Abstract

This paper develops a progressive study of the concepts of “traditional experience” (Erfahrung) and “lived experience” (Erlebnis) in the work of German philosopher Walter Benjamin. It surveys his earlier texts from his youth up through those from the 1940’s in an effort to compare the author’s different usages of the concepts. This paper also approach the works of Wilhelm Dilthey, Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud, given that these philosophers inspired the concepts of “traditional experience” and “lived experience” in Benjamin’s work.