ABSTRACT
The introduction provides a preliminary explanation of Benjamin’s philosophical method, the fruits of which will make up the content of subsequent chapters. I locate three essential features of Benjamin’s method of philosophical writing: it is dialectical, fragmentary and constellational. If Benjamin is often not seen as fully philosophical, I argue it is because of a lack of recognition of what is distinctive about his method. In the dialectical moments, Benjamin provides a critical negation of a customary or conformist way in which we have come to think of a certain concept, such as language or truth. On the basis of such negation, Benjamin then offers fragmentary solutions to the problems. I argue that Benjamin’s texts are fragmentary not because of their failure to solve the problem under investigation, but because of their honesty and patience in remaining open to alternative solutions. To be sure, something remains unsatisfactory when we place Benjamin’s fragmentary philosophical theses under isolated analysis, but the key to getting beyond this impression has to do with the practice of constellation. In a constellation, each isolated element refers in an open-ended way to other related ones, so as to form a dynamic image. If we group various partial solutions around a common problem, we see what they have in common with one another, how one solves an indeterminacy in another, and what leads to new insights.
