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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Peter FENVES
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=576562028014
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author Peter FENVES
author_facet Peter FENVES
contents The mathematical Messiah: Benjamin and Scholem in the Summer of 1916 Peter FENVES Multidisciplinarias (Ciencias, Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades) Messianism mathematics theory of history theory of language In the summer of 1916, Benjamin proposes a “difficult remark” as the basis for a messianic theory of history: years can be counted but not numbered. In order to help him develop this theory, Benjamin invites Scholem, a student of mathematics, to participate in lengthy discussions. Scholem responds by proposing his own “mathematical theory of truth”, in which the messiah is both mystic and mathematician. Benjamin’s criticisms of an early essay by Heidegger indicate the general outlines of his thwarted theory: when years can be countered, they can only be arbitrarily numbered; when they can be properly numbered, there are no longer any years to count. The impasse Benjamin encountered in developing his “difficult remark” into a theory of history was nevertheless productive: it shaped his theory of language, and it provided the impetus for his analysis of dramatic form. 2008 artículo científico 2447-6803 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=576562028014 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=5765 Reflexão application/pdf Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Reflexão (Brasil) Num.94 Vol.33
format Artículo científico
id redalyc_576562028014
language en
publishDate 2008
publisher Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas
spellingShingle The mathematical Messiah: Benjamin and Scholem in the Summer of 1916
Peter FENVES
Multidisciplinarias (Ciencias, Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades)
Messianism
mathematics
theory of history
theory of language
The mathematical Messiah: Benjamin and Scholem in the Summer of 1916 Peter FENVES Multidisciplinarias (Ciencias, Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades) Messianism mathematics theory of history theory of language In the summer of 1916, Benjamin proposes a “difficult remark” as the basis for a messianic theory of history: years can be counted but not numbered. In order to help him develop this theory, Benjamin invites Scholem, a student of mathematics, to participate in lengthy discussions. Scholem responds by proposing his own “mathematical theory of truth”, in which the messiah is both mystic and mathematician. Benjamin’s criticisms of an early essay by Heidegger indicate the general outlines of his thwarted theory: when years can be countered, they can only be arbitrarily numbered; when they can be properly numbered, there are no longer any years to count. The impasse Benjamin encountered in developing his “difficult remark” into a theory of history was nevertheless productive: it shaped his theory of language, and it provided the impetus for his analysis of dramatic form. 2008 artículo científico 2447-6803 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=576562028014 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=5765 Reflexão application/pdf Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Reflexão (Brasil) Num.94 Vol.33
title The mathematical Messiah: Benjamin and Scholem in the Summer of 1916
topic Multidisciplinarias (Ciencias, Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades)
Messianism
mathematics
theory of history
theory of language
url https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=576562028014