In the 1989 preface to the English translation of
"Infancy and History," Agamben highlights the central question
uniting his work: what it means for language to exist, or what it means to say
“I speak.” Agamben reinvigorates philosophical anthropology by critically
examining the metaphysical assumptions that underpin it, especially the notion
that having language defines human essence. Through works like "Infancy
and History," "Language and Death," and "The Open,"
Agamben explores the concept of an "experimentum linguae," where
language is experienced in its pure self-reference, revealing its limits not
through external reference but within itself.
Published in Italian in 1978, "Infancy and
History" is one of Agamben's early attempts to articulate the implications
of experiencing language as such. This collection of essays delves into
concepts such as history, temporality, play, and gesture. The eponymous essay
on infancy discusses it as an experience of language beyond mere acquisition,
suggesting that contemporary life has lost the ability to experience per se due
to modern science and the philosophical split between subject and knowledge.
Agamben posits that reclaiming experience requires rethinking it in terms of
language, as the subject's site and origin reside in language. Infancy, thus,
is not about childhood but a state that precedes and persists in any use of
language.
In "Language and Death" (1982), Agamben continues
this reflection, examining the relationship between language and death proposed
by Heidegger. Agamben argues that Western metaphysics is fundamentally tied to
a negativity that becomes evident in humanity's ethos, often manifesting as
nihilism. Despite this, contemporary thought remains trapped within this
metaphysical framework. Agamben aims to escape this through a rigorous
philosophy of language, building on ideas from "Infancy and History."
Analyzing Heidegger and Hegel, Agamben identifies their
reliance on negativity, focusing on grammatical shifters (deixis) like
"Da" and "Diese," which highlight the self-referential
nature of language. These shifters do not refer to anything beyond themselves
but only to their own utterance. Agamben critiques Hegel and Heidegger for
maintaining a split within language by identifying an ineffable aspect that
cannot be fully integrated into human discourse, termed "Voice." He
argues that to resolve the nihilism embedded in metaphysics, humanity must
experience language without being summoned by Voice or death. This requires an
unprecedented experience of infancy, where one exists "in language without
being called there by any Voice" and dies "without being called by
death."
A consistent theme in Agamben's work is the problem of
potentiality, which he sees as crucial to overcoming contemporary nihilism.
Drawing on Aristotle's "Metaphysics," Agamben interprets potentiality
not just as what is not impossible but as the suspension of im-potentiality
(the ability not to be) in the passage to actuality. This suspension does not
destroy im-potentiality but fulfills it, turning potentiality back on itself.
In this process, actuality appears as the potentiality to not not-be. This
relation is central to transitioning from voice to speech and experiencing
language in its pure form. However, Agamben also argues that Aristotle's
concept of potentiality bequeaths Western philosophy a paradigm of sovereignty,
revealing the undetermined or sovereign foundation of being. Sovereign acts
realize themselves by negating their own potentiality not to be, which aligns
with the logic of the ban that characterizes sovereign power, thus intertwining
metaphysics and politics.
These reflections on metaphysics and language present two
interrelated problems for Agamben. First, in the realm of aesthetics, he
examines how language is appropriated in prose and poetry, questioning the
distinction between philosophy and poetry. Second, in politics and ethics,
Agamben's concepts of the destruction of experience and potentiality lead to an
analysis of political spectacle and sovereignty. This analysis necessitates a
reformulation of ethics as ethos and rethinking community.
Agamben's engagement with these themes extends to his
critique of contemporary society's loss of genuine experience and the role of
language in this loss. He argues that modern science and philosophy have
created a separation between subject and experience, reducing life to mere
existence rather than lived experience. By focusing on language's
self-referentiality and its fundamental role in human existence, Agamben seeks
to bridge this divide and restore a sense of authentic experience.
Agamben's work interrogates the essence of language and its
implications for human existence. By challenging traditional metaphysical
assumptions and exploring the self-referential nature of language, he offers a
profound critique of contemporary nihilism and sovereignty. His call for an
"experimentum linguae" and a rethinking of experience and
potentiality provides a framework for understanding the intersection of
metaphysics, language, aesthetics, politics, and ethics. Through this, Agamben
aims to uncover a new way of being that transcends the limitations imposed by
conventional metaphysical thought.
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