Legal, Mythic, and Divine Violence: Post-secular Entanglements in Walter Benjamin's "Toward the Critique of Violence"

Walter Benjamin's essay "Toward the Critique of Violence" (1921) has in the past decades been central to important debates within post-secular philosophical thought. This article explores the intricate connections between legal, mythic, and divine violence in Benjamin's essay, in...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:  
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Holte, Stine 1976- (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Lade...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: Oxford University Press 2022
In: Literature and theology
Jahr: 2022, Band: 36, Heft: 3, Seiten: 316-341
RelBib Classification:AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus
NCD Politische Ethik
TK Neueste Zeit
VA Philosophie
weitere Schlagwörter:B Toward the Critique of Violence
B Walter Benjamin
B Political Theology
B Post-secular
Online Zugang: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Walter Benjamin's essay "Toward the Critique of Violence" (1921) has in the past decades been central to important debates within post-secular philosophical thought. This article explores the intricate connections between legal, mythic, and divine violence in Benjamin's essay, in light of some of his other theological, literary, and political works from the same period. It suggests that the idea of a "divine law-annihilating violence" should be read in light of Benjamin's claim that a "critique of violence is the philosophy of its history". This implies amongst other things a critique of the dogma of the sanctity of mere life underlying both the Greek and the Christian tradition.
ISSN:1477-4623
Enthält:Enthalten in: Literature and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frac022