An Investigation in Walter Benjamin's Concept of Technique

Subject Areas : Philosophy of art

Parizad Sinaei ¹ , امیر نصری ² , Aliakbar Ahmadiaframjani ³

1 - Department of Philosophy of Art, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran
2 - استاد دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی گروه فلسفه.
3 - Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Persian Language and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran

Received: 2025-10-24 Accepted : 2025-11-01 Published : 2025-11-01

Keywords: Walter Benjamin, Frankfurt School, technique, politics, aesthetics, collective body.,

Abstract :

Walter Benjamin, a philosopher associated with the Frankfurt School, suggested a new concept of "technique" in his various essays, which is different from its general concept. Benjamin significantly departs from the classical concept of techne as a target-oriented and rule-governed ability bound to a certain positive knowledge. For him technique is not merely a tool, but a non-instrumental medium through which humans actively shape their world with the ultimate aim of achieving happiness. Therefore, technique is the key to designing the world differently. The present study describes Benjamin's views on the concept of technique. The objective of study is to explore the meaning of technique by investigating various texts of Benjamin on technique and also examines its implications in other theoretical fields. The study was conducted in descriptive method using library resources. The results of this research revealed that the concept of technique has ontological, historical, political, and aesthetic dimensions and has a complex dialectic with the issues of reproduction, perception, and politics, the understanding of which can take an effective step towards enriching theoretical discussions, especially in the field of politics and contemporary aesthetics.

 

References:

# اشتاین، روبرت (1382). والتر بنیامین به همراه کوتاه نوشته‌هایی از والتر بنیامین‌، ترجمة مجید مددی، تهران، نشر اختران.
# خالق‌پناه، کمال؛ رحیمی، مبین (1397). تجربه‌های فقیر در سینما: بازنمایی سینمایی تجربة جنگ در فیلم کوتاه کردستان. فصلنامة انجمن ایرانی مطالعات فرهنگی و ارتباطات، سال چهاردهم، شمارة 53، 219-189.
# رامرت، ورنر (1387). نگاهی به نسبت فلسفة تکنولوژی و فلسفة رسانه؛ تکنولوژی به‌مثابة رسانه. مترجم حسین کاجی. رسانه‌های دیداری و شنیداری. سال چهارم، تابستان 1387، شماره 6، 105-88.
# علیا، مسعود؛ صارمی، نسترن (1400). جستار در مقام روش ازمنظر لوکاچ و آدورنو، نشریة علمی متافيزیك، دورة 13، شمارة 32، مهر 1400، صص 136-121.
# لاتور، برونو؛ انیون، آنتوان (1383)، هنر، هاله و فاصله از نظر والتر بنیامین، ترجمة انوشیروان گنجی‌پور، زیباشناخت، 10، 28-23.
# لووی، میشل (1376). دربارة تغییر جهان: مقالاتی دربارة فلسفة سیاسی از کارل مارکس تا والتر بنیامین، ترجمة حسین مرتضوی، تهران، انتشارات روشنگران و مطالعات زنان.
# نصری، امیر؛ دشت‌آرا، صابر (1398). مفهوم تجربه نزد متفکران نو-کانتی و تأثیر آن بر نوشته‌های اولیة والتر بنیامین. مجلة پژوهش‌های فلسفی، 13(29)،450-429.
 

# Benjamin, Walter; Arendt, Hannah (1999). Translated by Harry Zohn, Illuminations_ Essays and Reflections, Schocken Books, New York.
# Ertan Kardeş, Murat (2020). Technique in Walter Benjamin's Thought: Possibilities, Criticism and Political Action. Felsefe Arkivi-Archives of Philosophy, Issue: 52, 2020. DOI: 10.26650/arcp2020-001
# Hansen, Miriam (2012). Cinema and Experience-Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. University of California Press.
# Huang, Shih-Yen (2022). Body, Technology, and Art: On Walter Benjamin’s “Work of Art” Essay and Related Writings. Ex-position, Issue No. 48, December 2022 | National Taiwan University DOI: 10.6153/EXP.202212_(48).0007
# Lukács, Georg (1971). The Theory of the Novel: A Historico-Philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literature. London: Merlin Press.
# Mourenza, Daniel (2013). Dreams of a Better Nature: Walter Benjamin on the Creation of a Collective Techno-Body, Revista Teknokultura, Vol. 10, No. 3, 693-718.
# Mourenza, Daniel (2020). Walter Benjamin and the Aesthetics of Film, Amsterdam University Press.
# Sieber, Jan (2012). Technique as a Pure Means. On Walter Benjamin’s non-instrumentalist Concept of Technique. Anthropological Materialism. .
# Sieber, Jan (2019). Walter Benjamin's Concept of Technique. Anthropology & Materialism, [online], 4 | 2019, online on 13 octobre 2019. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/am/944 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/am.944