Working with Walter Benjamin

'Andrew Benjamin gives us the first extended treatment of Walter Benjamin's political philosophy taking as his point of departure a radical rethinking of life, law, and violence. Most importantly, insisting on the distinction between religion and theology, he argues for a new understanding of political-theology, one that radically challenges Carl Schmitt. A superb and long awaited book by arguably one of the world's leading authorities on the thought of Walter Benjamin.' Peg Birmingham, DePaul University 'Andrew Benjamin has written a striking and original engagement with the core of Benjamin's thinking that not only elucidates the central questions that animate Benjamin's political philosophy but develops their full philosophical and critical consequence. This is a book that cuts new ground in Benjamin studies and does so with exemplary imagination and rigour. More than an interpretation, it lays out the possibility of what it means to think in a Benjaminian way today.' David Ferris, University of Colorado at Boulder The first book to advance a sustained interpretation of Walter Benjamin as a political philosopher Walter Benjamin: Marxist rabbi or merely Marxist? The prevailing critical view has been that he is one or the other. Through a close reading of a number of Benjamin's texts - published, for the most part, between 1919 and 1921 - this book aims to recover Benjamin's political philosophy. In doing so, it also extends beyond Benjamin's writings. This book demonstrates that part of his originality as a political philosopher is his critique of the interplay of capitalism, law and religion that is advanced in terms of a politics of time. Key Features - Focuses on Walter Benjamin as a political philosopher - Offers a new and highly original interpretation of Benjamin's work - Provides a major contribution to a critical humanities Andrew Benjamin is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at Monash University. He also holds the positions of Distinguished Anniversary Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities at Kingston University in London and Distinguished Professor of Architectural Theory at the University of Technology Sydney. Cover image: Domenico di Michelino, La Divina Commedia di Dante (Dante and the Divine Comedy). Fresco in the nave of the Duomo of Florence, Italy. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Andrew Benjamin is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at Monash University where he is a member of both the Department of Philosophy and the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation. He also holds the positions of Distinguished Anniversary Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities at Kingston University in London and Distinguished Professor of Architectural Theory at the University of Technology Sydney.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Chapter 1. Opening; Chapter 2. 'The Meaning of Time in the Moral Universe'; Chapter 3. Fate and Character; Chapter 4. 'Towards a Critique of Violence'; Chapter 5. Theological Political Fragment; Chapter 6. 'On the Philosophy of History'; Appendix A. Boredom and Distraction: The Moods of Modernity; Appendix B. Benjamin and the Baroque: Posing the Question of Historical Time; Appendix C. The Illusion of The Future: Notes on Benjamin and Freud; Bibliography.