Spinoza's critique of religion and its heirs : Marx, Benjamin, Adorno PDF
Preview Spinoza's critique of religion and its heirs : Marx, Benjamin, Adorno
Spinoza’sCritiqueofReligionandItsHeirs Marx,Benjamin,Adorno Spinoza’sheritagehasbeenoccludedbyhisincorporationinto thesingle,Western,philosophicalcanonformedandenforced bytheologico-politicalcondemnation,andhisheritageisfur- theroccludedbycontroversieswhoseseculargarbshieldstheir religiousorigins.BysituatingSpinoza’sthoughtinamaterial- ist Aristotelian tradition, this book sheds new light on those who inherit Spinoza’s thought and its consequences mate- rially and historically rather than metaphysically. By focus- ing on Marx, Benjamin, and Adorno, Idit Dobbs-Weinstein exploresthemannerinwhichSpinoza’sradicalcritiqueofreli- gionshapesmaterialistcritiquesofthephilosophyofhistory. Dobbs-Weinstein argues that two radically opposed notions of temporality and history are at stake for these thinkers, an onto-theological future-oriented one, and a political one ori- entedtothepastforthesakeofthepresentor,moreprecisely, forthesakeofactivelyresistingthepersistentbarbarismatthe heartofculture. IditDobbs-WeinsteinisAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyand Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason and coeditorofMaimonidesandHisHeritage(withLennE.Good- man and James A. Grady). Her work has appeared in such journalsasEpoche´ andIdealisticStudies. Spinoza’s Critique of Religion and Its Heirs Marx, Benjamin, Adorno IDIT DOBBS-WEINSTEIN VanderbiltUniversity 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107094918 (cid:2)C IditDobbs-Weinstein2015 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2015 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dobbs-Weinstein,Idit,1950– Spinoza’scritiqueofreligionanditsheirs:Marx,Benjamin,Adorno/Idit Dobbs-Weinstein. pagescm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-09491-8(hardback:alk.paper) 1.Spinoza,Benedictusde,1632–1677. 2.Religion–Philosophy. 3.History–Philosophy. 4.Marx,Karl,1818–1883. 5.Benjamin,Walter, 1892–1940. 6.Adorno,TheodorW.,1903–1969. I.Title. b3998.d63 2015 199ʹ.492–dc23 2015010527 isbn978-1-107-09491-8Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhis publicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,or willremain,accurateorappropriate. In memory of the family I never had and of my mother, Bella (Bilhah Shifrah) Weinstein (1913–2002) (Theauthor’smotheronherfather’sknee.Poland,1916.) Contents Preface page xi Introduction 1 I. WhoseHistory,WhichPolitics? 1 II. WhatorHowIsCriticalTheory? 6 III. WhoseTheory,WhichDialectics?Historical MaterialistCritiqueofHistoricism 12 1 TheTheologico-PoliticalConstructionofthe PhilosophicalTradition 19 Preface:WhoseAnxiety?OrtheReturnofthe Repressed 19 PartI.TheEnigmaofSpinoza 21 I. AClashofTraditions 28 II. KantandHegel:PrecursorstoBrunoBauer 41 a.Kant 42 b.Hegel 45 PartII.TowardaMaterialistHistory:Negative DialecticsasaRadical,Secular,orJewish SpeciesofNegativeTheology 51 I. ADetourintoHistory:TheHyphen 52 II. Adorno:NegativeDialecticsasInoculationagainst Idolatry 59 vii viii Contents 2 TheParadoxofaPerfectDemocracy:From Spinoza’sTheologico-PoliticalTreatisetoMarx 67 Preface:AnOcclusioninOpenSight 67 PartI 70 a.AnExcursuswithAlthusser 70 b.RevisitingHistoricalMaterialism:Dialectics beforeHegel,orTheConcept“Dog”Does NotBark 72 c.HomagetoaDeadDog–TheThreeNotebooks 75 PartII 81 a.TheCommonwealth 81 b.TheHebrewCommonwealth 87 PartIII 93 a.FromMarx’sTTPtotheCritiqueofReligion andthe“JewishQuestion” 93 b.FromMarx’sTTPtoHegel’sPhilosophyof Right 103 AfterwordwithAlthusser 107 3 JudgmentDayasRepudiation:HistoryandJustice inMarx,Benjamin,andAdorno 108 Introduction:TheAmbiguousMatterofHistorical Materialism–MetaphysicsorPolitics 108 PartI.UndoingtheFateofDialecticof Enlightenment 118 PartII.TheAbyssbetweenPoliticalJusticeand TheologicalJudgmentDay 123 TheoryandPracticeI:FirstDiscussion 137 TheoryandPracticeII:AgainstResignation 143 4 DestituteLifeandtheOvercomingofIdolatry: DialecticalImage,ArchaicFetishinBenjamin’sand Adorno’sConversation 148 Introduction 148 BriefExcursus:HabentSuaFataAuctores 151 PartI.DialecticalImage 156 PartII.Myth,Allegory,Philology,andHistory 171 Postscript 192 5 UntimelyTimeliness:HistoricalReversals,the PossibilityofExperience,andCriticalPraxis 194 AHistoricalMaterialistApologia:Aristotleor Augustine 194
The list of books you might like
