Walter Benjamin: “Thesis of the Philosophy of History”.

A Klee painting named “Angelus Novus” shows an angel looking at though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perveive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken and dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise, it has got caught in its wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irrestibly propels him to the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skywards. This storm is what we call progress.

In the ninth thesis, Walter Benjamin rejects the past as the continuum of progress in the future. The painting of the angel which metophorically represents history is looking to the past and hopes of lingering there. However, the chain of past catastrophic events which he hopes to fix is now propelling him to move into the future. The angel is hopeless and cannot make whole the fragments of history. The task of the Angel is to establish a redemptive relation to the fragments. Progress beckons the angel, who must move ahead into the future to keep abreast of the changing times.

This passage is relevant in our lives as well. Instead of living in the past, we must pick the pieces of our lives and move on. Perfection is not a state but a dream, and our human frailties have made us captives of the past and detest change. In this passage Benjamin is speaking about moving ahead in life, despite all the mistakes committed and problems that we face. To quote Buddha, “Change is the only constant thing in life”.

Walter Benjamin: 

 

1. What is the difference between cult value and exhibition value in art? How does Benjamin see these values in relation to politics?

Cult value in the work of art is when a commodity is rare such as a fleeting moment in photography to grab the human experience. However, the cult value now is being replaced by exhibition value with films and photography being prime examples. The stress on the cult value of works of art has shifted to their exhibition value. Photography and film are ideally suited for realizing that shift.

2. What is the difference between Erfahrung and Erlebnisse? How does it relate to art?
Erfahrung is use to indicate the experience as on going and cumulative. It also means to say something you undergo. Erlernisse is used to discuss the idea of experience as isolated and categorical. It also means to say something you have.

3. Explain some of the positive and negative effects of the destruction of the "aura" in art.
The withering of the aura of art is a good thing. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to take on new forms, and that leads to the meager of art and media.
The negative aspect of the destruction of aura is that it takes away the uniqueness of the moment and time of the art.

4. How would you judge or evaluate the impact of forms of mass culture like film in contemporary life? Have they changed human perception? Are they important part of creating political consciousness in the public?
Mass culture like films has become an integral part of the art and communication medium for modern times. Mass culture refers to how culture gets produced. Mass culture is mass produced, distributed, and marketed. This culture tends to reproduce the liberal value of individualism and to foster a view of the citizen as a consumer.

On Pain:

Junger’s critique of liberalism is that it basically denies or conceals the relationship to pain. The existence of pain contradicts the dominant values of liberal society which holds out the myth that good will always triumph over evil:

Pain’s disregard for our system of great values greatly increases its hold on life… Our children’s tales close with passages about heroes who, after having overcome many dangers, live out their lives in peace and happiness. We hear such assurances with pleasure, for it is comforting for us to learn about a place removed from pain. Yet, in truth, life is without any such satisfying end.

Junger was against liberalism and he looked forward to the dissolution of the Weimer Republic and its liberal capitalism. He believed that revolution would bring a progress in Germany and liberalism stood in its way. Junger, a World War I veteran, was a vocal critic of the Weimer Republic. In the passage from “On Pain”, there is a total rejection of liberalism and its values of liberty, security, comfort and ease. His explanation was that at the root of everything, pain was the motivating force that propelled mankind to make progress and move ahead. The passage explains to people to come out of the fantasy world of the bourgeoisie and see that world shatter before them.

1. How would you judge Junger’s thesis that pain is the central experience of life.

For Junger, who was far removed from the basic tenets of liberalism, his idea that pain was the central experience of life was a bold statement to make at his time. Yet I agree with Junger’s thesis, because his argument still holds true in today’s world. The world has seen wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and other disasters both man made and natural. If we look at the basic component of all that has happened, pain is the central experience and also the driving force that drives people to move ahead and over come the hindrances thrown at them.

2. What does “post-liberal” refer to and how does it relate to the idea of progress?

This refers to how the liberals have evolved their notion of progress. In the early days, liberals viewed progress as having peace and universal brotherhood, but now that has changed to measuring progress in terms of education level, income level etc.

3. Why is the photography the “evil eye” according to Junger?

Photography according to Junger is evil, because it captures what ever it sees, without a hint of emotion or humanity.

4. What is the relationship between specialized education and the “worker type.”

Specialized education and higher learning was reserved for the elite in society and not available to the working class. The inclusion of many clauses and baseless rules made it difficult for the people from the working class to have access to higher education and thereby stopping them from moving up the social ladder.

5. How does submission to totalitarian authorities protect an individual from pain.

Pain is a very subjective feeling and varies between people.  Submission to a totalitarian authority would protect the individual from harm and thereby protect him from pain.