Docta desperation

Walter Benjamin and the theological turn

Abstract

This paper examines some of Walter Benjamin’s theological ideas, in terms of both their intellectual origins and the consequences they generated within Marxist debates. Pineda argues that one reason for the conjunction between Marxism and theology is the revitalization of an international communist movement weakened by its adoption of points of view close to positivism, historicism and a naive belief in progress. It presents, in reality, a criticism of the new myths, seen through one of the disciplines most censored by the philosophy of modern times; namely, theology. Taking “theoretical Messianism”, as his guide, the author reviews the intellectual relations among Benjamin, Ernst Bloch, Theodor W. Adorno, Carl Schmitt, Bertold Brecht and Gershom Scholem.