1. Walter Benjamin's philosophy of language
- Author
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Ritter, Martin, Petříček, Miroslav, Thein, Karel, and Stromšík, Jiří
- Abstract
The work analyzes Walter Benjamin's philosophy oflanguage presenting it as an ontological and cognitive basis ofhis early thought (1916-1925). The investigation starts from a detailed study of an unpublished reflection On language as Such and on the Language of Man. The analysis of the text contrasts its metaphysical interpretation with its deconstructive reading opting for a hermeneutical approach. Benjamin's philosophy of language is presented as a theory in which all being is conceived as language. Benjamin not only constructs a metaphysical conception according to which all human beings express themselves to God by naming existing things, but simultaneously defines constitutive property of (all) language, namely its "immediacy", i.e. the fact that language is primarily not a medium of communication. However, the text On language describes also a (biblical) fall which causes a loss of immediacy and a rise of the multiplicity of languages. The area of (fallen) plurality of languages is investigated in the The Tas k of the Translator, which focuses on the relation and kinship of languages. This kinship is based on the fact that alllanguages want to say the same thing, namely the "pure language". The analysis of The Task of the Translator stresses the semantic and, in this sense, conceptual aspect of...
- Published
- 2007