Spinoza's critique of religion and its heirs : Marx, Benjamin, Adorno

292 Pages·2015·2.29 MB·English

by  Theodor W.

Spinoza’sCritiqueofReligionandItsHeirs
Marx,Benjamin,Adorno
Spinoza’sheritagehasbeenoccludedbyhisincorporationinto
thesingle,Western,philosophicalcanonformedandenforced
bytheologico-politicalcondemnation,andhisheritageisfur-
theroccludedbycontroversieswhoseseculargarbshieldstheir
religiousorigins.BysituatingSpinoza’sthoughtinamaterial-
ist Aristotelian tradition, this book sheds new light on those
who inherit Spinoza’s thought and its consequences mate-
rially and historically rather than metaphysically. By focus-
ing on Marx, Benjamin, and Adorno, Idit Dobbs-Weinstein
exploresthemannerinwhichSpinoza’sradicalcritiqueofreli-
gionshapesmaterialistcritiquesofthephilosophyofhistory.
Dobbs-Weinstein argues that two radically opposed notions
of temporality and history are at stake for these thinkers, an
onto-theological future-oriented one, and a political one ori-
entedtothepastforthesakeofthepresentor,moreprecisely,
forthesakeofactivelyresistingthepersistentbarbarismatthe
heartofculture.
IditDobbs-WeinsteinisAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyand
Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of
Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason and
coeditorofMaimonidesandHisHeritage(withLennE.Good-
man and James A. Grady). Her work has appeared in such
journalsasEpoche´ andIdealisticStudies.

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion and
Its Heirs
Marx, Benjamin, Adorno
IDIT DOBBS-WEINSTEIN
VanderbiltUniversity
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Firstpublished2015
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Dobbs-Weinstein,Idit,1950–
Spinoza’scritiqueofreligionanditsheirs:Marx,Benjamin,Adorno/Idit
Dobbs-Weinstein.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-09491-8(hardback:alk.paper)
1.Spinoza,Benedictusde,1632–1677. 2.Religion–Philosophy.
3.History–Philosophy. 4.Marx,Karl,1818–1883. 5.Benjamin,Walter,
1892–1940. 6.Adorno,TheodorW.,1903–1969. I.Title.
b3998.d63 2015
199ʹ.492–dc23 2015010527
isbn978-1-107-09491-8Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhis
publicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,or
willremain,accurateorappropriate.
In memory of the family I never had and of my mother,
Bella (Bilhah Shifrah) Weinstein
(1913–2002)
(Theauthor’smotheronherfather’sknee.Poland,1916.)

Contents
Preface page xi
Introduction 1
I. WhoseHistory,WhichPolitics? 1
II. WhatorHowIsCriticalTheory? 6
III. WhoseTheory,WhichDialectics?Historical
MaterialistCritiqueofHistoricism 12
1 TheTheologico-PoliticalConstructionofthe
PhilosophicalTradition 19
Preface:WhoseAnxiety?OrtheReturnofthe
Repressed 19
PartI.TheEnigmaofSpinoza 21
I. AClashofTraditions 28
II. KantandHegel:PrecursorstoBrunoBauer 41
a.Kant 42
b.Hegel 45
PartII.TowardaMaterialistHistory:Negative
DialecticsasaRadical,Secular,orJewish
SpeciesofNegativeTheology 51
I. ADetourintoHistory:TheHyphen 52
II. Adorno:NegativeDialecticsasInoculationagainst
Idolatry 59
vii
viii Contents
2 TheParadoxofaPerfectDemocracy:From
Spinoza’sTheologico-PoliticalTreatisetoMarx 67
Preface:AnOcclusioninOpenSight 67
PartI 70
a.AnExcursuswithAlthusser 70
b.RevisitingHistoricalMaterialism:Dialectics
beforeHegel,orTheConcept“Dog”Does
NotBark 72
c.HomagetoaDeadDog–TheThreeNotebooks 75
PartII 81
a.TheCommonwealth 81
b.TheHebrewCommonwealth 87
PartIII 93
a.FromMarx’sTTPtotheCritiqueofReligion
andthe“JewishQuestion” 93
b.FromMarx’sTTPtoHegel’sPhilosophyof
Right 103
AfterwordwithAlthusser 107
3 JudgmentDayasRepudiation:HistoryandJustice
inMarx,Benjamin,andAdorno 108
Introduction:TheAmbiguousMatterofHistorical
Materialism–MetaphysicsorPolitics 108
PartI.UndoingtheFateofDialecticof
Enlightenment 118
PartII.TheAbyssbetweenPoliticalJusticeand
TheologicalJudgmentDay 123
TheoryandPracticeI:FirstDiscussion 137
TheoryandPracticeII:AgainstResignation 143
4 DestituteLifeandtheOvercomingofIdolatry:
DialecticalImage,ArchaicFetishinBenjamin’sand
Adorno’sConversation 148
Introduction 148
BriefExcursus:HabentSuaFataAuctores 151
PartI.DialecticalImage 156
PartII.Myth,Allegory,Philology,andHistory 171
Postscript 192
5 UntimelyTimeliness:HistoricalReversals,the
PossibilityofExperience,andCriticalPraxis 194
AHistoricalMaterialistApologia:Aristotleor
Augustine 194