Fire Alarm: Reading Walter Benjamin's on the Concept of History

This illuminating study of Benjamin's final essay helps unlock the mystery of this great philosopher. Revolutionary critic of the philosophy of progress, nostalgic of the past yet dreaming of the future, romantic partisan of materialism-Walter Benjamin is in every sense of the word an "unclassifiable" philosopher. His last text was written in a state of urgency, as he attempted to escape the Gestapo in 1940, before finally committing suicide. "On the Concept of History" is one of the most important philosophical and political writings of the twentieth century, argues Michael Löwy in this scrupulous, clear and fascinating examination. Löwy uses the concept of "elective affinity," the mutual attraction between two cultural figures, derived from the amorous encounter of two souls in Goethe's novel Elective Affinities. Looking in detail at Benjamin's celebrated but often mysterious text, and restoring the philosophical, theological and political context, Löwy strives to understand and highlight the complex relationship between redemption and revolution in Benjamin's philosophy of history.