The paper aims at investigating two philosophical perspectives: on the one hand, the messianic theory of Walter Benjamin who’s attempt is to think about the possibility of an eschatological and revolutionary interruption of history and, on the other, Ernst Jünger’s criticism of the concept of progress and of the age of «total work». Benjamin’s concept of «Jetztzeit» (now-time) is located on the opposite side of the concept of uniform and empty time, typical of the Marxian dialectical theory of history. This concept makes it possible to think about the deliverance of the past as a deconstruction of the historical continuity and of the connection of the temporal dimensions. Jünger sees the technological progress and the resulting «total mobilization» of time and space as a nihilistic and catastrophic phenomenon. In his thoughts of the second postwar period, this catastrophe of modernity embodies the aspect of an apocalyptic vision of forms and irradiations, that allows to grasp the alternative possibility of a ‘cairological’ experience of time.

Kritik der Geschichte und Katastrophe der Zeit: Walter Benjamin und Ernst Jünger

GORGONE, Sandro
2015-01-01

Abstract

The paper aims at investigating two philosophical perspectives: on the one hand, the messianic theory of Walter Benjamin who’s attempt is to think about the possibility of an eschatological and revolutionary interruption of history and, on the other, Ernst Jünger’s criticism of the concept of progress and of the age of «total work». Benjamin’s concept of «Jetztzeit» (now-time) is located on the opposite side of the concept of uniform and empty time, typical of the Marxian dialectical theory of history. This concept makes it possible to think about the deliverance of the past as a deconstruction of the historical continuity and of the connection of the temporal dimensions. Jünger sees the technological progress and the resulting «total mobilization» of time and space as a nihilistic and catastrophic phenomenon. In his thoughts of the second postwar period, this catastrophe of modernity embodies the aspect of an apocalyptic vision of forms and irradiations, that allows to grasp the alternative possibility of a ‘cairological’ experience of time.
2015
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/3110621
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