Metaphysics of the profane : the political theology of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem

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. Preface Introduction Part I: Messianism The Messianic Idea in Walter Benjamin’s Early Writings The Messianic State: Does the Messiah Initiate or Consummate? The Division of the Holy and Profane The Messianic Intensity of Happiness Tragic Devotion The Worldly Restitution of Immortality Nihilism Gershom Scholem’s Theological Politics Tradition and Anarchism Zion: Anarchist Praxis or Metaphor? A Programmatic Torah Revolutionary Nihilism Cataclysmic Anarchism Critical Anarchism Part II: On the Origins of Language and the True Names of Things On the Origins of Language Metaphor of the Divine The Magic of the Inexpressible Symbolic Revelation Magic and the Divine Word Reception As Translation Misinterpreting the Sign Judgment Jewish Linguistic Theory and Christian Kabbalah Gershom Scholem and the Name of God Structure of Symbolic Mysticism The Creating Word and Unpronounceable Name Matter and Magic in the Torah and Its Letters Grammarians of the Name Microlinguistic Speculation Metaphysics of the Divine Name A Microlinguistic Science of Prophecy A Messianic Conception of Language Part III: Justice and Redemption Prophetic Justice On the Origins of Evil Worldly and Divine Restitution Theses on the Concept of Justice The Justice of Prophecy Judgment, Violence, and Redemption Judaism and Revolution Violence and the Politics of Pure Means The Strike As Revolutionary Means Punishment and Fate Pacifism, Anarchism, and Violence Violence and Myth Divine Postponement, Judgment, and the Question of Violence The Righteous, the Pious, the Scholar Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index 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. (Source: [Columbia University Press](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/metaphysics-of-the-profane/9780231126571)) Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem are regarded as two of the most famous and influential Jewish thinkers and writers of the twentieth century, and their late work is well-known. The importance of the intense intellectual partnership they forged in the years between the First World War and 1923, however, is less appreciated and understood. This is the first book to make the works of this untranslated and unpublished early period — including Benjamin's and Scholem's ideas on messianism, language, divine justice, and the quest for a philosophy of Judaism — accessible to a wider audience. Religion/Judaism/General 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. Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem are regarded as two of the foremost Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, yet much of their early work remains obscure and under appreciated. This volume concentrates on the period 1918-1923, when Benjamin and Scholem produced a dynamic body of ideas Content: pt. 1. Messianism -- pt. 2. On the origins of language and the true names of things -- pt. 3. Justice and redemption. Eric Jacobson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [317]-329) And Index.