Walter Benjamin i metodologia antropologicznego materializmu. Krzesanie dialektycznych iskier na metalowej głowie Ernsta Thälmanna

Abstract

In his methodology as well as his political thought Benjamin remainsfaithful to the principle to proceed “always radically, never consistently”. Therefore,the greatest challenge for a contemporary city researcher inspired by Benjamin is tooperationalise his materialist methodology. Benjamin’s anthropological materialismcannot be reached within the fixed limits of any discipline, but rather places itself“on the crossroads of magic and positivism” (Adorno); the dialectical image is nota tool of his methodology but its culminating point where positivism turns to magic.To reach this point, Benjamin conducts perceptive and analytical experiments thatcan be treated as dialectical études, exercises in seeing. The paper examines some ofthese techniques, exploring their philosophical context and testing them on a contemporaryexample: the Ernst-Thälmann-Monument in Berlin.