From Event to Criticality? A Study of Heidegger, Lacan, Benjamin and Derrida

Abstract

Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger are famous for their critique of teleological understandings of time and their critical approaches towards established ‘meanings’. In his Theses on History, Benjamin (1999), arguing against fascism and social democracy, opposes the notion of homogenous time (or empty time), which is associated with historical progress. According to him, such an understanding of time only reproduces the interests and ideologies of ruling elites. Benjamin argues instead for what he calls ‘messianic time’, which concerns itself with oppressed classes and the possibilities of reclaiming the past in the present: ‘Universal history has no theoretical armature. Its method is additive; it musters a mass of data to fill the homogeneous empty time’ (Benjamin, 1999, pp.262–263). Different from chronological order, according to Benjamin, what we have instead is a constellation which can rearrange itself in a flash. It is important to mention here that Benjamin’s conception breaks away from the notion of future salvation, and instead directs its impetus to the notion of ‘redemption of the past’: ‘Benjamin’s usage of the expression the Messiah differs from its conventional usage. The “messianic cessation” involves revolutionizing the past, not the future’ (Ware, 2004, p.103). But it seems to be Heidegger who pushed the questions of meaning and time the furthest.