Adorno, Theodor 65 n17, 68 n28, 130 n13, 153
Aesthetic: Benjamin’s criticisms of 7, 21, 24–5, 36, 50, 77, 138; Benjamin’s reliance on 33–7, 140, 142–4; Kant’s conception of 10–11, 44 n70, 142; its link to morality (in Kant) 60–1, 69–70 n41, 74, 152
Arcades Project, The 8, 105–10, 128; treatment of the Paris arcades (architecture) 8, 49, 106–7, 109, 125
Arendt, Hannah 8–9, 16 n14, 41 n24, 65 n17, 92, 130 n13, 151
Aristotle 45 n44
art 84, 95–6 n20; Benjamin’s Artwork Essay, 61–2, 70 n42, 95–6, n20, 96 n27, 133 n41; Benjamin’s criticisms of human life as a work of art, 6–7, 21, 27, 40 n10
Aura 49, 66 n25, 95–6 n20, 100 n79, 139
Blumenberg, Hans 16 n18, 42 n29, 139–41, 146 n10, 146 n13, 147 n19
Caygill, Howard 15 n10, 17–18 n27, 129 n10, 132 n37
childhood: experience of 35, 78–80, 83–5, 92, 99 n62, 99 n67, 117, 119, 131 n34, 149, 150, 151, 152
commodity 48, 49; outmoded 8, 149; fetish 45 n44, 49, 70 n42; form 49, 65 n17, 68 n28.
demonic: Goethe’s concept of the demonic 27, 28–30, 41 n23, 67 n26; power of images 5, 7, 41 n18, 113, 122, 136, 144, 149
dialectical image 69 n36, 102–16, 119–28, 131–2 n37, 133 n41, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139–44
divine violence 2, 15–16 n11, 22, 39 n8, 43 n31, 122, 127, 135, 142, 156–7 n5
dream 49, 70 n42, 99 n62, 99 n67, 107, 112, 117, 131 n34; and awakening 99 n67, 106–7, 112, 116, 117
Elective Affinities (Goethe’s novel) 25–6, 51
epistemology: Benjamin’s conception of 17 n24, 121, 124, 143
exception, the 104, 115, 116, 139; and the extreme 121
experience (Erfahrung) 66 n25, 77–9, 85, 86, 133 n41
expressionless (das Ausdruckslose) 20, 21, 28, 56, 57, 62, 71 n45, 135
fate 26, 29, 34, 52–5, 58, 122; fateful life 6, 8, 31, 55
Fenves, Peter 18 n27, 150–5, 156 n3, 156–7 n5, 157 n12
Friedlander, Eli 112–13, 133 n41
George School, the 15 n9, 16 n14, 23, 24, 26, 27
God: faith in 28, 29, 32, 33–4, 37, 42–3 n30; human being alone with 8, 28, 32, 36–8, 45 n42, 142; the moral decision and 52–3; see also language
Goethe, J.W. von 7, 15 n9, 23–5, 27, 29–31, 33–7, 40 n12, 40 n14, 41 n18, 54, 62, 67 n26, 67–8 n27, 147 n19
guilt 2, 22, 29, 51, 52, 54, 122, 145 n2, 157 n9; and anxiety 76, 105, 126, 128, 135, 150, 154; and the expiation of, 53, 122, 136
Habermas, Jürgen 1, 3, 5, 14 n2, 64 n11, 85
hermeneutics of the image: definition 29, 58, 76, 126–7, 128
historical index: of images 107–8, 154; of the nineteenth century, 115–16, 120, 150; pointing forward to its redemption 121, 123, 127, 150
history: citable 71 n46, 129 n7, 132 n37, 137, 149; graphic perception of 8, 49, 110, 111, 118, 124; universal 51, 62
hope 25, 29, 34, 35–8, 44 n39, 45 n44, 144, 153; ‘hope for the hopeless’ 34, 36, 116, 137, 142, 143, 144
image: archaic versus genuine 107, 108, 136; existential meaning of 7, 13, 23, 24, 29, 31, 37, 51, 52, 53, 77, 82, 128, 135, 138; illusory 75–6; phantasmagoric 48; second commandment 75–6; see also dialectical image; hermeneutics of the image; myth; sensuous form
immanent 38, 84, 86, 151; immanence, 2, 7, 145, 151, 154, 155; and truth 158 n13
intention 29; creative/transcendent intention of God 29, 32, 38, 93, 105, 122, 123, 125, 126, 135, 153; definition of truth as death of 124, 158 n13; intention-less states, 156 n5; meaning and intention 138; non-subjective intentions of history 124, 125, 153; transitory, subjective intentions 58, 69 n41, 151, 152
Judaism 4, 74, 89, 95 n6, 131 n37; and graven images, 75–6
Kabbalistic 132 n37
Kant’s Critique of Judgment: conception of sensuous form 137–9; theory of beauty 11, 36, 69 n41, 70 n44, 144, 152; theory of the sublime 11, 23–4, 36–7, 43 n33, 43 n34, 46, 144, 152; see also aesthetic
knowledge: of history 109, 112, 115, 124, 147 n19; and paradisiacal knowledge 89, 113; see also language
language: (Adamic) naming language 76, 82, 84, 94, 124, 158 n13; Benjamin’s Language essay (On Language as Such and on the Language of Man) 73, 84, 85, 86–9, 93, 94, 97 n31, 103, 123, 136, 158 n13; the creative word of God 17 n24, 22, 39–40 n9, 86, 87, 105, 122–7, 135–6, 150, 153, 155
Luhmann, Niklas 63 n5, 100 n82
Marxism: Benjamin’s criticisms of 64 n12, 98 n58, 99 n58 n67, 109, 117, 119, 123; theory of dialectic in 111–12
meaning: arbitrary 58, 88, 93; emphatic 93; noteworthy 48, 49, 51, 69 n41; vital 10, 11, 12, 13, 31, 50, 51, 62, 126, 137, 143; see also image, existential meaning of
memory 78–80, 84, 89; and experience 66 n25, 77, 85; Freud 99 n61; involuntary 79, 66 n19, 103, 151; remembrance of the historical past 75, 123, 140; willed 78; see also Proust, Marcel
Menninghaus, Winfried 16 n15, 21
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 29
messianic 98 n54, 157 n9; event 119–21; history 146–7 n13; Judaism 131–2 n37; weak messianic power 5, 16 n13, 35, 155; see also Fenves, Peter
mimesis 63, 81, 84, 96 n27, 98 n54; see also mimetic faculty; similitude
mimetic faculty 63, 80–5, 96 n27, 98 n50, 117
moral decision, the 7, 15 n9, 24, 28, 32, 33, 53, 54
myth 7, 12, 22, 24–5, 28–32, 35, 38, 49, 55, 65 n17, 83, 85, 88, 103, 105, 126–7, 128, 135, 136, 137, 139, 144, 145 n1, 146 n13, 150, 151, 153, 155, 156 n5; Greek myth 2, 4, 122, 136, 149; mythic violence 2, 15 n11, 22, 39 n8, 156 n5; see also Blumenberg, Hans; nature
N-Convolute (The Arcades Project) 98 n58, 106, 108, 124
nature: and the demonic 53, 62, 155; and mythic 32, 40 n12, 52
ordinary 50, 51, 61, 62, 65 n17, 73, 96 n22, 143, 152; profane 47, 48; see also sacred
Origin of German Tragic Drama, The 36–7, 40 n13, 56–60, 107, 127
Ottilie (Elective Affinities) 25, 26, 28, 33, 35, 36, 37, 40 n14, 41 n22, 53, 54, 55
phantasmagoria 49, 65, 68 n28, 70 n42, 117, 141
profane illumination 50, 51, 62, 83, 111, 118
Proust, Marcel 45 n44, 65–6 n19, 77–80, 83, 84, 85, 99 n62, 103, 106, 131 n34, 133 n41
Rancière, Jacques 45 n44, 64 n11, 99 n67, 128 n1
Rappaport, Roy 90–1, 100 n82, 100 n86
redemption 25, 29, 33–8, 43 n36, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 132 n37, 151, 153
Revelation, the 2, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 32, 35, 38, 40 n13, 40 n17, 41 n22, 52, 53, 75, 93, 105, 116, 120, 125, 126, 127, 128, 135, 136, 145 n1, 155
revolution: Benjamin’s conception of 115–19, 144; and revolutionary experience 112, 114–19, 120, 121, 139, 143
ritual 8; Benjamin’s definition of ritual as a technique to manage mythic forces 29, 41 n22, 60–2; Benjamin’s different uses of 66–7 n25, 70 n42, 95 n19; bourgeois ritualization of life 51–3; Hans Blumenberg 140; and image 139; J.Z. Smith 47–50, 69 n38; Roy Rappaport 90–2
sacred 47, 48, 50, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 69 n38
Scholem, Gershom 14 n5, 14 n9, 39 n2, 64 n11, 120, 131 n33, 132 n37, 146–7 n13, 151
semblance 28, 34, 40 n14, 42 n30, 48, 53, 56, 65 n17, 117, 122, 135, 136, 143, 149, 155
sensuous form (of the image) 8, 10, 11, 12, 18 n28, 21, 43 n34, 48, 49, 50, 56, 58, 59, 60–2, 67 n27, 73, 76, 77, 85, 88, 89, 93, 94, 103, 109, 110, 136, 137, 138, 139, 144, 145, 149–50, 151, 152, 154, 155, 158 n13; and (false) totality of appearances 9, 52, 53, 135, 149, 155; materiality of 3, 10, 11, 18 n28, 21, 25, 33, 38, 50, 58, 87, 98 n58, 105, 153; see also aesthetic form; image; semblance; symbol
similitude 63, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79–86, 88–9, 93–4, 103, 119, 120, 126, 131 n34, 138, 142, 143, 144, 146 n8, 149; and correspondences 80, 98 n54
Smith, J.Z. 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 69 n38, 131 n37
surrealism 50, 81, 83, 84, 85, 99 n67, 117, 118, 145–6 n8
symbol, the: Benjamin’s critique of the ambiguity 12, 29, 49, 56, 58, 62, 63, 135; conceptual history 67–7 n27; indifference to truth 52–3
theology 44 n38, 49, 53, 64 n11, 76, 122, 123, 126, 135, 152–3
Tiedemann, Rolf 105, 106, 110, 128 n2
truth: experience of 113, 124; knowledge 124; subjective experience 142; see also intention; language
Ur-phenomenon 9, 10, 41 n24, 48, 64 n10, 99 n58, 102, 109, 130 n13; Urphänomen 9, 130 n12
Weigel, Sigrid 16 n15, 17 n24, 40 n16, 51, 157 n5
word, the 17 n24, 24, 82, 87; articulate clarity of 89, 135, 136, 150; chatter 23, 24; logos 23, 24, 53, 153; nature 22, 38; non-articulate life 15 n10, 126; speech 30, 67 n27, 122; speech of things 113–14; silence 23, 24, 28, 31, 40 n12, 54, 58, 122; see also creative word of God
writing: law and the canon 74–7; Torah 74–5, 94 n6
Yahweh 76