This week we will be discussing Walter Benjamin's famous essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproduction. " While this is an extremely complex and multi-faceted essay, one particular issue that I would like to focus on is the question of aura for Benjamin. Here, I propose that we attempt not only to unpack Benjamin's definition of aura, but attempt to explicate the broader implications of the concept for the text. In regards to the first task, I propose that we pay special attention to the following related features: authority, distance, originality, ritual, cult, and authenticity. In regards to the second task, we might consider how Benjamin imagines the transformation from auratic art into modern mechanically reproducible art, and how he values or de-values this transformation. Finally, we might ask if there are critical objections to be raised about Benjamin's position here. For instance, Heidegger's "The Origin of the Work of Art" is written at approximately the same time and represents a different perspective on aura, while within the Frankfurt school itself, Adorno will have a strong response about Benjamin's position.
Recently in Hermeneutics Category
Many medieval philosophers were concerned with formulating a synthesis between Aristotle and Christianity (Many of the proofs of Gods existence owe a lot to Aristotle). However, I noticed something while reading through Phaedrus. There are a lot of concepts/phrases that Plato puts into Socrates mouth that are eerily similar to phrases/concepts used by Paul of Tarsus, who singlehandedly wrote most of the Christian New Testament.
In terms of manuscript analysis, I remember Professor Long stating that we don't have any manuscripts of Plato's dialogues that date before ~1000 AD. But, we have Manuscripts of Paul's epistles that date back to ~200/300 AD. Since the Church was effectively the only institution in Europe that worried about preserving philosophical documents in the middle ages, I think it's possible that some monks might have peppered some of Paul's phrases into Plato's work in order for synthesis to go smoother.
The first similarity that caught my eye was this:
"For there is no light of justice or temperance or any of the higher ideas which are precious to souls in the early copies of them: they are seen through a glass dimly; and there are few who, going to the images, behold them in the realities, and these only with difficulty." (Phaedrus 250b)
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)
The concept is that the earthly word is inhibiting us from experiencing divine reality. Obviously there are great metaphysical differences between what Plato is suggesting, and what Paul writes about. But I'm still curious if there was any alterations in the platonic text.
Another example that caught my eye:
"And he who employs aright these memories is ever being initiated into perfect mysteries and along becomes perfect" (Phaedrus 249c)
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The idea here is that aligning yourself to the divine allows you to attain that which is impossible without aligning yourself to the divine.
The last obvious parallel I found wasn't between Plato and Paul, but between Plato and Luke:
"he has forgotten mother and brethren and companions, and he thinks nothing of the neglect and loss of his property; the rules and properties of life, on which he formerly prided himself, he now despise, and is ready to sleep like a servant, whenever he is allowed, as near as he can to his desired one, who is the objective of his worship, and the physician who can alone assuage the greatness of his pain" (Phaedrus 252a)
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)
It might be easy to assume that the biblical authors were referencing Plato, but the lack of manuscripts makes such a position hard to defend. If the texts were developed in isolation (which is doubtful, considering the popular opinion that Paul was familiar with the Greek philosophers) then it's interesting how similar some of the concepts are.
In terms of manuscript analysis, I remember Professor Long stating that we don't have any manuscripts of Plato's dialogues that date before ~1000 AD. But, we have Manuscripts of Paul's epistles that date back to ~200/300 AD. Since the Church was effectively the only institution in Europe that worried about preserving philosophical documents in the middle ages, I think it's possible that some monks might have peppered some of Paul's phrases into Plato's work in order for synthesis to go smoother.
The first similarity that caught my eye was this:
"For there is no light of justice or temperance or any of the higher ideas which are precious to souls in the early copies of them: they are seen through a glass dimly; and there are few who, going to the images, behold them in the realities, and these only with difficulty." (Phaedrus 250b)
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)
The concept is that the earthly word is inhibiting us from experiencing divine reality. Obviously there are great metaphysical differences between what Plato is suggesting, and what Paul writes about. But I'm still curious if there was any alterations in the platonic text.
Another example that caught my eye:
"And he who employs aright these memories is ever being initiated into perfect mysteries and along becomes perfect" (Phaedrus 249c)
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The idea here is that aligning yourself to the divine allows you to attain that which is impossible without aligning yourself to the divine.
The last obvious parallel I found wasn't between Plato and Paul, but between Plato and Luke:
"he has forgotten mother and brethren and companions, and he thinks nothing of the neglect and loss of his property; the rules and properties of life, on which he formerly prided himself, he now despise, and is ready to sleep like a servant, whenever he is allowed, as near as he can to his desired one, who is the objective of his worship, and the physician who can alone assuage the greatness of his pain" (Phaedrus 252a)
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)
It might be easy to assume that the biblical authors were referencing Plato, but the lack of manuscripts makes such a position hard to defend. If the texts were developed in isolation (which is doubtful, considering the popular opinion that Paul was familiar with the Greek philosophers) then it's interesting how similar some of the concepts are.
In his book on Plato aptly entitled, Plato: Dramatist of the Life of Reason, John Herman Randall recounts the famous story of Plato's dream:
Shortly before he died, Plato dreamed that he was a swan, flying from tree to tree and causing much trouble for the bird-catchers who tried to capture him.
Simmias, a companion of Socrates who had died 52 years earlier, interpreted the dream to mean that all men would desire to catch the spirit of Plato, but none would succeed (Randall, John. Plato: Dramatist of the Life of Reason, p.vii).
As we turn our attention to Plato this semester and begin to engage the texts we have inherited under his name, we would do well to keep this dream in mind and to approach these words not so much with a desire to possess the spirit of Plato, but with the desire to allow them to move us toward a deeper understanding of his thinking and the complexity of the human life his writing depicts.
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