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Walter Benjamin's Monadology Walter Benjamin’s Monadology ! ! by! ! ! Paula!L.!Schwebel! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A!thesis!submitted!in!conformity!with!the!requirements! for!the!degree!of!Doctor!of!Philosophy! Department!of!Philosophy! University!of!Toronto! ! ! ! ! ©!Copyright!by!Paula!L.!Schwebel!2012! ! !!Walter!Benjamin’s!Monadology! ! Paula!L.!Schwebel! ! Doctor!of!Philosophy! ! Department!of!Philosophy! University!of!Toronto! ! 2012! ! Abstract! Walter!Benjamin!persistently!refers!to!Leibniz’s!monad,!from!his!doctoral! dissertation!(1919),!to!his!last!written!work,!the!theses!‘On!the!Concept!of! History’!(1940).!!This!dissertation!argues!that!the!systematic!intent!of!Benjamin’s! early!work!(1916–1928)!can!be!brought!out!most!clearly!by!examining! Benjamin’s!appropriation!of!Leibnizian!metaphysics.!!! The!task!of!this!dissertation!is!to!interpret!Benjamin’s!Leibniz,!and!to! follow!the!gestures!of!his!text.!Benjamin!was!not!interested!in!presenting!a! scholarly!interpretation!of!Leibniz’s!philosophy.!!Leibniz’s!monad!had!a!unique! significance!for!Benjamin’s!own!philosophical!project.!!In!his!early!work,!this! project!was!to!determine!a!method!for!the!philosophical!interpretation!of!art.!!! The!core!of!my!dissertation!distills!what!could!be!called!Benjamin’s! ‘aesthetic!theory.’!According!to!Benjamin,!works!of!art!do!not!express!their!truthY content!discursively;!rather,!they!express.an!idea!in!a!configuration!of!material! detail.!!I!argue!that!Benjamin!draws!on!a!Leibnizian!concept!of!expression.!!One! thing!expresses!another!if!it!preserves!the!same!logical!relationships!as!that! ! ii! ! ! which!it!represents.!!According!to!Benjamin,!an!idea!is!the!most!adequate! expression!of!a!work:!it!preserves!the!configuration!of!a!work’s!material!content,! and!represents!this!configuration!(or!“constellation”!in!Benjamin’s!terms)!in!the! nexus!of!predicates!in!a!‘complete!individual!concept,’!or!idea.!!! The!second!aspect!of!this!argument!is!more!applied!in!its!focus:!! Benjamin’s!Habilitation!thesis!describes!an!elective!affinity!between!Leibniz’s! monadic!metaphysics!and!the!Baroque!Trauerspiel.!!Benjamin’s!analysis!of!the! Baroque!dramas!and!his!interpretation!of!Leibniz!are!mutually!illuminating.!!The! point!that!legitimates!this!comparison!is!not!only!historical,!as!both!are!products! of!the!seventeenth!century,!but!can!also!be!presented!as!an!idea.!!!Both!Leibniz’s! metaphysics!and!the!Baroque!Trauerspiel!are!engaged!in!the!secularization!of! history.!!! My!argument!proceeds!in!five!chapters.!!In!Chapter!One,!I!trace!the! historical!sources!of!Benjamin’s!interpretation!of!Leibniz.!!In!Chapters!Two,! Three,!and!Four,!I!discuss!Benjamin’s!monadic!theory!of!ideas.!!Finally,!in!Chapter! Five,!I!address!Benjamin’s!response!to!Schmitt’s!Political!Theology.!!The!Epilogue! to!this!dissertation!is!a!reading!of!Hamlet,!which!was,!in!Benjamin’s!view,!the! Baroque!Trauerspiel,.par.excellence.!!Hamlet’s!world!is!a!selfYenclosed!totality,!or! monad.!!! ! ! ! ! iii! ! ! ! Acknowledgments! ! ! It!is!only!due!to!the!support!that!I!have!received!from!my!professors,!family,!and! friends!that!I!have!been!able!to!see!this!thesis!to!its!completion.!I!gratefully! acknowledge!the!following!people:!!! Thanks!are!due,!first,!to!my!supervisors,!Bob!Gibbs!and!Rebecca!Comay.!! Bob!has!supported!and!encouraged!my!work!throughout!the!past!seven!years.!! He!has!seen!me!through!many!difficult!moments!in!the!process!of!writing!with! patience!and!good!humor.!!I!have!learned!a!great!deal!from!Rebecca,!both!from! her!comments!on!my!work,!and!from!her!own!writing.!!Her!work!has!shown!me! that!it!is!possible!to!do!rigorous!philosophy!without!abstracting!from!the!details! of!a!text.!!I!am!fortunate!to!have!worked!with!Paul!Franks,!who!served!as!a!reader! on!my!committee!before!leaving!for!Yale!University.!!Willi!Goetschel!graciously! agreed!to!be!a!reader!on!my!committee.!!I!have!enjoyed!and!learned!from!our! conversations.!I!am!thankful!to!Hindy!Najman,!who!discussed!her!work!on!Walter! Benjamin!with!me,!and!gave!me!the!opportunity!to!present!portions!of!my!workY inYprogress!at!the!Graduate!Student!Colloquium!at!the!Center!for!Jewish!Studies.!! I!was!able!to!spend!two!years!of!my!Ph.D.!program!abroad,!first!as!a! Fellow!of!the!Leo!Baeck!Fellowship!Programme!in!2008–09,!and!then!as!a!Fellow! at!the!Franz!Rosenzweig!Minerva!Research!Center!at!the!Hebrew!University!of! ! iv! ! ! Jerusalem!in!2010.!!!These!two!years!brought!me!into!contact!with!a!wonderful! group!of!scholars!working!on!GermanYJewish!history!and!culture.!!Amongst!the! many!people!that!I!had!the!good!fortune!to!meet,!and!with!whom!I!have! discussed!this!work,!a!few!people!should!be!especially!acknowledged.!!I!am! grateful!to!Vivian!Liska,!for!the!inspiration!of!her!work,!and!for!believing!in!me,! often!more!than!I!have!believed!in!myself.!!Vivian!has!read!portions!of!this!work,! and!has!commented!on!them!with!acuity.!!Liliane!Weissberg!made!it!possible!for! me!to!spend!a!semester!as!a!visiting!researcher!at!the!Department!of!Germanic! Languages!and!Literatures!at!the!University!of!Pennsylvania.!Liliane!provided! invaluable!help!during!the!first!stages!of!writing!this!dissertation.!!I!am!thankful! also!to!Andrew!Cutrofello!for!his!encouragement!over!the!years,!and!for!inviting! me!to!write!a!paper!on!Hamlet!for!a!panel!he!chaired!at!the!Society!for! Phenomenology!and!Existential!Philosophy!(Montreal,!2010).!!That!paper! eventually!become!the!Epilogue!to!this!dissertation.!! Fellowship!support!has!been!provided!by!the!Social!Sciences!and! Humanities!Research!Council,!which!awarded!me!a!Canadian!Graduate! Scholarship!for!the!first!three!years!of!my!doctoral!research!(2004–2007).!!The! Leo!Baeck!Institute.and!the.Studienstiftung.des.deutschen.Volkes!provided! fellowship!support!during!2008Y09.!!The!Minerva!Institute!provided!Fellowship! support!in!2009–10.!!I!am!also!grateful!to!the!Center!for!Jewish!Studies!for! scholarship!support,!and!to!the!School!of!Graduate!Studies!at!the!University!of! Toronto,!for!an!Open!Fellowship!during!2007–08.!!! ! v! ! ! My!friends!have!taught!me!many!things!that!have!indirectly!but!crucially! shaped!my!writing.!!Santiago!Slabodsky!taught!me!the!meaning!of!hope!in!the! past.!!He!was!by!my!side!through!the!first!stages!of!this!work,!and!his!stubborn! support!kept!me!from!giving!up.!!!Anne!Pollok,!in!addition!to!being!a!dear!friend,! has!checked!numerous!translations!from!German.!!Sami!Khatib!and!Leena! Petersen!were!my!‘coYconspirators’!in!organizing!an!informal!workshop!on! Benjamin!(Berlin,!2010).!!!I!have!jokingly!referred!to!Farshid!Baghai!as!my!third! supervisor.!!This!joke!has!more!than!a!little!truth,!and!does!not!express!the!more! important!things!that!I!have!learned!from!him.!!Eva!Mroczek!and!I!coYtaught!a! course!on!‘Lament!and!History!in!Jewish!Texts’!at!the!Center!for!the!Study!of! Religion!in!spring,!2011.!!Throughout!the!past!year,!Eva!and!I!shared!the!joys!and! miseries!of!teaching!and!writing.!!! Eduard!Iricinschi!has!helped!me!with!every!aspect!of!this!dissertation.!!His! unwavering!kindness!and!companionship!have!given!me!the!balance!that!I! needed!to!write.!!My!family!has!been!a!great!source!of!support.!!In!particular,!I!am! grateful!to!my!brother!Josh!Schwebel,!for!coaching!me!through!bouts!of!writer’s! block,!and!lending!me!his!wonderful!dog,!Astra;!and!to!my!sister!Shoshana! Schwebel,!for!our!memorable!conversations!about!Benjamin!and!die.Kreatur.!!My! mother,!Ruth!Donsky,!edited!the!entire!manuscript!with!great!care,!and!made! sure!that!I!remembered!to!eat!during!the!final!months!of!work.!!This!thesis!is! dedicated!to!my!father,!Carl!Schwebel,!who!was!my!first!teacher!of!philosophy,! and!who!avidly!discussed!all!aspects!of!this!work.!!! ! ! vi! ! ! Table!of!Contents! ! ! ! Introduction:!Monads,!Aesthetic!Ideas,!and!the!Secularization!of!History!….….……...1! ! 1.!Benjamin’s!Monadic!Theory!of!Aesthetic!Ideas……………………………………………………..5! 2.!Secularization!of!Metaphysics!and!the!‘SelfYEnclosed’!World!of!the!Baroque……….11! ! ! One:!The!Sources!of!Walter!Benjamin’s!Monadology…………………………………..……….14! ! 1.!Benjamin’s!Sources:!Hermann!Cohen!and!Heinz!Heimsoeth………………………………..19! 2.!Benjamin’s!Leibniz:!Between!Medieval!Mysticism!and!Enlightened!Rationality!…!.37! 3.!Benjamin’s!Monadology!and!the!Interpretation!of!Contingent!Experience……..……53! ! ! Two:!The!Representation!of!Ideas!and!the!Redemption!of!Phenomena………………!57! ! 1.!‘Expression’!in!Leibniz!…………………………………………………………………………….………..62! 1.1.!Expression!and!AntiYCartesianism………….……….……………………………………………..!66! 1.2.!Expression!and!‘Adequate’!Ideas!……………………………………………………………………70! 1.3.!Expression!and!Perception:!the!Restoration!of!Inner!Qualities!………………………...75! 1.4.!The!Equivocal!Nature!of!Expression………………………………………………………………..79! 1.5.!Expression!and!Language……………………………………………………………………………….83! 2.!Representation!in!Benjamin’s!Monadic!Theory!of!Ideas!…………………………………….88! 2.1.!Benjamin’s!Ideas!as!Virtual!Totalities!and!the!History!within!Ideas………………….92! 2.2.!Petites.Perceptions!and!the!Optical!Unconscious……………………………………………..97! 2.3.!Representation!and!the!Method!of!Philosophy………………………………………………100! 2.4.!Representation!in!Ideas!and!Subsumption!under!Concepts……………………………105! 2.5.!Representation!and!Constellations………………………………………………………………..110! 3.!Representation!and!Aesthetic!Ideas…………………………………………………………………112! 3.1.!The!Ambivalent!Beauty!of!Leibniz’s!System……………………………………..……………115! 3.2.!The!Relationship!between!Truth!and!Beauty!……………………………………………….!119! 3.3.!The!Mortification!of!Art!……………………………………………………………………………….122! ! ! Three:!!Windowless!Monads!and!the!Romantic!‘Idea!of!Art’!……………………………...127!
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