text:
This action might not be possible to undo. Are you sure you want to continue?
Catherine Mills
Human life is politicized only through an abandonment to an unconditional power of death.1
In his account of biopolitics in Homo Sacer, Giorgio Agamben argues that the biopolitical capture of life is fundamentally co-existent with the operations of sovereignty. Drawing simultaneously on Aristotle, Carl Schmitt and Walter Benjamin as well as the obscure figure of sacred man or ʻhomo sacer' from Roman law, Agamben argues that life captured within the sovereign ban is bare life, and as such, is life irreparably exposed to the force of death that characterizes sovereignty. Further, Agamben argues that the originary relation of the law to life is not application, but abandonment. In formulating a response to the dangers of biopolitical capture discussed in Homo Sacer, Agamben concludes this text with an elusive gesture toward a new ʻform-of-life' as the ground of a coming politics over and against the bloody nexus of sovereign violence and biopolitics. While this gesture has not yet been read in critiques of Homo Sacer, it is in fact one of the key moments in the text. In particular, Agamben's gesture to a new form of life highlights the specifically messianic aspect of his work, in which he argues for the total overturning of the condition of abandonment, understood as imperfect nihilism, as the necessary condition of redemption from biopolitical capture. In this paper, I trace the influence of Walter Benjamin on Agamben's theorization of law and his engagement with the theory of sovereignty posed by Carl Schmitt to consider Agamben's theorization of the biopolitical capture of life and messianic redemption. Agamben's work on biopolitics can in fact be read as an attempt to extend or perhaps fulfill Benjamin's critique of Schmitt's theory of sovereignty, developed in his "Theses on the Philosophy of History" for instance.
Contretemps 5, December 2004
Agamben's understanding of sovereignty, law and violence works between, on the one hand, Schmitt's theorization of sovereignty as the decision on the exception and on the other, Benjamin's critique of Schmitt in his eighth thesis on the philosophy of history, where he claims that the exception has increasingly become the rule. Tracing Agamben's mediation of this conflict also helps situate his work in relation to that of other theorists with whom he is frequently associated, particularly Jean-Luc Nancy and Jacques Derrida, and specify his disagreements with them. To bring these out, I compare the ʻweak messianics' of Jacques Derrida with Agamben's position, which I call ʻstrong messianics'. In this comparison, I focus particularly on the essays in which Derrida provides an interpretation of Benjamin's messianics and the status of the law, these being "Force of Law' and "Before the Law," as these texts are closely paralleled in Agamben's work. It is worth noting at this point I have reconstructed Agamben's argument in Homo Sacer in a form that may initially seem at odds with the ethos of his work. One of the difficulties that Agamben's work presents for interpretation lies in his fragmentary and iterative style, which means that the reduction of summary is a particularly difficult task that can too easily give the impression of a greater systematicity than there is in the original work. Yet while Agamben's work is densely interwoven in fragments, ʻthresholds', and short essays, there is nevertheless an internal consistency of argumentation and it is this that I am concerned with here. Hence, my reconstruction of Agamben's argument does not attempt to either replicate or to simply obscure his stylistics but instead attends to the rigorous conceptuality that gives such a style its critical theoretical force. In doing so, I have also drawn from essays and fragments in several other books that complement the often dense and enigmatic claims made in Homo Sacer.
Bare Life and the Sovereign Exception
The starting point for Agamben's discussion of sovereignty is the apparent paradox of sovereignty, wherein the sovereign is simultaneously inside and outside the juridical order, a situation encapsulated in the notion of the sovereign exception. Taking up Carl Schmitt's thesis that "sovereign is he who decides on the exception,"2 Agamben argues that what is at stake in the state of exception is the very possibility of juridical rule and the meaning of State authority. According to Schmitt, in deciding on the state of exception—a process in which the sovereign both includes and excludes itself from the purview of law— "the sovereign "creates and guarantees the situation" that the law needs for its own validity."3 He argues that since the exception cannot be codified in the established order, a true decision is required in order to determine whether it is an exception, and thus, whether the rule applies to it. Sovereignty resides in this decision
Contretemps 5, December 2004
it operates both as a condition of law's operation and an effect of the sovereign decision such that the exception is not simply outside the realm of the law. As Agamben states. sovereignty is the ʻborder-line concept' of order and the exception. December 2004 44 .6 The effective consequence of this is that the exception confirms the rule by its being other than the normal reference of the rule. Agamben takes up the notion of the sovereign as borderline or limit concept to argue that the defining characteristic of sovereignty is that the sovereign determines when law is applicable and what it applies to. For Agamben. He claims that "the exception is that which cannot be subsumed. rather. the state of exception is such that what is excluded from the purview of the law continues to maintain a relation to the rule precisely through the suspension of that rule. Agamben concludes from this structure of the exception that "the rule applies to the exception in no longer applying. gives rise to the exception and. first constitutes itself as a rule. maintaining itself in relation to the exception. because the sense of the legal order rests upon the existence of the normal situation. "what is at issue in the sovereign exception is not so much the control or neutralization of an excess as the creation and definition of the very space in which the juridico-political order can have validity. but is in fact created through the law's suspension. then. where the sovereign decides whether the situation that confronts it is truly an exception or the normal order."5 The sovereign thus operates as the threshold of order and exception. the rule. the form of the sovereign decision is a decision on the norm and the exception.9 That which is Contretemps 5. and hence. but it simultaneously reveals a specific juristic element—the decision in absolute purity… Therein resides the essence of the state's sovereignty… which must be juristically defined… as the monopoly to decide. suspending itself. this does not mean that the exception is without relation to the rule. This means that the state of exception is not simply the chaos that precedes order. the state of exception that characterizes the structure of sovereignty is not simply inaugurated through an interdiction or confinement.on what constitutes public order and security. Thus. In his interpretation of Schmitt. must also create the conditions that are necessary for law to operate since the law presupposes normal order for its operation. But Agamben adds the crucial caveat that while the law might be suspended in relation to the exception. The sovereign determines the suspension of the law vis-à-vis an individual or extraordinary case and simultaneously constitutes the efficacy of the law in that determination. whether the social order has been disturbed."7 With regard to juridical rule. wherein the rule withdraws from the exception and applies to the exception in that withdrawal."4 Further. it defies general codification. rather. As Agamben states. That is. The particular force of law consists in this capacity of law to maintain itself in relation to an exteriority. but through the suspension of the validity of the juridical order. Agamben suggests that the term most appropriate to the capacity of the law to apply in no longer applying is that of the ban. the exception is included within the purview of the law precisely through its exclusion from it. determining the purview of the law. "the exception does not subtract itself from the rule. such that sovereignty itself becomes apparent in that decision. in withdrawing from it."8 Following Jean-Luc Nancy. and in doing so.
a permission and the power that holds these freely at his disposal."15 Addressing a disagreement between Benjamin and Judaic scholar. but rather that while applying the law cannot apply in any concrete or immediate sense since it has lost any apparent meaning or intelligibility. Agamben argues in Homo Sacer that what is captured within the sovereign ban is life itself. to its convening.excluded is not simply set outside the law and made indifferent or irrelevant to it. entrust. such that fact and norm enter into indistinction. finds itself in the most intimate relation with sovereignty. in the exception. or turn over to its ban. but rather abandoned by it. since the "law is made of nothing but what it manages to capture inside itself through the inclusive exclusion" it finds its own existence in the "very life of men. the law effectively coincides with life itself. the subject of the ban is not simply excluded from the realm of the law. To abandon is to remit. to its proclaiming. a decree. or thrown to this law. entrusted. and to remit. where to be abandoned means to be subjected to the unremitting force of the law while the law simultaneously withdraws from its subject. but is given to the law in its withdrawal. that is. a prescription. Benjamin appears to mean that the law is reduced to the ontic conditions of existence and cannot rule over life through claims to transcendence. As Nancy states ʻthe origin of ʻabandonment' is a putting at bandon'. It is not that the law no longer applies as if in a state of lawlessness. Agamben also proposes that Scholem misses the fundamental importance of Benjamin's objection that the law that has lost all content is indistinguishable from life.18 By the indistinguishability of life and law."14 Further. the law is not absent. entrust. there is no possibility of interpretation of Contretemps 5.10 Agamben claims from this that the position of being in abandonment correlates to the structural relation of the exception: "the relation of exception is a relation of ban. Correlatively. set outside and untouched by it.12 And taking cue from both Benjamin and Schmitt."11 Just as with the exception that is included only through its exclusion. This correlation between the exception and abandonment means that it impossible to say clearly whether that which has been banned is inside or outside the juridical order. where bandon is an order. Agamben takes this phrase to describe the situation in which "the law is valid precisely insofar as it commands nothing and has become unrealizable. But in taking up Scholem's phrase. December 2004 45 . in the state of exception. He states that "life… [is] the element that."17 In being in force without significance. Gerschom Scholem on the status of law in Franz Kafka's writings."13 Or again. or turn over to such a sovereign power.16 Agamben argues that the formulation ʻbeing in force without significance' proposed by Scholem perfectly describes the status of law in the state of exception. but is emptied of positive content or meaning and suspended in its application. and the form of law can be understood as "being in force without significance. and to its sentencing… the law of abandonment requires that the law be applied through its withdrawal… abandoned being finds itself deserted to the degree that it finds itself remitted.
Thus. or ʻlife that is irremediably exposed to death'. neither bios nor zoē. First. bare life is the limit-concept between the polis and the oikos. in that it is neither bios nor zoē. since life is itself indistinguishable from law. Immediately politicized but nevertheless excluded from the polis. stands in an originary relation with Western politics. As he states "not simple natural life. "together with the process by which the exception everywhere becomes the rule. in a provocative formulation. enter into a zone of irreducible indistinction. the ultimate expression of which is the sovereign's right of death. but rather the politicized form of natural life. outside and inside. bare life has the peculiar privilege of being that whose exclusion founds the city of men [sic]. Agamben claims that "the inclusion of bare life in the political realm constitutes the original—if concealed —nucleus of sovereign power. it allows him to argue that bare life is not a modern invention but. and exclusion and inclusion. Agamben's return to Aristotle to describe the ontological foundations of politics has several implications worth mentioning here. law without significance passes into life while life always subsists in relation to the law. the principle protagonist in the inclusive exclusion that founds the law is bare life."24 This also means that modern politics does not represent a definitive break from classical sovereignty but rather the extension and generalization of the state of exception that founds sovereign power."20 Agamben notes that the qualitative distinction made by Aristotle in his treatise on the formation of the state between biological life (zoē) and political life (bios) effectively excluded natural life from the polis in the strict sense and relegating it entirely to the private sphere. December 2004 46 .19 Agamben concludes from these opposed positions that there is an essential correlation between life under a law in force without significance and life in the sovereign exception in that neither situation allows that life and law be distinguished: in the state of exception. right and fact. In this sense. instead.23 Against Foucault. Hence. bare life indicates the exposure of natural life to the force of the law in abandonment. biopolitics is at least as old as the sovereign exception. this claim indicates the tight integration between sovereign power and biopower that Agamben sees in contrast to the historical succession of sovereignty and biopower that Michel Foucault at least appears to posit at times. Agamben is not simply suggesting that natural or biological life provides the foundation for the existence of law."26 Contretemps 5. Rather. but by the fact that the "state of exception comes more and more to the foreground as the fundamental political structure and ultimately begins to become the rule. but life exposed to death (bare life or sacred life) is the originary political element. Agamben argues that the biopolitical regime of power operative in modernity is not so much distinguished by incorporating life into politics as Foucault claimed. as the basic life of reproduction.21 The category of bare life emerges from within this distinction. And in being that which is caught in the sovereign ban. It can even be said that the production of a biopolitical body is the original activity of sovereign power. he suggests that "in Western politics.the law from the position of life. bios and zoē. the realm of bare life—which is originally situated at the margins of the political order—gradually begins to coincide with the political realm. bare life emerges through the irreparable exposure of life to death in the sovereign ban. Hence."25 Or again."22 Second. Importantly.
and right and violence are no longer clearly distinguishable. such that the rule and the exception. a total politicization of biological life that undercuts the distinction between bios and zoē and therefore eradicates bare life. one should not conclude from the rejection of Foucault's more historically and empirically restrained theses on the emergence and institutionalization of biopower that Agamben sees no substantive difference between classical and modern democracy."30 While modern politics is increasingly played out on the level of biological life.27 Taking up the first theoretical provocation in this thesis. he cites the figure of homo sacer. the bios of zoē. Agamben suggests that what distinguishes modern democracy from classical democracy is that the former "presents itself from the beginning as a vindication and liberation of zoē. as something which is included only through an exclusion. Agamben also claims that modern democracy has consistently failed in the endeavor to reconcile bios and zoē. what unites the examples Agamben selects is the thesis on the generalization of the exception and the correlative indistinction of fact and norm in Western politics and philosophy. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency. That is. but as the norm. that is.Importantly. all subjects are at least potentially if not actually abandoned by the law and exposed to violence as a constitutive condition of political existence. Rather. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. the apparently ever-expanding phenomenon of concentration camps—which he argues reveal the ʻnomos of the modern'—as well as the redefinition of life and death in the categories of the ʻovercomatose' or brain dead. Yet. This situation leads to an aporia specific to modern democracy: "it wants to put the freedom and happiness of Contretemps 5. Even so. in its attempt to discover the bios of zoē it nevertheless produces bare life as the excrescence of its failure.28 As empirical evidence of this politicophilosophical claim." where he writes that: The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the "state of emergency" in which we live is not the exception but the rule. inclusion and exclusion. so to speak."29 Thus the raison d' etre of contemporary political power is the annulment of the distinction between bios and zoē. This means that the capture of bare life within the exception is a general condition of existence. genocidal violence. and neo-morts. Agamben generalizes the sovereign exception such that it no longer appears as the exceptional case. thereby preventing the overcoming of the sovereign exception and the violence that conditions bare life. Agamben has been heavily criticized for his apparently eclectic collection of empirical evidence and the rendering of these examples as ʻindistinguishable'. that is. such that "bare life remains included in politics in the form of the exception. December 2004 47 . At the same time though. the theoretical point of inspiration for this claim comes from the eighth fragment of Benjamin's "Theses on the Philosophy of History. and that it is constantly trying to transform its own bare life into a way of life and to find. and will improve our position in the struggle against Fascism. Agamben claims from this that under a regime of biopolitics all subjects are potentially homo sacers.
the condition of abandonment indicates a fundamental aporia for contemporary politics. Thus. Analogously. claiming that "the body is always already a biopolitical body and bare life. This "happy life" should be rather. for Agamben. an absolutely profane "sufficient life" that has reached the perfection of Contretemps 5. a politics no longer founded on the exceptio of bare life—is at hand. the overcoming of the sovereign ban that characterizes modern politics can only take place through the inauguration of a ʻform-of-life' or ʻhappy life' that supersedes the distinction between bios and zoē. the normalization of the exception merely amounts to a virtual state of exception. the danger of which lies in the gradual convergence of democracy with totalitarianism. In other words. he suggests."31 This account of the aporetic violence of modern democracy provides the starting point for the particular formulation of political futurity that Agamben develops. in which Benjamin calls for the inauguration of a real state of exception as a means of forestalling Fascism. is the inauguration of a real state of exception to overturn the virtual suspension of the rule. For Benjamin. and the "beautiful day" of life will be given citizenship only either through blood and death or in the perfect senselessness to which the society of the spectacle condemns it." It is also important to note the second part of this formulation here though."32 He argues instead that: Until a completely new politics—that is. every theory and every praxis will remain imprisoned and immobile.34 I have argued that Agamben's diagnosis of contemporary politics as a condition in which the exception has become the rule draws on Benjamin's formulation in his "Theses on the Philosophy of History. For according to Agamben. Agamben rejects Foucault's gesture toward a ʻnew economy of bodies and their pleasures'. where attempts to overcome the capture of life within the sovereign exception through recourse to natural life necessarily repeat and reinstall that capture in their politicization of natural life. Such projects will tirelessly repeat the aporia of the exception. December 2004 48 .men into play in the very place—"bare life"—that marked their subjection. and nothing in it or the economy of its pleasure seems to allow us to find solid ground on which to oppose the demands of sovereign power. As he states in Means Without End: The "happy life" on which political philosophy should be founded thus cannot be either the naked life that sovereignty posits as a presupposition so as to turn it into its own subject or the impenetrable extraneity of science and of modern biopolitics that everybody tries in vain to sacralize.33 The reference in this passage to the ʻbeautiful day' of life not only gestures toward the distinction Aristotle makes between the great difficulty of bios and the natural sweetness of zoē. but offers the key to the foundation of the coming politics that Agamben proposes. a condition which is fundamentally nihilistic. this aporia stymies any attempt to oppose biopolitical regimes from within the framework of bios and zoē. What is required then.
Agamben offers a redemptive hope that is external to the problems of biopolitics."37 Happiness allows for the fulfillment of historical time. and the coming politics it grounds redeem humanity in the face of biopolitical annihilation." because "the rhythm of Messianic nature is happiness. it assists the coming of the Messianic Kingdom precisely by being profane. he seeks a politico-philosophical redefinition of life no longer founded upon the bloody separation of the natural life of the species and political life. grounded on itself alone."36 Constructing an image of two arrows pointing in different directions but which are nevertheless reinforcing. since the Messianic kingdom is "not the goal of history but the end. while the profane is not a category of the Messianic. In this then. in ʻthe perfection of its own power'. creates its relation to the Messianic. completes. is the carrier of the sovereign nexus of right and violence and the locus of biopolitical capture. The inauguration of happy life in which neither zoē nor bios can be isolated allows for the law in force without significance to be overturned such that the Nothing maintained by that law is eliminated and humanity reaches its own fulfillment in its transparency to itself. and life will find its unity in a pure immanence to itself. December 2004 49 . To summarize so far then. described as ʻhappy life' or a ʻform-of-life'. in the sense that he alone redeems. For Agamben. it is "the decisive category of its quietest approach."39 and as such.41 The happy life will be such that no separation of bios and zoē is possible. described as ʻhappy life' or a ʻform-of-life'. Agamben points toward a new conception of life. and life will find its unity in a pure Contretemps 5." the inspiration for his conception of a ʻhappy life' derives at least in part from the short text. its own potentiality of "being-thus.40 In this way.its own power and its own communicability—a life over which sovereignty and right no longer have any hold. The happy life will be such that no separation between bios and zoē is possible."38 Agamben's absolutely profane happy life draws on this characterization of the profane and Messianic. happy life might be characterized as life lived in the experience of its own unity. In other words. Against this situation. Benjamin explicitly addresses the relation of Messianic and historic time and writes that "only the Messiah himself consummates all history. "Theologico-Political Fragment. This is because while the profane cannot in itself establish a relation with the Messianic. is life lived beyond the reach of the law. in which it is never possible to isolate bare life as the biopolitical subject. the problems posed by the state of exception and sovereignty's capture of bare life are resolved by the inauguration of the happy life. he points toward a new conception of life.35 Thus. While Agamben's starting point for the theorization of bare life is the term ʻmere life' that Benjamin uses in "Critique of Violence." In this. Agamben argues that bare life is produced as the excrescence of the distinction between bios and zoē and as such. wherein the profane happy life provides passage for Messianic redemption. Benjamin goes on to say that ʻthe order of the profane should be erected on the idea of happiness'. but which is beyond every form of relation insofar as happy life is life lived in pure immanence. in which it is never possible to isolate bare life as the biopolitical subject.
" The notion of abandonment provides the point of departure for this discussion. Agamben claims that contemporary thought must think abandonment beyond any conception of the law in order to move toward a politics freed of every ban. Happy Life and the Force of Law: Agamben and Derrida As provocative as it is. I consider the messianic dimension of Agamben's theorization. I am less concerned with the particular characteristics of Benjamin's conception of the messianic than with the way in which this gesture operates within Agamben's argument on sovereignty and biopolitics. To read this relation as a being in force without significance – that is. and not even itself – is to remain inside nihilism and not to push the experience of abandonment to the extreme. recognition of the status of law as being in force without significance in the ban is insufficient as the aim and achievement of contemporary thought. the problems posed by the state of exception and sovereignty's hold over the bare life caught within it can be resolved by the coming unified life. I turn to discussing the theoretical commitments that underpin Agamben's theorization of biopolitics and the sovereign exception. particularly of their respective interpretations of Benjamin's essay "Critique of Violence" and Kafka's parable "Before the Law. since residing in this recognition does little other than repeat the ontological structure of the sovereign ban. as Being's abandonment to and by a law that prescribes nothing. in ʻthe perfection of its own power'. First and most obviously. In this way. this statement summarizes Contretemps 5. This implication can be brought out succinctly through a comparison of his position with that of Derrida. Agamben's gesture toward a happy life that provides foundation for the coming politics clearly warrants further consideration and to do this. Instead. it is no coincidence that the most important of Benjamin's texts for Agamben are those in which the gesture toward the messianic is most explicitly formulated. The inauguration of the happy life and the coming politics it grounds annuls bare life by overturning the conditions of its biopolitical capture. December 2004 50 . In particular. which derives from his theoretical debt to Walter Benjamin and which is perceived to provide the means of overcoming the structure of the ban idenitified in and through Schmitt's conception of sovereignty. Agamben offers a redemptive hope that is external to the problems of biopolitics.42 However. Only where the experience of abandonment is freed from every idea of the law and destiny… is abandonment truly experienced as such.immanence to itself. He states that: The relation of abandonment is now to be thought in a new way. Indeed. for it can now be said that for Agamben.43 This complicated suggestion brings to light several crucial aspects of Agamben's theorization of abandonment.
beyond the law's being in force without significance and beyond the contemporary condition of nihilism. In fact. as Benjamin states."50 Importantly though. since "abandonment respects the law.47 it provides Agamben with the solution to the perceived urgency of overcoming or escaping the operations of the sovereign ban and the biopolitical capture of bare life that this entails. The second form. perfect nihilism. the overturning of the law does simply mean instituting a new law. The distinction that Benjamin posits between the virtual and the real state of exception or state of emergency can be understood as strictly analogous to a differentiation between the state of exception that constitutes sovereignty according to Schmitt's thesis and the exceptionality of the messianic."45 Without exploring the complexities of Nancy's text or his critical relation to Heidegger from whom the notion of abandonment is taken. Given that the fragment from the "Theses on the Philosophy of History" presents a barely disguised critique of Schmitt."49 The task that contemporary thought is faced with then is the thought of perfect nihilism. for it prefigures the distinction between perfect and imperfect nihilism that he poses as synonymous with the virtual and real state of exception posed by Benjamin in the "Theses on the Philosophy of History. the latter of which is at least partly equated for Benjamin with Fascism. the emptiness of the law] in a perpetual and infinitely deferred state of validity. called ʻperfect nihilism' overturns the Nothing. further. Agamben's divergence from Nancy's formulation lies in his claim that the state of abandonment must be overcome through pushing the experience of abandonment to its extreme limit. December 2004 51 ."44 He concludes that "abandonment's only law… is to be without return and without recourse. it cannot do otherwise. abandonment is always to be abandoned in relation to law."46 Benjamin's fragment cited above posits the generalization of the state of exception and the correlative necessity of developing an account of historical time that can clearly illuminate and assist in realizing a means of overcoming that state through the creation of a real state of exception. which redeems and rescues humanity from the grip of the former. That is. Agamben claims that it is necessary to distinguish between two forms of messianism or nihilism. which he calls ʻimperfect nihilism' nullifies the law but maintains "the Nothing [that is. this reference to nihilism is key for disentangling Agamben's commitment to a Benjaminian messianics as the path of overcoming the condition of abandonment. "succeeds in finding redemption in the overturning of the Nothing. which overturns the law in force without significance that characterizes the "virtual' state of exception of Western politics." This is the nihilism that Agamben refers to above in his critique of Nancy's conception of abandonment. real exceptionality that overcomes the form of law in the virtual state of exception. Accepting the essential correlation between nihilism and messianism posited by Scholem and Benjamin." Nancy argues that abandonment is the condition—perhaps the sole condition—of the thinking of being in the contemporary world and. Contretemps 5. it can be said that Agamben diverges from Nancy on this final point of the resolution and recourse of abandonment. and does not even permit the survival of validity beyond meaning.Agamben's critique of the conception of abandonment given by Jean-Luc Nancy in his essay "Abandoned Being. historical fulfillment or redemption comes in the form of a messianic.48 The first form.
rather. Though not formulated in the terms of bare and happy life. As Thomas Carl Wall comments. that will suffice to overturn the Nothing maintained by the law in force without significance and thereby restore human life to the unity of bios and zoē. the task of redeeming life from the aporia of law in force without significance requires both the destruction of the past and the realization of "that which has never been. The particular characteristics of Agamben's gesture of political futurity can be outlined through a brief comparison of Agamben and Derrida's interpretations of Benjaminian messianics. such that instead of residing in the immanent potentiality of bare life he posits a messianic redemption from biopolitical capture in the form of a unified. In this text. the coming community has never yet been.55 However. to be clear this does not amount to a nostalgic re-invocation of Gemienschaft. the not having been of the past. its own potentiality of ʻbeing-thus'."56 This suggests that the gesture toward the necessity of a new form of life or happy life to ground the coming politics that appears in the final pages of Homo Sacer brings to light the formulation of messianism that underpins Agamben's conceptions of life. So far. For Agamben. Rather."51 Both of these modes of progression would merely repeat the political aporia of abandonment. the being-thus of humanity.54 In this. I have argued that Agamben's conception of opposition to biopolitical capture draws upon the logic suggested by Benjamin in his eighth thesis on the philosophy of history. it becomes clear that the ʻform-of-life' or ʻhappy life' that Agamben proposes as the foundation of the coming politics constitutes the ʻreal state of exception' from which the biopolitics of modern democracy and its correlation with totalitarianism can be combated and life redeemed. a unity that itself has never yet been. without attribute or identity. happy life."52 It is only the inauguration of that which has never been. the messianic overturning of expropriated being provides the logical impetus of this text. Several commentators on Agamben have suggested that this logic can be understood as the transformation of the aporia of the exception in a redemptive euporia that subsequently Contretemps 5."53 In this light. The Coming Community. its own ʻbeing-in language' that thereby overturns being's expropriation by the Nothing of the spectacle to which it is currently condemned. the real state of exception or the messianic redemption that overturns law in force without significance can be actualized in the inauguration of a happy life that does not partake in the distinction between natural life and political life. politics and historical transformation developed in much of his recent work. As Agamben states "this—what has never happened—is the historical and wholly actual homeland of humanity. but which might instead be characterized as life lived in the experience of its own unity. as should be expected from the structure of messianics. the community of whatever. which is neither general nor particular. the community that returns is one never present in the first place. December 2004 52 .and nor does it mean reinstating the lost law of a previous time "to recuperate alternative heredities. the notion of happy life is structurally similar to the theoretical gesture that Agamben makes in his earlier text. is essentially a messianic community of humanity restored to its own potentiality. in which Agamben develops his conception of community without essence realized in the ʻwhatever' singularity. "without destiny and without essence.
In this essay. but is rather ʻa potentiality that is capable and that experiences itself' in its passivity. "Force of Law. Derrida explicitly links the calculability of the law with the impossible but Contretemps 5. but because he is before it. Derrida suggests that this response indefinitely defers the decision on whether the man from the country can pass through the door." presented in 1982.58 This transition is suggested in his discussion of the role of terminology and ʻthe trace' in the work of Jacques Derrida. as an ʻoutlaw'. the ʻnot yet'. his position on aporetic hopefulness differs substantially from that taken by Derrida.59 where he argues that the concept of the trace is an attempt to rethink the Aristotelian paradox of potentiality. as a subject of the law. but the incessant deferral of the decision on whether he can pass through the door means for Derrida that the parable is "an account of an event which arrives at not arriving." where he strives to establish a distinction between law and incalculable justice. which is nothing other than that which dictates the delay."63 Importantly. The deconstructive writing of the trace does not indicate the passage of potentiality into actuality. Derrida seeks to elaborate the relation between law and literature through an interpretation of Kafka's parable of the same title. the concept of the trace (which is nevertheless not a concept) central to deconstruction radicalizes the paradox of self-reference wherein a term refers only to a term and through that only to itself.60 As the ʻexcess of signification in all sense'."66 Derrida addresses the thematic of the decision of the law again in his later text. Agamben argues. the subject/outlaw presents himself before a law that is destined for him alone. As Derrida writes "what is deferred forever till death is entry into the law itself. "Before the Law. a paradoxical situation given that it is precisely the law that delays that access. The deferral of passage is not a direct prohibition but an interruption that delays access to the law itself. he is also outside of it. thus forbidding itself in order thereby to become something or someone. Further. which manages not to happen… [the subject/outlaw] is always and remains before the law. for he is a figure of the subject of the law for Derrida. ʻlack of way' into a ʻfelicitous way' or hopefulness.provides the hope and foundation of a coming politics. always before the law. December 2004 53 ."61 While Agamben does not seek to distinguish his own position from that which he finds in Derridean deconstruction. But. "the aporias of self-reference do not find their solution here. This difference can be illustrated through a brief consideration of their respective interpretations of Kafka's parable. the man from the country is before the law. Derrida's response to the paradox of self-reference is not logical resolution. or ʻnot at the moment'. rather.57 In other words. they are dislocated and… transformed into euporias. Agamben's political logic relies on a transition from a situation of hopelessness or literally. "He is neither under the law nor in the law."64 This is the law that the man from the country is always subject to."65 Thus. but dislocation and transformation: he states. The key moment in this parable of the man from the country arriving before the open door of the Law for Derrida's reading is the doorkeeper's response to the man's request to enter. this suggests that the law might be understood as "a nothing that incessantly defers access to itself. before an incessantly deferred judgment. He is both a subject of the law and an outlaw. for Derrida."62 In his essay "Before the Law.
two of which are particularly important here. to a messianic promise or to other horizons of the same type. but as a rejection of a particular form or structure of messianism. identified as ʻthe urgency that obstructs the horizon of knowledge'. because justice ʻdoes not wait'. but it is the chance of the event and the condition of history. the ʻto-come' of justice "is not a horizon but the disruption or opening up of the horizon"74 that necessitates constant and urgent engagement with the aporia of the undecidable decision of the political. irreducible justice. conflicting. always gesturing beyond itself to an incalculable justice that necessitates and haunts the decision. negotiate the relation between the calculable and the incalculable… but we must take it as far as possible. Derrida rejects the formulation of the messianic advent as waiting. In this light. when he suggests several pages later that his reason for keeping distance from the Kantian regulative idea or messianic advent is precisely because they are horizons. December 2004 54 . is yet."72 Thus.necessary experience of the aporia that conditions the political decision. rather than providing an excuse to remain outside the antagonism of politics. justice "has no horizon of expectation… But for this very reason. Derrida identifies three aporias that condition the relation of the law and justice. In identifying the irreducible ʻidea of justice' that haunts the mad decision of the political. à venir.67 The undecidable is not simply a matter of vacillation between two determinate decisions in the application of a rule. incalculable justice requires us to calculate. aporia bring into focus the very specific position that Derrida takes toward the messianic in this essay. The second aporia. justice is the irreducible ʻto-come' of the decision. it can be read as a matter of Contretemps 5. to come. to take the decision on what is just and right at any moment."69 This then is the ʻmad' decision of the political."71 Derrida explains this hesitancy further. as requiring infinite patience. Derrida goes on to say that he would hesitate to "assimilate too quickly this "ideal of justice" to a regulative ideal (in the Kantian sense). but is nevertheless resolutely messianic. cannot wait. it may have an avenir. the absolute alterity of justice does not entail a horizon of waiting. Derrida claims. As Derrida writes. "not only must we calculate. adds to this in that it marks the necessity of the political decision in the face of the undecidable of infinite."73 However. it has an. In the first section of the essay. In particular. but at the same time. marks the spectral residue of undecidability or incalculable justice in any political or juridical decision.68 Justice. a term which indicates both "the opening and the limit that defines an infinite progress or period of waiting. beyond the place we find ourselves and beyond the already definable zones of morality or politics or law. It necessitates the negotiation between calculable law and incalculable justice as an urgent decision. Derrida's taking distance from Benjamin in the post-script to "Force of Law" can be read not as a rejection of the messianic tout court. The first of these. the very dimension of events irreducibly to come… Justice as the experience of absolute alterity is unpresentable. irreducible ʻidea of justice' that haunts every decision and necessarily haunts it in order for it to be a decision and not merely the application of a rule. Incalculable justice does not require patience but a just decision ʻright away' as he says. As Derrida states. a "to-come"… Justice remains.70 These two complementary. it is à-venir. identified as ʻthe ghost of the undecidable'. but marks the infinite.
"75 But as such. the ʻto-come' of justice opens every decision of the political to undecidability. constitutes every second of our time as "the strait gate through which the Messiah might enter. for Benjamin. For Agamben. total annihilation. rather the messianic task is to confront and ultimately overturn the law in force without significance.76 As its constitutive condition. that is of both law-making and law-preserving violence. it gives itself too readily to an interpretation of the Nazi ʻfinal solution' as messianic. Thus. the resolution of the meaninglessness of the law does not come about simply through the inauguration of a new law. bloody violence of the legal order. which. Thus. he claims that the crucial problem for messianism is how the Messiah can restore a law that has no meaning. extermination. on justice as the irreducible condition of history. December 2004 55 . These characteristics are clearly evinced in Agamben's reading of "Before the Law" in which he explicitly criticizes Derrida's reading of the parable. beginning with the annihilation of the law and right. Derrida suggests that such a conception of messianism is haunted by "the theme of radical destruction. these are the central characteristics of the messianic for Agamben. Further. metonymically illustrated in the idea that in its original state the Torah was composed only of meaningless letters. bloodless and expiatory—must overturn the pernicious.taking distance from a messianism that associates the promise of the messianic with divine violence."77 The question of the overturning of the law is in fact the key to the different approaches that Derrida and Agamben take to Benjamin's conception of the messianic: while Derrida rejects the association of the messianic with the waiting of the horizon and the total overturning of the law that divine violence entails. In this. And as I have discussed previously. Derrida's position can be summarized as one of ʻweak messianics' where the ʻto-come' is not outside of our time. obviates and overturns the violence of the law in its totality. juridical decision. In the essay "The Messiah and the Sovereign. against this." Agamben explicitly rejects an understanding of messianism as ""life lived in deferral and delay" in which nothing can be brought to fulfillment and nothing accomplished once and for all."78 He argues instead that the messianic task is the restoration of meaning to the original form of the law. the overturning of the law is the task that contemporary thought must confront. moral. where the subject is both turned over to the law and left bereft by it. or mythic violence. but the spectral potentiality of every political. Derrida insists upon the interminable urgency of the undecidable. Given that Derrida's understanding of the law in Kafka's parable is remarkably reminiscent of Nancy's account of abandonment in relation to the law. and as such. divine violence. Only then will the bloody violence of the sovereign ban be halted. held in the grip of the deferred decision as both subject and outlaw. if not of justice. In criticizing Benjamin's suggestion that divine violence—which he understands as absolutely annihilating. the messianic kingdom is differentiated from the historical time of the exception by a "small adjustment"79 brought about by a messianic event that confronts and overturns the meaninglessness of the law. it should be no surprise that Agamben's interpretation of Contretemps 5. given that the law's being in force without significance is characteristic of the state of exception of contemporary politics.
so I will not attempt Contretemps 5. the parable is not an account of an event that never happens. is not the condition of the political decision but precisely the aporetic condition to be overcome. the question still remains of which of these accounts. insofar as the law appears as being in force without significance. Against this. such that the political decision is simultaneously necessary and impossible. Derrida's position entails recognition of the undecidable danger and hope within the aporetic experience of contemporary politics. and the apparent aporias of it express the complexity of the messianic task of overturning the Nothing of the law. the open door of the law is analogous to the operation of the law in the ban. evident in the zones of indistinction between life and law for instance. Whereas for Derrida the law opens on to nothing and holds the subject before the law through the incessant deferral of the judgment on his passage through the already open door of the law. Third. December 2004 56 . but exactly the reverse: Kafka's parable describes "how something really has happened in seeming not to happen. such that a wholly new form-of-life is necessary to redeem humanity from the exposure of bare life to sovereign violence. the man from the country does not so much figure as the subject of the law than as the messiah. Hence. Derrida's weak messianicity insists on ongoing engagement through the undecidable decision of the political. for Agamben. who fulfils the messianic task in overturning the law. Agamben sees the contemporary condition of political existence as one of irreparable danger. The law holds the man from the country in its potentiality by asking nothing from him and imposing nothing on him except the ban. This means that the indeterminacy of contemporary politics. First. However. This is the core experience of the aporia as the experience of the impossible that marks Derrida's political theory. the strong messianic position that Agamben takes requires that the law be overturned in its totality. According to Agamben. or that happens in not happening. in which the doorkeeper states ʻNo-one else could enter here. Several brief points can be made from this to summarize the differences between the messianics of Derrida and Agamben. Derrida poses the indeterminacy of the ʻweak force' of the messianic as the condition of contemporary politics. ungrounded yet unavoidable. Given these differences in the approaches taken by Derrida and Agamben vis-à-vis the messianic. of the contemporary condition of imperfect nihilism—as a necessary ground of the coming politics of radical immanence and unity. Agamben posits the messianic overturning of the law in force without significance—that is."80 This parable allegorizes the state of the law in the age of imperfect nihilism. The purpose of the foregoing discussion has been explicatory rather than critical. Agamben suggests that the behavior of the man from the country might be considered to be a ʻcomplicated and patient strategy' to have the door closed in order to interrupt the law's being in force without significance. if either. Hence Agamben's concern over the failure of the body to provide ʻsolid ground' for opposition to sovereign violence. anything less merely repeats the aporia of abandonment and reinscribes the dangers that attend the biopolitical distinction between bios and zoē. Now I will go and close it' indicates the success of the messianic event in overturning the totality of the law and the Nothing that characterizes the condition of nihilism. is adequate to understanding and addressing the conditions of contemporary politics. Relatedly. since this door was destined for you alone. Against this. the final line of the parable."Before the Law" strikes at the heart of Derrida's reading.
Homo Sacer18. 14. their approaches to these issues are of central importance in their divergence in relation to the messianic and the correlative question of political futurity. through the inauguration of happiness. 3. As I have suggested in the outline above. 11. 12. "Visibility and History: Giorgio Agamben and the Exemplary. Political Theology 13. Homo Sacer 28-29. that is. Suffice to say that doing so requires careful attention not only to their differing treatments of ethics. but also their conceptions of historicity and temporality. the politico-philosophical stakes of this encounter are high: nothing short of that which is between past and future. 2. George Schwab (Cambridge. the ethos or proper dwelling place of humanity that has not yet been. 9. Agamben. Agamben. Homo Sacer 18. Daniel Heller-Roazen (Stanford: Stanford UP. December 2004 57 . Carl Schmitt." The Birth to Presence. as well as of language and origin. 5.to address this question here. Brian Holmes and others (Stanford: Stanford UP. Schmitt. Homo Sacer 25. 1985) 5. Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. trans." Philosophy Today. Agamben. Agamben. Agamben. Christian dogma or the profane nomos" (Homo Sacer 51). Massachusetts: MIT Press. 1993) 44. trans. see Steven D. 8. whether the Jewish Torah or the Islamic Shariah. law and politics. Giorgio Agamben. 10. DeCaroli. Agamben. This recognition is important not only for measuring the stakes of Agamben's criticism. "Abandoned Being. Agamben. 13. It is important to note here that Agamben's critique of law is not simply targeted at positive law. Homo Sacer 28. 1998) 90. The question to be addressed then is whether undecidability and deferral constitute the condition of political futurity or the condition to be overcome in a euporic resolution. For a further discussion of exemplarity within Agamben's work. 15. Homo Sacer 51. Homo Sacer 19. Jean Luc Nancy. Homo Sacer 67. Agamben. trans. 4. Agamben. 6. Catherine Mills University of New South Wales Notes 1. 45: 5 (2001) 9-17. Homo Sacer 17. Homo Sacer 28. Clearly. Homo Sacer 27. but at "the entire text of tradition in its regulative form. 7. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. but is also crucial for understanding the conceptual linkage—beyond the thematic of biopolitics—between Contretemps 5. Agamben. Agamben.
biological life is a consistent element of the Western political and cultural imaginary. ed. Also compare Agamben's discussion of Kafka in the same section of Homo Sacer. "Agamben's Challenge to Normative Theories of Modern Rights. The phrase ʻstate of emergency' can also be rendered as ʻstate of exception' from the original ʻAusnahmezustand'. David Fraser and Judith Grbich (Sydney: Allen and Unwin. Harry Zohn (London: Fontana. Agamben. 32. trans. Homo Sacer 7. although feminists have long argued that the association of femininity with natural. Critics have taken this to indicate the limitations of Agamben's political theory. Unfortunately. 17. Agamben. "Law Before Auschwitz: Aryan and Jew in the Nazi Rechtsstaat. Agamben. 22. ed. Homo Sacer 9. since it negates recourse to rights as a politico-legal strategy in opposing violence or oppression. Homo Sacer 11. Homo Sacer 53.. 1." (Agamben. 3:1 (2004). claiming that "every attempt to found political liberties in the rights of the citizen is… in vain. The discussion of this problem in Homo Sacer is offered in a more developed form in Giorgio Agamben. 19. Suffice to say that Agamben wholly rejects recourse to rights as a limitation on the violence of sovereign power." Borderlands e-journal. Michel Foucault. 28. trans. 24. See the discussion of Benjamin in Agamben. Agamben. Hannah Arendt. "The Messiah and the Sovereign" 172. though this is not something I can discuss here. For a discussion of the coincidence of life and law in Nazi Germany see David Fraser. Homo Sacer 88. Agamben. 1996) 63-79. 1973) 259." Potentialities: Collected Essays in Philosophy. 20. Robert Hurley (London: Penguin Books. Agamben. 25. Agamben.Homo Sacer and Remnants of Auschwitz. Daniel Heller-Roazen (Stanford: Stanford UP. Agamben. Agamben. Homo Sacer 20. 16." Thinking through the Body of the Law. trans. Agamben. Agamben develops a conception of ʻunassumable responsibility' or ʻnon-responsibility' that makes a strong distinction between the juridical and ethical in order to set itself apart from normative conceptions of responsibility in the line of Kant for instance. 1981) 135-143. December 2004 58 . where I compare Agamben's interpretation with that of Derrida. Cf. Agamben." Illuminations. as do other Benjamin and Schmitt scholars. Agamben uses this latter translation. 18. 27. 26." in which a man from the country presents himself before the doorkeeper who refuses to let him enter through the door (of the law). 21. ed. In this latter text. Homo Sacer 53-55. Jean-Philippe Deranty. who Agamben identifies as having introduced ʻlaw in force without significance' into modern thought in his attempted isolation of the pure form of law in The Critique of Practical Reason (see Homo Sacer 51). 31. Homo Sacer 181). The relevant fragment from Aristotle's Politics for Agamben's argument is quoted as: "This Contretemps 5. The key parable of Kafka for Agamben is "Before the Law. 34. Benjamin. Pheng Cheah. Homo Sacer 187. vol. 33. Homo Sacer 6. 29. The History of Sexuality. 23. Agamben is not at all sensitive to the gendered dimension of the exclusion of natural life from the realm of the political in his treatment of biopolitics. Homo Sacer 10. See especially. 30. Homo Sacer 10. But this argument often fails to fully reckon with the implications of Agamben's call for a wholly new form of politics in order to overcome the biopolitical ban. "Theses on the Philosophy of History. "The Messiah and the Sovereign: The Problem of Law in Walter Benjamin. I discuss this further in the final section. Homo Sacer 11. This clearly has implications for a consideration of rights within contemporary politics. only to be told toward the end of his life that the door was meant for him alone. 1999) 160-174. Agamben. The man from the country waits indefinitely.
23-31. sometimes. (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P. In any event.4. "From Walter Benjamin to Carl Schmitt. 41. 37. during these same years. Vincenzo Binetti and Cesare Casarino (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P. particularly on the question of the state of exception. Means Without End pp. 40. 1993) 93." (Agamben. 42. 39. Peter Demetz. Bredekamp also points out the importance of the Benjamin-Schmitt interaction for reading Derrida's "Force of Law" and concludes his essay with a quote from Benjamin's diary that emotively summarizes his relation to Schmitt: "Schmitt/Agreement. 43. via Thomas Hobbes. Walter Benjamin. "On Language as Such and on the Language of Man. Suspicion" (Benjamin. ed. "Theses on the Philosophy of History" Illuminations 255-266. Radical Passivity: Levinas. Deladurantaye's note concerning Agamben's comments in the French daily newspaper Libération on his theoretical engagement with Martin Heidegger and Benjamin is of particular importance. Also see Thomas Carl Wall. The parenthetical inserts are Agamben's. "Agamben's Potential. For discussions of Benjamin's relation to Schmitt. 44. Benjamin. 47. possible (or. 1278b. trans. Autobiographical Writings. December 2004 59 . 36. 60. Blanchot and Agamben (Albany: State U of New York P. Benjamin was that antidote which helped me to survive Heidegger. Agamben. see Samuel Weber. Means Without End 114-115. Peter Demetz (New York: Schocken Books 1978) 314-332. 2000). for us. 38." "Theologico-Political Fragment. "Theologico-Political Fragment. beautiful day] and a natural sweetness. clearly most men will tolerate much suffering and hold on to life [zoē] as if it were a kind of serenity [euēmeria. If there is no great difficulty as to the way of life [kata ton bion]. cited in Bredekamp. Agamben is quoted as claiming that his encounter with Heidegger meant that ʻphilosophy became possible'. These include "Critique of Violence. n. Michael Hardt. Giorgio Agamben. ed. 35." See Walter Benjamin. 46. and. 45. the key characteristic of Agamben's formulation of the coming community is that the community of whatever is a community that has never been: it is not a nostalgic return to Gemeinschaft. Agamben." Potentialities 154. Walter Benjamin. Edmund Jephcott. He goes on to say though that "this is precisely the interest of encounters—both in life and in thinking. Nancy.life [according to the good] is the greatest end both in common for all men and for each man separately. this is what happened to me with Heidegger. cited in Deladurantaye.8). "Theologico-Political Fragment" 312." Reflections: Essays. but a notion of community predicated on the pure immanence of ʻwhatever' beyond identity and all relation. 30:2 (2000) 8. 11-12." Diacritics. Benjamin. Aphorisms. For me. "Theologico-Political Fragment" 312-313. "Agamben's Potential" 8. Edmund Jephcott (New York: Schocken Books 1978) 312-313. But men also come together and maintain the political community in view of simple living. or an identitarian conception of community. Every great oeuvre contains a degree of shadow and poison for which it does not always furnish the antidote. The Coming Community. trans. "Taking Exception to Decision: Walter Benjamin and Carl Schmitt. As Wall and others note. Aphorisms. On Agamben's relation to Heidegger see Leland Deladurantaye. Giorgio Agamben. Means Without End: Notes on Politics. 114-115." Aristotle. Reflections: Essays. 1999) 115-162. They render life. impossible). Agamben. "Abandoned Being" 47. "Abandoned Being" 44. Homo Sacer n. Horst Bredekamp." trans. Hate." Critical Inquiry. Nancy. with Benjamin's thought. Giorgio Agamben." "On Language as Such and on the Language of Man" and "Theses on the Philosophy of History. Autobiographical Writings." Diacritics. This comment also indicates the critical relation that Agamben maintains toward Heidegger. trans. because there is probably some kind of good in the mere fact of living itself [kata to zēn auto monon]. "From Walter Contretemps 5. 25 (Winter 1999) 247-266. "Walter Benjamin and the Demonic: Happiness and Historical Redemption. Benjamin. "Theologico-Political Fragment" 312. 22:3-4 (1992) 5-18. Politics.
"The Messiah and the Sovereign" 171. trans. Massachusetts: MIT Press. 5-82 at 17. 59." (Agamben. See Fitzpatrick "These mad abandon'd times". 1998) 291-322 and Mark Warren. trans. December 2004 60 . 55. Fitzpatrick. "The Concept of the Mythical (Schmitt with Sorel)" Cardozo Law Review. "Thinking the Law with and against Luhmann. 52. Cited in Agamben. for instance. "Walter Benjamin and the Demonic" 153. However. a characterization that is unlikely to be convincing for many legal and political theorists." see Stathis Gougouris. "Bare Sovereignty". a position which is further reinforced by the association of positive legality with divine law. 21 (2000) 1487-1514. 1988). Giorgio Agamben. ʻ"Pardes": The Writing of Potentiality. "Agamben's Potential. This ambiguity derives from his characterization of the institutions of positive law on the model of the Torah. Deladurantaye. it remains the case that the analysis of sovereignty and biopolitics in Homo Sacer offers important reconsiderations of violence and the determination of life worth living. "Editor's Introduction: To Read What Was Never Written." Law and Critique. Contretemps 5. "The Messiah and the Sovereign"171. Additionally. the problem with Wall's otherwise instructive reading of Agamben is that he does not give enough weight to the messianic gesture within The Coming Community." Potentialities 205-219 at 217. "Agamben's Potential" 8. Daniel Heller-Roazen. ed. is crucial for Agamben's political theory. "Walter Benjamin and the Demonic"..Benjamin" 266). 58. which also reflects on Benjamin's "Critique of Violence." Agamben. Deladurantaye. "Editors Introduction.J. It could be argued. Also see Wall. also see Agamben's essay "*Se: Hegel's Absolute and Heidegger's Ereignis". The Will to Power. esp." Law and Critique 11: 2 (2000) 107-136. Potentialities 1-23. Anton Schütz. 49. "Walter Benjamin and the Demonic" 159. becomes transparent to itself. one should see Heidegger's discussion of nihilism in Martin Heidegger. 1967). Radical Passivity 156. trans." 17-19. "*Se" 137) 57. Agamben. Guy Debord's classic analysis of the spectacle of commodification in The Society of the Spectacle. Deladurantaye in particular points out that the logic of the transformation of aporia into euporia derives from Benjamin's influence on Agamben's thought. Setting this aside for the moment though. 48. Potentialities 116-137 for a further discussion of the proper being of humanity. Agamben. 51. Legendre and Agamben. the sacer that must remain unsaid in all speech and praxis… nor… according to the pathos of contemporary nihilism. that the strong messianic position that Agamben takes is problematic in its insistence on the overturning of the law in its totality. 55. in the end. Giorgio Agamben. trans. "On the Question of Being" [1955]. For a discussion of Schmitt's relation to Sorel. Agamben's conception of the law is particularly ambiguous throughout his work and has given rise to a number of criticisms. 13:2 (2002) 197-230. Rather *se – ēthos [dwelling place]—is the social praxis itself that. Hollingdale (New York: Vintage. Wall. 53. ed. 50. 54. See Heller Roazen. Radical Passivity 115-162. The distinction Agamben poses between imperfect and perfect nihilism is similar to that between passive and active nihilism distinguished by Nietzsche in for instance Friedrich Nietzsche." This also indicates and helps explain Agamben's unequivocal insistence on the elimination of the dogma of the sacredness of life." Potentialities 5. for here he states that "a fulfilled foundation of humanity in itself necessarily implies the definitive elimination of the sacrificial mythologeme.. Thanos Zartaloudis. 1994). Heller-Roazen. The Coming Community. Agamben. understood as neither "something unsayable. Nietzsche and Political Thought (Cambridge. Nicholson-Smith (New York: Zone Books. Agamben. Michael Hardt. "Editors Introduction. for further discussion of Agamben's approach to the law. Pathmarks." Potentialities 5. "Without Negative Origins and Absolute Ends: A Jurisprudence of the Singular. (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P. D. William McNeill (Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1993) 93. Agamben "The Messiah and the Sovereign". See further. Walter Kaufman and R. Indeed the theological dimension of Agamben's political analysis is no doubt problematic from a number of points of view. a Nothing whose nullity grounds the arbitrariness and violence of social activity.
Derrida. 215. "Before the Law. 1999) 114. The important difference lies in how such approaches attempt to exorcise the spirit of the strong sovereign and the unfounded. "Before the Law" 210. Or Poststructuralism Gets Serious. I will limit my engagement to the short texts mentioned." Political Theory. which is explicitly engaged in putting the Schmittian ghost to rest. Agamben. Chantal Mouffe (London: Verso. Derrida. Deconstruction and the Possibility of Justice. In other words. in Derrida. 66. 63." Slavoj Žižek "Carl Schmitt in the Age of Post-Politics. "Force of Law" 24. Contretemps 5. founding decision. ed. But further." The Challenge of Carl Schmitt. whether it be through denying that the decision takes place or by attempting to deconstruct and displace it. ed. "Derrida on Law." Cardozo Law Review. Jacques Derrida. December 2004 61 . That is. Nevertheless. as Slavoj Žižek points out. The Ticklish Subject: the Absent Centre of Political Ontology (London : Verso. a madness that cannot be absolved through a sovereign will but which instead interminably haunts every decision. 1992) 181-220 at 205. Derrida. see also Slavoj Žižek. Additionally. 1999) 18. the decision that must be taken is a decision within and on the actuality of social life. proceduralist political theory. Acts of Literature. the Dass-sein of Order. 69. On the Derrida-Schmitt contrast. "Schmittian Positions on Law and Politics?: CLS and Derrida. First. 21 (2000) 1693-1722. while the decision of the sovereign is essentially an expression of the will of the sovereign in Schmitt. 65. If it is not apparent yet. The mad decision of the political that Derrida indicates here is similar to Schmitt's sovereign decision in that neither can be determined by pre-existent rules and cannot be a true decision if merely applying or reinstating a codified rule. ʻBefore the Law" 208. It is clearly not possible to take up a full discussion of Derrida's messianics here. Jacques Derrida. which are parallelled in Agamben's work. McCormack. 61. ed. for Derrida. However. Furthermore." trans. 1992) 3-67 at 24.60. However. Derrida. the unfounded decision of deconstruction does not indicate a straightforward return to Schmitt's strong decisionism. This is evident in poststructuralist and radical democratic political theory generally. the situation is almost exactly the opposite. see Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. over its Was-Sein. the decision of the sovereign is not a decision for any concrete order but for the principle of order as such—"the principle of order. McCormick. in that the true decision must suspend the currently existing law in order to ʻreinvent it in each case' as Derrida says ("Force of Law" 23). 21 (2000) 1729. one might argue that Schmitt's strong decisionism and the spectre of the sovereign that it invokes still haunts not only deconstruction but also much other contemporary political theory." trans. there are important differences. ʻBefore the Law" 204. "Force of Law: the "Mystical Foundation of Authority"." Cardozo Law Review. Drucilla Cornell. Mary Quaintance. Derrida. Derek Attridge (New York: Routledge. both insist on the constitutive force of the decision. it is also evident in liberal. also see John P. Michel Rosenfeld and David Gray Carlson (New York: Routledge. has priority over its concrete content. Agamben. 64. "Pardes" 216. 68. "Pardes" 217. 62. which is disrupted by the ʻto-come' of justice that cannot be assimilated to a regulative ideal (or the principle of order). 70. For Derrida. Avital Ronell and Christine Roulton. it should become clear that Agamben's messianic event is actually more akin to Schmitt's sovereign decision than is the account of the political decision given by Derrida. One might say then that the ʻmadness' of the decision derives from the gap between the concrete actuality of social and political existence and the undecidability of the absolute other of justice. the undecidability of the decision deconstructs the sovereign decision through the insistence on the ʻabsolute other' of justice. for Schmitt it is not possible to pass directly from the pure normative order to the concrete order of social life—this passage is necessarily mediated by the will of the sovereign expressed in the sovereign decision on the exception. "Schmitt and Poststructuralism: A Response. 29:3 (2001) 395-423. the political decision must ʻnegotiate with the undecidable'. Nevertheless. 67. Instead. "Force of Law" 28. John P.
Agamben. "The Messiah and the Sovereign"174. "The Messianic: Waiting for the Future" 156-180 and Caputo. 72. 1997) 117. as well as Caputo's discussion in Chapter Six. Caputo. "Theses on the Philosophy of History" 266. Derrida. December 2004 62 . Derrida formulates this position as ʻmessianicity without messianics'. Derrida. 79. Caputo. For further discussion of this comment and its later reformulation.71. The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion without Religion (Bloomington: Indiana UP.6 76. "Force of Law" 63 n. 77. Agamben's primary target here is Gershom Scholem. Elsewhere. "The Messiah and the Sovereign" 166. Caputo. Agamben. Prayers and Tears 136. Deconstruction in a Nutshell (New York: Fordham UP. "The Messiah and the Sovereign" 164. 80. Homo Sacer 49-58. However. Copyright © 2004 Catherine Mills. Derrida. the characterization of messianism that Agamben is criticizing bears a strong resemblance to the position taken by Derrida. 74. 78. "Force of Law" 25. 73. also see Agamben. Benjamin. see John D. Agamben. Contretemps. Prayers and Tears 118. 75. Derrida. who is cited in the quote I have provided. "Force of Law" 26. 1997) 22-23. See Derrida's Specters of Marx and his comments in John D. Contretemps 5. emphasis added. "Force of Law" 27. All rights reserved.
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Missed this exhibit last time it was here so definitely plan to go this year when it is here from mid-Nov to May.
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Chihuly glass exhibit - Phoenix Botanical Garden
Missed this exhibit last time it was here so definitely plan to go this year when it is here from mid-Nov to May.
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You should go during both during the day and in the evening as the sun goes down. The experience is totally different.
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If you are a photographer, late afternoon or very early morning. The noon sun isn't great for photos of the glass. Saw it last time. Truly special.
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So I'm thinking late afternoon to see it in daylight and stay as the sun goes down.
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Sleep soundly with the city that never sleeps. Hand-stitched and crafted to last generations, this quilted map of New York City is an unforgettable heirloom. The map area extends from Central Park to Battery Park, and includes parts of North Brooklyn, New Jersey and Long Island City. This exquisitely detailed, entirely hand-stitched quilt is made in collaboration with our partners in India using 100% superfine cotton. Though these quilts make unforgettable wedding or anniversary presents... you might just want to get one for yourself. Fits a full to king-sized bed.
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Blawg of the Day – Massachusetts Data Privacy Law Blog
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We'll end the week discussing data privacy. The Massachusetts Data Privacy Law Blog aims to help businesses and individuals keep abreast of data security risks and compliance requirements, like those created by Massachusetts' data security law, Chapter 93H. It's authored by John H. Lacy of the McCormack Firm in Boston. John's discussing topics like LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Stratfor data breach.
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April 27, 2016
UPDATE: Complaint states Elmwood dogs fed on rotting carcasses
Dogs at an alleged Elmwood puppy mill were feasting on rotting carcasses as their primary food source, according to allegations spelled out in...
News / crime and courts
April 27, 2016 - 8:56am
Walker signs revised shoreland property rights bill; Two-year-old boy grabs gun, kills mother who was driving; 11 more Wisconsin news stories
HUMBOLDT -- Those who own property on Wisconsin waterways will get more leeway to build structures under a bill signed by Gov. Scott Walker in Humboldt Tuesday morning. The governor chose the DeKeyser Construction firm as the place to approve new rules for construction near lakes...
News / government
April 27, 2016 - 8:38am
April 26, 2016
Police: Prom shooter rode to school on bike, brought rifle; Rep. Kind returns $125,548 to U.S. Treasury; 13 more Wisconsin news briefs
ANTIGO -- Police say Jakob Wagner apparently rode a bicycle to the high school and used a rifle to shoot two students leaving the school prom Saturday night. Antigo Police Chief Eric Roller said the rifle was the only weapon recovered at the scene, and he did not know how long Wagner...
News / crime and courts
April 26, 2016 - 9:07am
April 25, 2016
Story of pink cupcake-eating 'Pinkalicious' opens April 29
"Pinkalicious the Musical," with the book by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann, music by John Gregor, and lyrics by John Gregor, Elizabeth...
Life / arts and entertainment
April 25, 2016 - 8:46am
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Greta Window Panel
|Breezy and beautiful, the Greta crushed sheer panel makes a simply stunning addition to your room. Slide the tie-top loops over your curtain rod to display alone or use as a chic layering piece. Window curtain panels are sold individually. 100 % Polyester Colors: Ivory, Pink, Purple, White Tie top panel Single Panel only - buy two to complete the set 50" X 84" Machine Washable
400 TC Deep Fitted Pima Cotton Sheet Sets
|STARTS AT $54.99 TWIN & TWIN XL ORIGINAL UP TO $150.00 (SIZES AVAILABLE: TWIN, TWIN XL THRU CALIFORNIA KING) 100% Soft Pima Cotton / Deep Fitted Pocket To Fit Mattresses Up To 21"! Over-sized flat sheets / All-around elastic fitted sheets / Add comfort and style to your bedding with a sateen weave sheet set. Bedding set includes one flat sheet, one fitted sheet and two pillowcases (one pillowcase only in Twin and Twin XL sets) Sheets feature luxurious 400 thread count sateen construction Thread count is the number of threads per square inch of fabric—the higher the thread count, the softer and more durable the material Available in white, ivory, plum, sage, black, or blue color options Made of 100-percent Pima cotton Machine washable Twin Dimensions: Flat sheet: 94 inches x 66 inches Fitted sheet: 75 inches x 39 inches (fits mattresses up to 20 inches deep) Pillowcase (1): 30 inches x 20 inches Twin Xtra-Long Dimensions: Flat sheet: 102 inches x 66 inches Fitted sheet: 80 inches x 39 inches (fits mattresses up to 20 inches) Pillowcase (1): 30 inches x 20 inches Full Dimensions: Flat sheet: 96 inches x 84 inches Fitted sheet: 75 inches x 54 inches (fits mattresses up to 21 inches) Pillowcases: 30 inches x 20 inches Queen Dimensions: Flat sheet: 106 inches x 94 inches Fitted sheet: 80 inches x 60 inches (fits mattresses up to 21 inches deep) Pillowcases: 30 inches x 20 inches King Dimensions: Flat sheet: 106 inches x 112 inches Fitted sheet: 80 inches x 78 inches (fits mattresses up to 21 inches) Pillowcases: 40 inches x 20 inches California King Dimensions: Flat sheet: 108 inches x 106 inches Fitted sheet: 84 inches x 72 inches (fits mattresses up to 21 inches) Pillowcases: 40 inches x 20 inches Return Information Cannot be returned if washed or used. Must be returned in original packaging.
Billowy Clouds Mattress Pad
|Gel Fiber Poly Fill 300 TC 100% Cotton Cover 15'' stretch skirt that stretches over 22" Twin: 39"x75"x2", Full: 54"x75"x2", Queen: 60"x80"x2", King: 78"x80"x2" White Machine Wash Cold or Dry Clean Hypo-Allergenic 30-Day Money Back Guarantee DownLinens Mattress Pads will have you reminiscing of childhood dreams. If you've ever dreamt of what it would be like to sleep on a soft fluffy cloud, you'll find out when you sleep on a mattress covered with a DownLinens Mattress Pad, specifically the Billowy Clouds Mattress Pad. The name "Billowy Clouds" couldn't be more appropriate for something so soft and heavenly. Down Linens Billowy Clouds Mattress Pad is made with a thick 300-Thread Count cover and Gel Fiber Poly fill to give your mattress a soft luxurious layer of comfortable padding. DownLinens Mattress Pads, with their quilted pillow-top construction, give you the comfort of an expensive down filled mattress pad at a much lesser cost. For the utmost comfort and fit, your mattress pad must fit well, which is what you'll have with the heavy duty stretch skirt that is designed for a snug fit on mattresses up to 21 inches Keywords: Down Linens Billowy Clouds Matress Pad, Down Linens Mattress Pad, Down Linens Mattress Pads


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Media call: Tim Cahill
Socceroos forward Tim Cahill talks to the media ahead of his team's opening World Cup match against Chile.
Source: ABC News | Duration: 9min 40sec
Topics: soccer-world-cup, socceroos, soccer, sport
A federal budget, carp-ageddon and a possible president Trump. Were you paying attention?
Author of The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell, shares six secrets for living a happier, more Danish life.
Clark Elliot began experiencing disturbing symptoms of brain injury in 1999. For years, recovery seemed unlikely. But inspired by the potential of brain plasticity, Elliot managed to turn his life around.
Private chefs exist in an intimate domain of rare extravagance. Now a celebrity in his own right, chef Dan Lepard says life cooking poached eggs for the rich and famous can be bizarrely disorienting.


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Green Music T Shirts, Tanks And Hoodies
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