The Benjamin Chreode

Abstract

This article describes the development of Benjamin's ideas and discusses them critically on a theoretical level by comparing them with Lacan's ideas. I argue that Benjamin's and Lacan's theoretical formulations start from the same tradition of continental philosophy but develop in different directions. I follow the track of such concepts as intersubjectivity, domination, thirdness, and others and take the notion of thirdness from the clinical to the social domain. I then describe in some detail a series of workshops for Palestinians and Israelis—the Mutual Acknowledgment Project—that try to promote reconciliation by processing the deepest injuries that trouble the two communities. Analysis of the project gives rise to some insights regarding the third in its social action.

Notes

¹References to the 2006 paper by Benjamin are based on an unpublished version typed in a 12-point font and spanning 29 pages..