers terms such as essence, idea, space of meaning and language, as not merely logical but historical as well. We will ask how the philosophical presentation of truth in the medium of meaning

can open the horizon of historical actualization. Specifically, we will discuss the possibility of historical materialism while considering the essential role of the concrete for a philosophical configuration (a radical case would be Benjamin’s work on the Paris arcades). Benjamin’s thought will also be considered against the background of philosophical conceptions such as those of Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche.

Among the texts we will discuss in the seminar: “On Language as Such and on the Language of Man,” “The Task of the Translator,” “The Origin of the German Trauerspiel,” “The Arcades Project,” “On the Concept of History.”