On the Name - Jacques Derrida

8/13/2019 On the Name - Jacques Derrida

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ON THE NAME

Jae Ded


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Originaly pubi5hed i Fnch in Ir serm: bo' P

nd Kh6 by ios Gi.C 9} by Ediio Gli:

Sn Univ PSW,

C I by he B fTC he Ld nfr Jnior Ui

Prid in he nid t Ae

d a a he end e k

Contets

Tstg [e Name? Thoma Di

Psos: Oque Ofeg"

ufk om Sripum)

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Translating the Name?

Jacques Derida's On the compses tee esays, wic, iftae ogete, wold form a soof ayon the Name" (5eow

p. x) In 1993 te tee essays simlaneosly appead n Fance a Cotion of tee sepaay ond t matcing ookpulised y diions Glie On the Name he te of hs okpulisd y Snford Uesty Pess tus s not a tsaon ofay Fenc oo e yJac Deid it s a e gen to wats a ypohetc oo n ce e e On the Nwold inFec e Surk nom Gie e meang of e Fenc preposio ur oe cold l tis boo y ote m a wel: foexampe Owr the Name, Abclthe Name or About the Name. (Oesould lso e awae i tis te oft o" (non] wc in spoeFenc sound eactly e same a name" (nomI, pecily w

of wat te t esay says aout omoymy ad e secod ssayscoce wt a cetn negatiy) Mooe ge Deridas dscson of s-nmig wc ns toug te tee esay onemgt jstay aso read urk10m o te ame) n te netedode of k suom te sname) wt su e pex tat t s nEnglis and Fenc

Te translation trougot ts olume of JUom y sname"cod cse some consion uommeans a name, ttle oepiet added to a pesons namea n a nckname sc a avnMagc onso or William e Coneor e ngls su


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x jng h Nm

nam is thus oughly ynonymos wth "cogoen or "ona, s h ED 3es Moreove, jst somgv us th

sns of "sune n Wl "the Conquo, the NoConqust s sad to hav gvn us the oth mning of "sunm,whch om no longer hs: "The No Conquet broughtwth t th novty of ily oenclatu, that s to say, th us ofherdtrysuaes (EA. Fe, Hto oft Noonq ofEngnd [w Yok Macmln, 1876], ) InEnglsh th wodsunm stl mens nd ths hs even oits pmy meng) h "my nm tht folows oe's st,

gv o baptsm ne, e hat folows ones "pe-nam opnom s t is clld n ench Unlik the English langug, eFch nguag in moden usag, hs Ot etaned ths anng of om nded, the xpsson "connate qulquun pnom t p surnom, a epresson whch es "to know some

on vry wl ely shows hat n Fech he nom {my name}s sohig dern fo th uom sunm s ncke th "sue "icnm suppmn gven ne

o h pont of epcig s Fee pus t "in som hesunm o nick to hve ltogr suppanted thbpts e ()O tOO hs "sum n th cotempoyEnglsh sense of a hdty "ly nm supplatedsurnamn th ench sens of om or "icname. Becuse of thisdnce bnomand "sum n conepoy nchd English, om s tsated in thee three essys s "surnm wth th hyphen svng o cll enton to hesurnm

s h "supplmet me t ny sue in ct t isnec to kep sunm nstd o f "nckme s nou andvrb for om d omm n Drda's nch tthe ncton s tOO ipot not t be ed ovr nto Englsh,

vn though n Egsh thy b a snse no dd n modnch

h potental cofuson bween "sunm a dded nam and"surnm s famly n s perhaps owng to he fct that thly nam s ogly, s Feemn contnds only a surnmn th snse of an added a that t som point bcme hed

ng I Nam?

tay n this wy, th "faly nam s tsfaways ust ahdtaynckne, s the suname of Back may b boneby a pal manthat of Alfedson by one whos fath s ot namd Afd tht ofch by one who nethe lsat chm no owns land ther f ons faly nae, th ppe n, s oglly lackngn such wy tht ncknm,a sunme must, by "ption lts lck, he oes e, oes ons own coes bforaythigelse though n act of naming. Pehaps such s p ofwhat erid suggts when he sks Wat happens, abov alwhn it s ney o sur-nam omm], re-nang hwh,pecsy th nm comes to b found lackg? (blow, pv he sune by epetto o "r-nang consttutes thepop name

Moov the tnslon of "nommantby "namng fals tetan th complexity of -nommant o bgn wh, d

s dcpv cognate "to rnam not noly hyphenatd nother conxts who h hyphe, nommant mgh comonlyb trslatd s "reppoig or eing Rommsoens to ne o nd with ps o celeb f soonhs, erydy rnch, "nomsh o he hs "recognto,cebty or populty i manly postve ses Rom thus gve"now n shoud ecll th wod "nm n both now onoun d om; Frnch hs only nom fo both noun ndnam Also, the oun nomm' s "renown o m hs

smnc ed s ctv n ids ssays Yet n th quot abov,th hyphn n "nommant St peton of ng, of

nmng s ognly enmg, a rpetton th n th suaest cositute h ae, h pop nm he sue is eptton nd a fogttig th conls the sunm, sf aepetton

hs supermposton of on sue "ly na onooth (th suna) s pt of what th omo sunmsay by dnton, fo he pe "su, devd fom Ln pr,allows on to d, s eda at ms does, ommro su

" . ".

" nmings suprnamg, ovrnmg tra or excss nm

ng Convyng whl disigushig hes vous sese of "su


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x tngb N4m?

namng and of "renaming s at of he t of transatng andeading he three esays tha mae u On th Nam

Two of the ties given 0 e hee ys que bief commen In he thd o, Oeda h, in keeping wth eentFrench pctice, efed Q tanscri he Crk etter X (khi)with k instead of ch us Moa forxwp. nstead of cJr, si h customaly n transcbed Moeove kra is a femininenoun and in Drida's t the onoun hat elaces it is thefeminne o she ndd rathe [hn writing "the khora ascommenato have always done, Deida wrt simply asif "ka we a femnine given ne In the beginning of heEnglish text, an McLeod ansates t by "it fo thee thesense of e s [hat of a impesonal "t Yet as [he ssay ogresses his gradually becomes appopiaely ranslated by"she

Both eade famila with Platos and those coming o ist though Derdas Ja wil see at oa degnate a veyproblemaic sace, lace or sie Mcod's tanslaton of temssch asl pt and siu has caly dstnguished thse temsnd the ou idom in whch they occur Wee erda diingushs p ad {x n conjuncon the taslaion oos"lace ad ste(s); Englsh "posiions should a be herd inhe Frnch p Anoer instane of p being raslated bypace is e nslaion of he expsion p p/by o kelace where the nse s moe a pace o a "postion beng"tken than "to hapen "ie(s) s used fo i{} only where

and p a n oximt oherwe site ransaes andplace ransates it he aticula dsinction between laespIC and "stes) itj shoud no obscure another dsncon operating in Kho that between to situae (sit) and togive place (dnn i.

Thee is rely no one adequae nglish translaion fo SafInm. he most appaen sense in English woud be "Excet thename means precisely that thus, fo example whenerida wites f nm he sense s eveything excet thename Bu he eposton cep is o convy he othe sense

Trlng th Nnm Xlt

of which as a adjective means safe. A lss obviou tanslation of 10m s s the nae,n which should be ead wth aninonaon that auses ae "safe. anscied tha inonationwould be the name In bee, moe gammatial nglish,the sense s tha te name s s, ven the subunctive "that hename be fe; thus, fo exampe tOlt 1m hen would be inEngish ttly sfe the name which may be undestood in thendcatve a "the name is totally" o in he subunctve a "thatthe name be totally safe "Excep fo /is unfortunate auseit los e signied safe There wold seem to be an alenative:the somewhat literay "save is synonymous wth excet hs,af 10m would be save the name which coud be undetoodexactly "except the name he dange wth save howee ishat it soun like a veb n the impeative mood In the Frencha 1m, there is no imeative whatsoeveSau is not a verb,

but eithe a preposition-more common han its nglish cognatesave-o an adjctive. "ave the Nam would be an unforunatenglish itle for fI 1m since i woud sound as if he essaywee a c to save the name, a sens [ha apears n the text onlydiscetly ven though "ave the Name as a title migh be betteh "xcep the Name o the ame such a ttle woldisk giving a l sense of wha the say is about

Therefore owng to the double syntx of 1m eeryingn the ay ha been tanslated "save ts name or e. Yet winthe ssay iself "save the name has been used to ansae [hepreostona pha m, and safe the name h en

added aer it in bracket whee he ossibiliy of undesandingtha adjectival hrase is also resentf the three say in 1 b Nnm Psi, tanslaed by David

Wood, appeed originally in nglish and in a shoter form nDedn:A ca Rtn edited by avid Wood xford aiBlacwell 1992An ealier shore version of 1mappeaedo the st tm also in nglish, in he anslation of Joh Pavey, J unde the ile PosSciptum in a volume enitledDTla Nav Tuoo edited by Haold oward and obyoshay bany Sate University of New ok s, 99). They


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xw Tn/ng the Name?

appe her ouy of publshers o, rslae yIan MLeod appear hee fo he rs e Esh aevse verso ro ow ory appeared, Frech nPoikla: E d Jen" V (ars ole dsHaus udes e Ses Soces, 1987). In On the Name esehree rslaos have eoly odes a ooee hro a so a orpods [ he orer veo of yon Sufk n, d Kora publed byEos

e e ree ook ere phd Fr cued od oupe sr ed Fre e Pm d'd sev er a we hee o uae he hre:

Eah of th hre ssys, PsI tuf k 0m, nd K6ra, forms aidependen work ad be d sch f h nonethel bjdgd advsble [0 pubsh hem smuleoly. this is bu. in

spe of e sng ogn of ch of em e me emic thrdr houg e T rm a sn of n Nain hapes o seps Tree cons In folowing e sisa e m 1 of h ons senty addrs one o heoer one h e qjn ft m round her wher hit on e ge of he ll, of e dd or of he promsbre or er e eponse

e nme: Wa d one cl Wt does one undestadunde he nme of ne? And wha ou when one gives a ae?Wat de one gve then? ne do n oer a h!ng, oe delversnohing, nd sll someing com o b wh omes dow o gvig

that w oe do not ave Plois id of he Goo Watappn aove ll, when it n o s-nae rmng ere whee. pecily, the nme om o foud lkng?Wa mk he popr nme into a so of sur-e, psdom, ocponm a once singl nd ngaly untaslable?

Pn absolue , a on ssn d foreign o w tone in generl lls by the non/nme se orer to ge there. twner, within the more or ss cve repeton of a th is s mybody. d n e course of a mion o e pados of plen to sge the experiece of where a inlulble deb R up: iftere du (u ol' i osst n o hvng o [

mtng ! N4m?

;, in hving to witho having o IJll, in havingo not h o [ nt pa ajr? n having o ot have to act [avr npa or agr) n onfomiy with d (Mvil,"not evenas Knt uld say, by d [dr]" Wat could the ethical orpoliicl cnsequec of that? Wat should one ndesand uder

he nme duy" [Mvi)? And whoc uderae o rry i, andruh rsposibiiy?

ufk 0. 's a mater here of sluaton and salvion (u saul;the liar ging S/ut s to wsh for he oers salvtion ohappinss On 2 smme dY. O nelouors converethas2noer con2out what rs rod (Unauur te nme,singulry round e nme of nme, e nme of God (Di dwhat bcoms of in wh2t one ls gave hlog, her where eur-Name nams the unnamable that is, a the same ime what oneier can nor huname, dene, or ow, becase, to begi with.wh2t one sr-name then slips ay bnd wng without stayingher Wer negative heolo" sms to open On a pliic" ocome toy or omorow) such a ion lso iss tkng a fw sepsof n heir who foo e trc or vsig a herubinic wderr"Angs ili Wa is a ur-ame which s wo m lhane nme b hat whih com inthof he nme? And di e pu ilf fowr he salvaon S/UI] of he nme wch isnly And ver smpy, the salut2ion, vey simply, he GoodDay" or the rwell" u]?Khm the olds of the hr s, is nonehele no their ma

trx" or the orignay imprint-bearr," one might be empte toconside it only siua an eemplr apoa in he Pl2onic xte 7maS nm khr lol pae sacing. sie, this ing

tha s nothing of that to whic his ng" nonethels seem to givepacetho. hwe, his thing ve g anythng: neitherhe id paradigms of hin nor he copie a 2n insten demurge he d id bfore his s, incrib n it nensible, impible bU without cruelt. inaible to rheorc Kr doura. is prisely wha diarms eot 21 persiond whoever woldlie o nd he heart to beli or the dir to mae believe forample in he gres. rops or seducions of discour eihersesible nor elliible eiher metaphor nor leral desigation,"dt is 1r hat. bh his an that, prticipating and not prticiting n he tems of a coupe kh7- led mar" o


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X! agu Nam?

"nurs-nonethds mbl a singu proper name, a ameInom hee tey, ooqay one's s me) that s earerboth materna a vgnal (ths is why one here Ihoa n not asusa the Ih6a) vn og n an perience hat hs to thougtt/she h as n sen the srnme hat one give to her a

ns eyn very mateal femne-or thga-gure. Anths see from e epts of whih hora tus 5 to hername bt n trut ls te sname o a t name [pnoml. thissee s perhaps ot even ay onger a moa or a re 5eo speechNo moe thn his epth wthot epth promses the nght o a ayOn the sbject of Ihoa ther s neth er ngative theoog nor thoghtof the Goo of the One or of o bn Being Ts crebe nmprobabe experenc s aso amog oter mesionspotica tannounces wthot promsng a thought or rather a puttng to testof the poca A whe Soates a show of aressghmef to the others a of speakg ofpoua n pssg (a as thepasserby he s i a fe that s t short there he begs to reemble tto esemble her Iho, to play he n a to that w wys havegoe nnote to gur her her who s te tange he ngspabe e impbable tay na ntey awy her whorecev evehng ben ge a eyon e Her what n I ut stl , wot ebt

ddi is , each f the iclded lwi pe llwi et f thesy's ublc i

n spte o that separate em e t m to pon to hher maye to she gt on othe th a snge ogton Uer the moie synax of e one u r hmon a nam gvn or on what hap t"am gvn (anonymitymetoymy paeoymy cptonomy psonm hee to thename v ee to e nme owd no on what perhapsone oghto gve or to sacrce s we as what oe o qU p-r ot] to the ame to the me of ame he to the surnamean to the of the d [evor (o g or i)

Thoas Do

PASSONS


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TE: A cetain "COtext foms the theme o cente [] ofthese eRections. Some coextual instuctions a terefore spe

caly csry fo readig a epone whose ognal veson(sghy odied ere) was anslared by David Wood and pulised i Engls n a wok etled D A Cia Redted by avid Wd (xod: Blael 99. he wok cotained elve esays; rhe peent esy n pcple, was supposedto epond to the othe I he AngloSaxon tadiio of theede is colecton of essays was oetheless coceved of lessas an intoduction or commentay and even less as homage thans te place for a ctcal discssion, as ts tie idited Thepaticipan n ths discusso wee Gorey Benigto oeBeasconi Micel Haa ree arvy Manfed Fa Jo

leelyn Jn-Luc Nay sophe Nois chad oyohn Sals and avid Wood

Passions:" Oblique Orng"

et magine a schola A speist in tual analyss he sezesupo ts wo sumg that someoe hs n preented him

ih t (soming we wll neve kow A ay rate, he akesquite a thg of it bevg e cogze in it the tualizedunfodig of a ceremoy o een a li ad s co atheme an o of analysis fo hm ia o e sure d otdee a eld ee is itual eeywhere Wthou t tere woudbe no soiety no istituios o hstry Anyone c spcialize inte analyis of tuls i is no theeoe a speciat his soar leus call hm analyst, may aso be fo example a socologist aathopoogst a hsrian whatever you pefe an cic or aliteray citc pehaps ve a phiosoper You o me ghexpeiece nd moe or lss spontaneosy c of ca to sme

dgre pay the pat of an aayt or crtic o tuals no one refrains t Moeover o play a re work topya ereert may e, oe must at the same tme e scibed in the logic oftual and preiely so a to pefom properly in t to avoidmistas and tasgesios one mst t some exte be able toanaly it e ust udestand ts nos and iepet the rulesof ts nctoning

Beteen e act ad the analyst whaeve te dstance ordiec may e te ounda therefore appes uncetaiAlays pemeble t mteve e cssed at some poi not only


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6

dculy arses in his se, one lely-bm (hs s no ye ceanto p n dculy {he poge of ia o of ts anlys dos o ny hav o do wih (he coe he h, (hpostive o negtive vuatos os oen inntey overeeed. nee no, i sho coner (he quaiy of (he discouse ofhis o that pso, wha y rsate o what hey ae of heielaon o he e o he preex o t he ojec of he oo. Thecrcl dculy cocens he ct that t hs een hoght necessa o sk popose o oe for eaons which s possle oanale) o he suppose sgnao of the texs which are the focusof he oo "e suey the oppouny of nereng as heysay, of conibung, whch eans ngg one's ue udong so feely in the b We wl have soehing to say n decouse aout he een of hs feedo; i s alos he entequeson The edo of he wo, hed of poocol o e of

eeones David Woo, ha sugged ha he oo gh heeeen begn wh a few pags of e whch wiho uy sponng o l he ohes oud app une he suggve e of Oliqe Oig Wha Fro who? To who? Moe of hislate

BU saightaway s we wee sang e fodng of he iualiss losng t auoaic quly a s o say i s o ongerconfong o the hpoess of e anayst here a onhypothess hch A a cen place i he sse one of heeeens of he yse n suely een if he I s not awasand "wih al cndo [an: also wihout e ao J2

"e) o oge now wha shoud do Moe pecsely i nowstha st o coadc(Qy nd ncopate hng Conadictng o nng one o sef, s double olgaton hs sspaalyzng dveng, o jeoparzg he successl concuson ofhe ceeony u does he hpohess of such a s g agai [encone] or on he conray g ang wih [ la econe] hedese of he paicpans supposng tha hee wee only onedese ha hee wee a sngle desre coon o all of [he o haeach had n hself ony one nonconracoy dese? ecause onecan age ha one or oe han one prcpan, ndeed he

PaJJn

se of ceeo he ay soehow dese he ue ofhe afoeeione ceeony oe o ess seely i goe wihosayg, d a is why we us he secet eve t w e pe of hs secet, pss ugen o he sere igenel

What s a ecenly even if s wor n no way coresponds (Q a see

ceeony, oe ay age tha hee is no cereoy, howeepulic nd pose whch dos o evove around a secre even fi is the secre of a oecet, f oly wha one cls n rench a ItPhin a see which is a sece fo no one On the anlyss hohesis the ceeoy would ufol noaly accodng Qthe ual woud acheve is ed at he cost of a eou o of asspense whch no ony would not have a ll heaeed , woud perhaps have coned consoldaed augeed eel

lshed, o nensed t by epecaio esie, preu ofuco pelinry pee of play forepay pu] whaeud cals Vrut) Bu what woul happen on the secon hypothess hs is pehaps he qon ha y way of a eplay ads a toen of bounls gtiude, wol lke o as n y un n the isace o l ho who have geeouly broghe e [app ur t] o hs wo

enshp s wel as polten woud eno a ouble duwould t o precsely e to avoid at l S boh the nguag frtuad e nuag fdu uplici he bengdoe of hs

uy cnno e ade p as a J + 1 = 2 o a + bu on hecoay hollows isef o n an nne ayss. A gesue offiendshp o "of polieness wol e neihe fedly o polie f wee purely and sply o oey a a ue. Bu hs du teschew he ule of ualzed deou also deands ha one good e vey anguage of du One us nI e fenly opole ou of dutWe venue such a proposon, wihout a oubagans Kant Would thee hs e a uty no o ac acrding du: neie in cnni 10 du s Kan would say (pichmJig), nor even fdu (a PJ) n what y wold sch


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Pai(n

deour without ruse nd wthout caculation]: ha a m [1s'agt de /h c(np f . and n(ing hh . " What ispid by n pesson of such iperative ode That onecod and one shoud tacke a concept o a proble fontay, n anonobiqueway hee woud be a concept nd a pobe of ths

o that ofdu fo epe it aer lite fo the oent), thatis to say, soething deteinabe by a kowng (what attes sknowing whethe and hat ies before you, thee befoe youpbkma. in(n (fu n Engish n the ogna-T fowhich co te necssy to appoach fo the font cngtowards in a way whic s at onc dect, fonta and head on[api] what s befoe you eyes ou outh you hands (andnot behind you back tee, befoe you, ke an bjpoposedo posed n advance [pp( u p-p] a queston to de withthefoe qute as uch a ubj poposed (that s o say suendeed, oeed up n pncpe one was oe fo he fontsuey? n pncpe Contnuing he sentcs ofpbkma terewoud lso be e qution of n b-ubjadie a jety othe poonto of a headnd [ap4 n ao o potectivegaent bmaso es in certain contxts te excuse givenin advace to shir o e onesef of be but aso soetngese hat wod perhaps nterest us hee ore By etonyy f youwl, pbm c coe to dsignate tat which as we say nFenc serves as a cove" when assung esponsby fo anote or pssng onesef o s the othe o whe spakng n thenae of he othe that whch one paces befoe one o behnd

which one hdes. hnk of the passon of Phoctet us of Ulyss theobque-and of the thd i at once nnocent wtn ),/patcpa but also an to who t s given to paya roenstruent and active degate epei(n. that s he pbkichid Nopoeus o ths point of vew responsibiywoud bepr(baic to the he [uppkm/air] extent hat itcoud soeti perhaps even aways be what one taes not foonesef in n (n namand b /h (/hr the ost cassiclyetaphysica denton of rsponsibiy) but what one ust taefo another in hs pace in he ne of he oher or of onesef s

i(n

othe, before anothe othe and an othe of the othe naey hevery undenabe of ethcs o the the uppmaie extentwe sd but we ust go rther n the dege to whch esponsiby not ony fais o weaen but on the contary ases in astuctue which is tsef suppeentay It is lways exercised in y

ne a the nae of the othe, and at in no way acts itssinguiy his singuary s posed ad ust quake n theexepay equivociy and nsecuy of ths as

fthe expeience of responsby coud nOt be educed to one ofdu o of debt if he sponse" of responsibiy no ongeappered in a concept wth pect to which we ust nowwheher "; if a ths wee o chlenge the space of ep(bmand retuned nt ony to wthn the popostonal fo of theresponse but even to wthn the qui(n fo of thought oanguage and thus what s no onge o not yet probleatc oquestonable ie crtque naey of the order of judcative decsion we coud no onger we hu n( ab a approach in adect fonta pji tat is thetic or heatc wy And tisdo not do it" ths shoud not above whch sees to give hesp to the pobe, the poct, the question, te hee he thesisthe ctque, woud have nothng to do with a shortcoing a apsen ogca o deonstatve go quite the contray (ways supposng that the peatve of go, ri of te ost igo, s sheted fo al qustonng6) f thee a shortcong and a shotcoing of ustce s uch as of edng t wodoccu ather on the sde whee one woud want to suon such a

donodo a shoudnotabovealdot, to appea befoesoe phosophca o oal tibuna that is to say before proceedngs both ctca and udic othing wod see oe voentor naive than to ca fo oe frontiy ore thess o oeheatztion to suppose that one cn nd standad hee Howca one choose beween the econoy o the dsceton of the pwith which one cedits a witng, and an a-hmai an nsucienty theatc expanation of which soe beieve it is possbe toaccuse a phosophe


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' 4 Pssons

ici7C in the oblique, oday is wihom doub he geoerica gurehe copose si ade wih he piiveness of he pane thene. he ange, [he diagon, and hs of he igh ange beeenhe veica and he horizon The obiue eans he choice ofasaeg ha is si crude, obiged to wad owha is os ugen a

geoeic ccuus fo diveing s uicky as possibe boh hefona approach and he srigh ine: pesued o be he shoespah fo one poin o anohe Even in is heoca fo and inthe gue of gue ha is caed oria oblqu, his dspaceensi appeas oo dec inea in sho econoic in copiciywh he diagona ac I hnk saighaway of he c ha a bow] is soeies d; and again of he passion of Phioces; o say of a bow ha i is seched [tendu can an insoe coexs, ha i sing is au and eady pope heweapon ney, he deady aow, o ha he bow is oeed upgven, deiveed, rnsiHed (hnd on, ove o ngish inoigin-TD Le us therefoe foge he obiue

Is his a way of nO eponding he inviaion of avid Woodand of a hose who he repesens hee? ugh I o espond ohi ow is one o know? Wha is an nviation Wha s i espond o inviaion owho, wha does his eun whadoes i aoun o quoce vn/?J.An inviaion eaves onefree oherwse it beco constrain It shoud r neverpy: yo ae obiged o coe yo have o coe i is necssarBu he inviaion us be psing no ndieen I shoud neveipy: you ae fee no o coe and f yo don' coe nve ind

doesn ae Wihou he pessue of soe desiewhich aonce says "coe and eav, nevehes, he he his absouefreedo-he inviaion iediaey wihdaws and becoes unwecong I us heefoe spi and doube isef a he saeie, a once eave fee nd ke hosage doube ac edoubed acIs an inviaion possibe? We have JUSt gipsed unde wha condions hee woud be an inviaion, if hee is one, bu even if heeis one, does i eve pesen isef, n ct, as such, a he oen

Wha we ae gipsing of he inviation (bu of he ingenera, as we govens by he sae "ken he ogic of he

Pom

esponse, boh of he rponse o he invaon and he esponse byitsef

Whoeve pondes he necessiy, he geneaogy and heefore asoe iis ofhe concep of sponsibiiy anno i wonder asoe poin wha s ean by espond, and oe ngish

in oigina- a pecious wod fo which I can nd no siceuiaen in y angage And wonde whehe "o pondhas an opposie, which woud consis, if coonsense s bebeied, in no esponding Is i possibe o ae a decison on hesujec of "ponding and of reponsvenss

ne can oday in any deen paces, aend o pcpaein a congeni and disubing ask: rsing oy and especiay, reassung hose who had seious rsons fo being oubedby his opic oe sous beieve hesev have found ineconsucon DcontuCon- if ee wee one andony one-a oden fo of oaiy of aoriy o of esponsibii (ec: a discouse oo we known I do no need oonnue) whie ohe oe seious in ess of a hu, beedispos wad soaed conscion oday ca he opposie hey dicen encoaging signs and in ncaing nubeat ies I us ad in soe of y exs) which wod esi o peanen eee diec o obiue, in ay ven, ncingynense aenion o hose hing which one coud den undehe ne na of "ehics, oaiy "rsponsibiiy, "sbec,ec Befo eng o noespondng i woud be nsa odecae in he os di way ha f one had he mof duy and

ofesponsibiy, woud cope baking with boh ese oaiss, wih hese O esoaions of oaiy incuding, heefo,he eozaion of deconsucion, whch nauay sees oeactive han a o which i is ighy opposed bu which aeach oen is eassuing isef in orde o eassure he heand o proOe he consensus of a new dogaic sube And i isso ha one nO be n OO uch of a hury say ha i s in henae of a hgheresponsbiy and a ore nacabe ntrtboa xigency ha one decaes one's disase, nven i ay be,fo boh oraiss ndoubedy, i is ways foowing he a


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maton of a ceti exce hat one n suspeCt the well-owmoty. deed the degatng ypoc of moa ss Bunotg Jlows oe to ar ta te be ms or te mostsutable gur o ts ato ae ets moaty ptsesposblty o he subjec Fuhermoe would t be o ad

eposbe o ac molybuoe a (te word empaszed above) o duty d esposbty? rly not; t would be tesy ad, precsely naral proged by atue: s hardlymoa to be mol (esposbe etc oe hs hesofte moa of e gss of te law ec Ts s te wel-knowproble of "repect fo he o law tsel te "cause of espec te Kaa sese ths pobem daws aJl of ts ntest from tedstubg paadox tha t scbes te eat o a moalycapable o gvg a accout of beg scbed a aec(G4 or a sesbl of wat sould ot be scrbed tee osoud oly ejon te sacrce of veytg tat would oly obeyts sbe ato t s wel kow hat sacce ad tesacrca oeg re at te at of Ka n morJy unde heown ae (Dpfg A) ( for exmple Kant's Cri-tqfPccalRaonL. I, c II. e object o sacrce hee sways o te orde o te sesuo otves [mbk bkJ. o hescrey "patoogcl eest wc must says K. be ubld beore he moa aw ts cocep of sacca oerng tusof sacce geerl rue te whole appaas of te ctldstctos o Kaasm sble/elgbe, pvtspotaety intuitu vau I intuitus rgnriu etc he same

goes ohe cocpt ofpion; wat I am ookg or ere pasoaccordg o e woud be a cocep ofpasso tat would be onpatoogcl ats sese

All ts, heefoe stl emas ope suspeded udecdedquestoable eve beod te ueso deed t mae use oaote gue absoluely apoetc Wat s te etct of etc?e moalty of oalt? What s esposbt? Wat s heWat s? ts case? etc se uestos ae ways uget I aceta way te must rema uget ad uaweed at ay ratewtout a geeal ad ule-govered epose wtout a epose

'7

oter n tat wch s lnked specclly ch tme to teoccuree of a decso wtou us d whou wll hecou of a ew est o te uddabe Ad e t o be d opecpttely hat tese uesos or s prposon ae anadyspd by a coe tat coud by rght be lld et, mo

esposble etc or sue, n sayg hat (Ad let t o be sid tpecptately etc) one gv amuon to he ocJs oantdecostucto buta n all s't tat preerabe to he consttuon ofa consesu eupora o, wo a commuy ofcoplacet deostuctosts essured and recoced wt te wod etcal certaty, good coscece satscon of sevce endered,ad he conscousess o duy accomplsed or more eolysll yet to be accopsd?

So he ospose lealy t wll always be possble to say dt wl be tue tat noepose s a espose Oe always oealwa must ave, te rght to espod ad s lbety belogs

to esposbl tself ta s, to te lbe tat oe bele stbe socated wt t e ust aways be fee ot to epd to nappe o to vaoad t s wot remeberg h isedg oesel of te eec of ts lbe Tose wo ttat posbl o te sese of rsposbl s a good hg apme vtue deed e ood sel a covd, howe hatoe must aways we (or oeef, to te ote befoe te oheor beoe he aw and ta moover, a oepose s aJways amodaty deteed te spac opd by an unavodable resposblty s ee te ohg oe o say about ospose?

o on te subject o t f o ts vor?Let us pes o d te attempt to cove moe uky letus take a exmple wete o not t s vaJd fo he aw Wateample? s oe Ad ceay we I say ths ve example Ialeady say sometg moe ad sometg else say sometgwc goes byod [e todti, te ts o te eampe Te exampletsel as suc oveows s sgulaty as muc s ts dett Tss wy tee ae o exampes wle at [e sae tme tere ae olyexapes I ave sd ts, oo oe abou ay exaples odoubt he exemplrt of te example s cleay eve he exem


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assons

plaiy of the eample. We can neve e s of having pt an endto tis vey old childen's gme in which all e discoses philosophil o nO, wich ave ver insprd donstucions aeentangled y the peomave cton which conssts in saying,sang up e game agan "a priy this exampe

I fo ampe spond o he inviaion wch s made o meto espond o he tes colecd hee whih do me the honor othe kindnss I'miH of tang an inert in tain omy eaepblicatons, am not going o e eaping up eo () andtheefoe condct myself in an iresponsile way-by takng onse [] rponsibilite? Wha ls?

I. Fis of al hat o endosng a siation of ssciing o itand actng as f fond myself a ease n sc a strange place, as if fond it nomal o naal to peak ee as if we were sitting downa he able n e mids of welve people who wee speaking on e

wole ao "me or addsing themselvs to me {Mo.wo am oh a inso s am pa of a goup, one amongoers and alady eing hus splt o edobled he ieentnsor am no one xample among oers n the se otwelve Wha wold it look like if supposed f cold epy o altese men and tis woma at the same ime, o supposed cold onng, thus disgdng e very olaly andvey sngula stt of ech of elven or welve discoes atonce so geneos and so nlsased and so oedetemined? Byspeakng ls bot in concsion and in intoducton n welh othitee place m not tang he insane risk and adopng eodious de of eaing al hese hinke as dscpl indeed heapostl among wom some wold e pefered by me, othepotential evl aios? ho wod e Jdas hee? Wha is somoneto do who does no want t e ad who nows imself no o e how can one e se ao hse hings and ow can oneeicate oneselfom ese maces? eie an aposle (apost% s. amessege of God, o Jess o Judas? ecase it dawnd on me alttle lae, coning he nme of pacpans gahered hereeacly weve who is sll o come? hen noicing e wods

Paons '9

;oiqe oeng and psion in his lee, at David Wood wperhaps he peve pde mrmc] of a myseyandat in ct the olqe oeing whicwno lsss minead a avor atw oncaly sartclly ecaisic no vgetarianheeaa eas wo among e gueS-wl ee be able to

ea wi te sulimy o mystil nnialism: e hs s myody wch is gven o yu, keep his in emembn of me isthis not he mos olie oing (] ? s hs no wa commened on al y long n o in my lt semnas on ingthe ohe and e eoic of cannibaism? ll the more eaonno o pond Tis is no aSt p (Ontl, and te ionicfiendship wich ings s ogether consiStS in knowing s whileping wih a sqiny eye [English in original-] owd hiscannialism in moning

2. f did spond would p myself in te sitaion of

someone who flt capabl of ponding: e h an answe foeveyhng he a mself o be p o answeing ea o us, eacesion eac ojecton o cicsm he does n see that ch oe s gatheed hereh is oce, logic is singl staat i would be nec o erd veyhing o econstue ework ad its raoy he ems and argmet of each hediscsve dtion ad the many xts se to wok ec o clm todoatis and to do i n a fwpag would smack ofa bnd anae wthoU im-nd om the ot a Aagan lack ofpec for e diorse e wor and the oering ohe oeMo rsons for no esponding

3. rom tee wo agmens we can glimpse tha a cetan10pon aest o his poieness wihout uls of which wespoke above and nlly o rspc fo ohers ha is o say, also toan exigeny of esponsiiliy will pehaps e said that tisonesponse is the es esponse ta t is stll a response and asignof esponsiliy Peaps Le s wait and see n any ce, onetink of at pide ha sefsasction ta elementay condence which it wold tae o answe when a good edcaion


19/85


20/85

Passiom

smply accodng o a rule, n confomty to duty no even out ofd. sll less "ou of polens. Nohng would be more mmoraland moe mpole.

Cetainly nothng would be wose than substung fo an

nadequate response, but one sll giving evidence of a sincee,modest nte, gned eot an inteminable discouse Such adscouse woud petend povde, insead of a ponse o anonesponse a pefomatve {moe o les peran lierly;pefoming, also dynamic, eectve} and moe o less metalngusc) fo l these questons nonuesons or nonesponses Such anopeation would be open o the most justied criques t wouldoe ts body, t would suende, as f n sacice, the mosvulneable body o he mos us blows Because it would suefom a ubflue, would combne wo appeny coadicoy ult: st, he clam to masey o o an oveew [survol] (be

it metlnguisc, metalogcal, mea-metaphysal, ec) and seond the becomingwork of at (ley pefomane o pefomative ction, work) the aestheczng play of a dscouse fomwhch one expects a seious, houghtl, o phlosophcl esponse

I I

So, what ae we o do? t is mpossble to rpond hee I simposble to espond to this qution abou the esponse simpossble to espond to the question by which we pecsely kouselves whehe s neessay to respond o no to espondwhehe s necessay possible o mpossble Ths apoia wthoutend paalyzes us because bnds us doubly ( must and I need not mus no s necessy d mpossble ec) n one and the sameplace, on the same appaaus I have my hands ted o naileddown Wha ae we o do? Bu lso how s t tha t does not peveus fom speng, fom conung o descbe the situaton fomyng mke oneself undestood? Wa is th tue of thslaguage snce aleady no longe beongs, no onge belogssmly, ethe o he queson o o he esponse whose lmts we

Passom

have JUt veed nd e connuing o ve? Of what does svecaon consst when nothng happens whou some sacce?Wll one call ths a ttmony [tnonag aso [he ac of beaingwines Ed] in a sense ta nethe the ma the attestationno e esament would ehaus? Ad s with evey esimony,

povdng that it neve be educble, pecisely, to vecaon, opoof o to demonstaon n a word o knowledge?

Among othe hings, o etun to he sat of the sene, we ndha he analys, e one r whom we have given he name, cn nolonger dcibe o obec he progmmed deelopmen of aual, sill ess of a saccal oeing No one waed to pay theole of the sacriceable o of the sacrr, al the agts (pet,vctms patcpanrs spectators, readers) no only to at, buteven if they waed o ke the pescbed geues hey wouldnd hemselves bought to a halt when ced with these contadctoy odes And it is no only a religious socialy whose deny s

hus menaced is a philosophical socialy nsofa as pesuppos he ode (prefeably circular) of the apeal o he callapp-] of he quson and te esponse Some wll say hahs s e vey pncple of the ommunity whh sees tself husexposed dsupton Othes will say tha the hea of dsupontheaens nothng tha it ha way been e insitutng o consuve ogn of elgiou o phiosophicl tes, of he social bondn genel: he communiy liv and feeds on this uneaby andso shoud If he analyst n ct discovs lmi to hs wok ofscentc obctication tha is qute normal he s a picpant ina pocs which he would like nlye, he can vitully play allhe ol in it (hat is to say also mme the) his limit nshposively the condition of hs nellgence, of hs eadng, of hisnepetations u what would be he condon of this condtonhe ct hat e Cta Ra Englsh n oginar is aio and endlessly exposed a a ag nglsh nognalT]

Wa could esape his saccal veaon ad so secue thevey space of th v dcou D? No queson, noponse, no esponsbl e u say ha thee s a secet hee Let


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24 Pain

u tet: " i mhing st [I y du t. We wi eavethe mate hee fo tday, but O wthou a execise on theeence ad extence of suh a seet an (xr that w ha anapophat sp1 The apophatc not hee necessaiy depedent on negae eology, en t makes t pssb, oo Ad

wha we are aemptng put to th tet s possbiy n tuthhe impossy for y tmoy to gantee sef by psg iselsn4! n the foowng fom and gammar: "t sest {hat "

W tt [mignl to a ecet hat is without cotentwthout a conten eparable om s peformat xpeenc fomt pomate tacng We h not say fom pefomaenci/in o om ppiina aumntatin;and we keep n a numbr of qustions about peformat n gna)

Let u ay thfo; hmthingsrt UyadwJ. I

woud not be a ma of an atstc o echnca Scret srd foromn-o o ser uch s tl , th gnatu o rato th mk of a gnu the know how that thought communab untnmittabl utachab imab twoud o ev be a matt o that pyhoph sr h hddn in th dpth o th human ou o whh Kt sp iconio with th tancnde hmatism, d of th imginaton in rbn Kunt in q mnshhn 5k

Th smthings I wod no be a uston of a re a aepesenaton dimulaed by a onscous ubjt no moroof the cotnt of an ucoscious epesentaton ome rt omyteou mot that [h moast2 o the psychoanays mghhae th k to dt, o, as thy ay, to demyt Th etwod not be of th ode of absoute ubjtiy in th athunothodox ene wh espect to a htoy o mtaphyc thategaad gae to nand t a that ets the oncept outate th tem epy the Hegean diaectc Th sectwoud ot beong to any of the tage aethec thica egou

Pns

a o b that Keegaad dtiguhe t woud be the aceno pofe

Thrmthingl But o a account o what w ha JUStsuggesd th beg of th Set beon o mo o the

pae ha to publ It ot a deped nteoiy that owoud hae confess, aounce hat i to which onwoud hae to espond by accountng fo ad thematng t nboad dygt Wo would e detemie the prope e o ahematzton so as to udge it nay ad=uate? And s the anywore oece that whch cnsst n clng for the spondmandng that oe an acunt feythg and pefeablythmatica? ue th ecret s not phenomenaabe. Neithephenomena no noumena o moe ha egion can phosophy moty poit or he aw accp th ucodtio pectof th cret. hese authos ae constutd authotie who

may popey fo au that is, respone, fom thoe withacepted epoblt. No doubt the alow omtm thathee a condo re he se of onfeon the posonal et, he mta ecet the manucurng cre the atsece But ght Ss n al thee a codiol rgh.BecaS he cre be shared thre and mited by enconditon h ect becom mply apbkm t and mustbe mad ow ud oher rumtc. Eeywhee at aspn ad a repoblity re ued e rgt o a Sbecomes ondoa The are o e oy poblm o thknowleges which i hi epect nlud ot only phlosphycence d hno but ao ego, mo polt andthe aw

Th is smthigSw [I ya StJ It onces the thatnto whch a eeed egon initiats us or that whch t namey a mytey of passon no a eaned gnoance n aChtan boherhood pactcng a knd of negate theoog nohe conten of an esotec docne fo eampe n a Pythagoan


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Plaonc, or neoatonc communy). In any i co educed to h bcaue i me them possble The ece s nomysicl

Th i mehig cr B dos no concel iself Heero

geneos o he hdde o he obcure to he nocunal t hevsble o what n dimated ad deed to wha snomafs in generl it cannot uveed It emans volableeven whe one thin oe ha vld i Not tha hid effoeve in a ndcpheabe cy or hd an absoue vel smply exceeds he play of veng/unveig, dissmulaon/eelaon igh/day, forgettig/namnis eah/heaven ec denot beog therefoe ro he uh neher to he ruh s oradequaion, norr he th s memor (Mnemosyne ah) not he gven ruh, no ro the promed tuh nor o the inaccesbleh Is nonpheomeiy s who eaion en negative

elaon o phenomealiy I reeve is o loge of the ntmayhat oe ik sce of he vey close or very pope whihsu in o nspir [pio ipil so much pofound discou(he Gor ven iche he nhautbe Uhimh

etnly oe coud speak hs sece n other nm wheheroe nds them or ve hem r i Moreove hs happens a eveynsan remans secre nde ll name and i s iedcbilyo he very ame whh maks i secre, even when one ma hh i is nme i vil so jl as Augusne pu sooiginly The secet is hat one here cls t sece pting t foronce n relaion o al he sres whch br he sme name bucao be edud o The sere wod aso be homoymy noso much a hdden ouce of homonymy but he nconalpossbil of homoymy or of mim.

Th omhigs One c always speak abou ha sno nogh o dsrupt t Oe ca spe of ad nium ellsois' about utt all he dcouss which t puts ro wok andhe sorie whch uneashe o echans because he ece oenmake one thnk of hese sece hsoes and i e ge one a

Pio 27

tse fohem And he secet wll man sece me mpassive ashe hra a foregn evey hioy a much n the sense ofGhi/o g s of kowledge and of hsoical naraeim h'a m gm) and outsde all peiodzatoall epochalaon l emains slen, no ro keep a wod n eeve o

wthdawn [ ai}, bu bease remans foreign o sph Ipaol whou our ee ing abe to say n hat distigushedsyagm: "the sece is hat n spch whch is foreig to seech Is o moe spech han foegn o sph I do o anwe tospeech de ot ay I he sece, t doe no corspond dono anwe [onl: eiher for ef o o anyone el beforanyoe o athng whasoever Absoue oespose whch onecould no ve cll o accoun o fo somehng on accoun acompJ gran ndemnes, excuses or "dsounts-so many usalways o draw nto a p pc ha s phlosophicaleh polial judical ec The sece gves se o no prcp. 1t may app o gve re one idd t alW2Y do soi may lend ielft t b i ever srenders o he ehs of hedscuion may alw o pec i accodng o me i ow epet even f hs seems dcl or coadctoy becau hesecet is inrcble [iaibk] bU i wl ve educ t Moeove, no dscusson woud ethe begn or coinue wiho i Andwhethe one respes o no he ere remans here impssvelya a disce, ou of reach n hs one anno nor espect t,whehe one lkes or no, wheher one ows t or o

hee hee s o onge me nor pace

A condence o ed wth today Pehaps al W2ned o do ws oconde or conrm my tae probably uncodoal) for ierure more precsely for lera wtng No ha I lke leaure ngener, nor ha prefe o somehng else o phlosophy foexample as hy suppose who ulmaely discern neher one nohe ohe No ha wan o educe eeyhng o , especally nophlosophy Leaue I could, fdely do who, n Caher esly If had o ere to an islad t would be paiclaly


23/85

o

hsory books. memois, tha ( would doublss ake wh me adh would ad i my ow way, pehps to make lteaue ou ofhem us t would be te her wy ud ad ths would bue for ohe oos an, philosophy igo huma o uascecs, lw, ec) But f. wthou lkg lierae geera ad

for is ow sae lke somehg bo whch above l caobe educed o some asec qualy. to sme source of formaplesue (onj hs woud be ;p oftI place of absoue secre Thee woud be he passo here s o passiowhou sece hs very secre, deed o sere whou hspasso np ofh : here where erheess everyhg issd ad whee wh ems s ohg-b he remade oeve of leaue

I hve ofe foud myself ssig o he ecessy of dsgushg bewee leraue ad bellesleres or poe erures a mode veto scrbed i coveos ad stuoswhich to hold o o jus hs ra, secure pcple s Tght tOSt Leaure thus e s dey o a certa ocesue0 the spce of democrac freedom feedom of the pr fedomof speech ec No democcy whout eaue; o eaturewhout democay Oe c ways wat eher oe o heohe d hee is o shoge of dog who hem uder alregms i s qute pole to cosde eiher of hem o beucodoa goods d dspesale ghts u o caoe dssocate oe from he oher No aalysis would e qual to Ad each me h lteary work is cesured democay s

dager, as everoe agre The posbly of leraure he egmao th sociey gves , he allyg of suspcio o erorwh egd o all tha goes ogehe-polcally-wh heulmed rgh o ask ay quso, suspeC ll dogmsm olYe every presupposo, eve hose of he ehcs o he polcof resposbly

B hs uhor7o o sy everyhg prdoxclly mkes hehor hor who s resposble o yoe eve ohmself fo whae he pesos o he chcters of hs workshus of wh he s supposed o hve wre hmself, say d do fo

Po

example Ad hese "voces seak low o mae to comee eatur wiho pesos ad whout chaces hs uhoro o say evehg whch gos ogehewith demry ashe appae hyeHsposilt of "sujec acowedg argh o absole orespose JUS where thee a e o quso

of rspodg, of eg able to or hvg o rd hs orepose is mor ogl d moe cre tha the modas ofpowe ad duy bcause s fudmetly heergeeous [0hem We d here a hyperbolc codo of democa whcheems o coadc cet deermied d hstoicaly lmdocep of such democacy cocep whch l i o theocep of a subec ha s calcube, ccoutble mpualed resposble subec hvgrespod "pn]vgoell [ ] he uh hvg o esi ccordgo he wor wod the whole ruh ohg bu he tuhbefore he lw [ o hvg o reveal he sre, wh he

ecepo of ce suos h a deermle ad rgulaedby lw cofeo he pofessioal seces of he doco hepsycoyst or he wye sces of atioal defece or statesece geeral maucug cres, ec his cotadcoalso dc e ak ak of hough aso heoetcopacicalak for y democacy to come

hee s erture, he p se of lieaue chce of syg verthg whout ouchg upo he eWe a hypohs pemtd goudlss ad ad um,abou the meag of o the al ieos of a auhor,

whose peso s o moe epeseted th orepsed by chacer or by a ror14 by a poec o coa seece whchdeachs self from ts pesumed souce d hus remas oky [ UTt whe hee s o loger e y sese makgecsos abou some sre behd he surce of a eual maesao ad s hs suo whch I would cll e o cewe s he cal pp1] of hs secre howeve, whch pos back he ohe o to somehg else whe is hs self whch keepsr passo aroused. d holds us o he oher he he secrempassos us Eve f he s oe eve f does o eX,


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J Passiom

hidden behind anything whatever. Even if the ecet no ecet,even f thee ha neve been a ecrt a inge rt. Not one

Can one eve nih wth obquene? The ecet if tee ones not hidden at the corne of an ange it doe not ay itef open toa doube view o to a quintng gaz It cannot be een quite

mpy o more than a word oon a there 3r word-and thin be ad of the trace in genera and of the chance that t idet ntuton no onge ha any chance One cn ejct, a wehave done the wod "obque; on cannot deny the detinerandirecton [indicron innu; eDerda' h Post d:F F and Bn tran AJan Ba (higo:Univeity of hicago Pr 1987)-r1 a oon a there i a taceO f you pefer one can ony deny t

One can top and examne aai a ecret make t aything make out that [nn coi there i omething therewhen ee i not One n e cheat uce by makng of itOne a pay wth the ecet a wth a muacum t a u oryet aothe trate One an cte it a an mpgnabe ouceOne a ty n t way to cue for onf a phanamatic powerove oe hat hapn every day ut thi vey muacum ti witne to a pobiiy which ecd it t do not ceed itin the drection of ome da communty rathe towrd a otudewithout any meaure common o that of an oated ubect a opim of the owhoe phere of beongng (Eigickit) woudgve ie {/ij to ome anaogi appentation of the ater egoand to ome genei conttutve of nterubectiviy (Hue), o

wth that ofinigkit Dinwhoe otude Hedgge teu t a modaiy of Miin. Soitude the other name of eecret to which the imuacum ti bar wtn i neiter ofconcioun no of the ubect nor ofain n[ ven of Dnn it authentc beingabe whoe tetimony o attestaton (B-gng) eidegge ane {c Bhlg nd T, pa 5 tme them pobe but what it make pobe doe not put anend to the eet he ect nver aow itef be cptured orcoveed ove by the eaton to the other by bengwit o by anyfom of ocia bond ven if t mae them poibe t doe not

Passion J '

anwe to them t i what do not a o ngh n oigina ha we c th death? Death deat?Death deing? I ee no eaon not to c that ife, itence traceAnd it i not the contary

onequenty if the imuacrum ti bear witne to a po

ibiiy which eceed t th ecng eman it i) emainder and t eman uch [if 't e i e rt ven f onepeciey cannot her trut any denite wtn nor ven anyguarteed vue to beaing witn or to put t anothe way a thenae uet to the hito of any 1 For onewi neve reconce the vaue of a ttmonywilthat of kowdgeor of cetanyt i impoibe and t ought not be done One wineveeduce the one to the othet impobe and it ought notbe done

hat emain aordng to me he aboute oitude of a paion

with mardom

RANA DAV WD


25/85

SA NOM


26/85

TE: The rst veson of this text w publshed n Englshunde the ttle scpt (subtie:Ap Waand Vo n avoume dvoed o negatve heology (Harold Cowad and oby

Foshay, eds. D and Nga Tho [Alany Sate Unversit ofNew York Press 992]) I ha been nvted to espon n theform of a concusion to the papers delvered at a confeence havngthe sme e a the volume ogaz under the auspces of theCalgay nste fo the Humants n Canada and under thedirection of Harold Coward I was nOt able to aen his colloquium hs ctve dalogue w wrten, therefore fter readng hepapers emselves gatheed n the volume mentioned above woud like o thank agan the ahors Toby oshay Michel Despland Mak C aylor Haold Cowd Davd Loy and Morny JoyIn ode to reconsitute a contet the editos of hat volume epublshed n Englsh tanslations wo essays that I had aladybrought out elswhee Dun on apcaptq adop! phph(is Glle 3 "f a Apoalyptic Tone RecentlyAdopted n hlosophy, trans ohn P eavey J Th xde Revew 6 2 (94; and Comment ne pas parler negaions n Pch nveno de /(Pais Galle 7), ow toAvoid peakng Denils tans Ken reden n anfod Budickad Wolfgag Iser, ds, Lagag ofhe a The P ofNega Leraure ad heo ew ok Columbianivesity Press 9 pp 3-70.

Safl (Post-Scrptu)

-Sorry ut moe than one it is always ncssry to be moe

han one in order to speak severa voices ae necssy fo ha

-Yes granted and pa ecelence let us say empaiy, whenit's a matte of God

Sll moe f ths s possible, when one clams spek aboGo accordng to what hy call apophsis [pophe in otherwords accordng to he vocels voice [ vo 1he] the way oftheolog called o socled ngative Ths voce mulple itselfvidng wthn tself t says one thing and ts contrary, Go that is

without beng o God that (is) eyon being The apphs s aeclartion an planaton a esponse that, tkng on the subjectof God a negative o nterogatve form for tha s also whatmeans), at tmes so resembles a pofesson of ahesm s tobe stken or it ll the more because he moaliy ofapophespte is negative or inerogave value oen recls that of theenence, verdct o decision of the amen [n nglsh n theognal-d] I woud lke speak to you don't hstate toiteupt me of this mutipliciy of voices of ths uite ntial butteminable s well end of monologsm-and of what follows

J 5


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ufk om

-Lke a cetain mytcsm, apophatc dsouse has alwas beensuspected of athesm. Nothng seems at once more merited andmore nsgnicant mor dsplaced more blind than such a tra[procesj. Leibnz hmsef was nclned to his Hedgger recallswhat he said of Angelus Sus: "With every mysc there ar some

places ha are extraodnarly bold full of dcult meaphors andnclnng almost to Godlessness, Jt s I have n in [he Germanpoems of a certan Angelus Slesus poems beautl esd'

Inclinng, u no gong beyond nclne or nclnaon, not evenor almost jh z Gotlsigil hiigd) and the obqueslope [pchaJ of ths iam dos not sem sepaale fom acertan boldness oflanguage (Uj from a poetc or metaphorctongue

And beautful bedes don't foget, ein notes ths as f twee a mae of an addition or an accessory (jm bg sh

diht) but I wonde f sn't a mae hee beut orsubimy of n esnal t of negave theolog for heexample of Agelus Siesus . . .

Le' eave hs queston asde for the momen: dos the aof Angelus Slsus ohannes Schee) beong Q he aditionof negative theology n he strct sense or no? Can one spea hereof a strc sese? You couldnt deny thn tha Angelus Silesuseeps an evden knshp wth apophatc theology Hs exmplesgnes fo , at ths moment only ths nt bveen theahesm spected y ebn nd a ceran apophatc bodnssThs apophatc boldness lways consss n gong further than seasonay permtted hat s one of he esentl rat of anegatve theology: pssing to the lmt hen cossng a fonter,ncludng that of a communy thus of a sociopolitcal, nsttutiona eccesal reason or rason dre

If on the one hand apophs inclnes almost Oward athesm,cant one say that on he other hand or theeby the exteme andmost conseque foms of decared atheism wl have always tested [boil1 t the most inense dee of od snt tha fom

f om 7

then on a progam or a mati A picl and dentale ecrrence?

Yes and no. There s one apophass ha can n eec respondto correspond to, correspond wih the most nsatiale d" o

o according to the hsory and the even of ts manifestaion orthe secret of ts nonmanftaton he oher apophass the oheoce can emain ready foegn o all dese n any o eveyahropotheomophc form of desire

ut sn't t poper desre to cary wth own propersuspenson he death o he phantom of desre? o go toward hebsolute other, sn that the extreme tenson of a desre that trestereby to renounce s own proper momenum s own moveme of appropraton?

o tes you wee sayng to test to the de ofod hephrae is no only equvoc, of an equvoci entl sgnngdecsve n ve undecdabty, to wt, the equvoct ha hedoule genve marks obectve and subetve ven efoethe gammatil or onoogcl upsuge of a suect o an obecin other wods he equvocy of the orgn nd of the end ofsuch adesire dos t come fom od n us, from God for us, from us forod? And we do no determne o b ths desre as nolaton to self n be sure of precedng t wt of pecedng araton to the ohe even wee ths to be through mourning, alleecon s caught in he genealogy of hs gentve I undestandby that a reecon on self an auobogaphc eecton, forexampe as wel a eRecton on [he dea or on he name of GodB your phae s otherwse equvol: when t names moYFor f athesm le aphophatc theology testes to the desire ofod f t aows cofesses or indirectly signes as n a symptomhe desre of od, n he presence of whom does t do this1 hoeaks to whom? Le us stay a little whle wth ths question andegn know what a discourse of negave theolo s w tsdetermned tais and s own proper nclnaton o whom s thsdiscourse addsed Who s addresee? D exst befoe ths


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Sufk nom

follows the cnvesion. It remains the tace of a pesent momenr ofthe confession that would have no sense without such a conversionwout this adds to the bothe readers: as if the act of confession and of conversion having a/rataken place beteen Godand him, being a it were witten (it is an actin the sense of archive

or memory), it wa necesay to add a post-m-the Confion, nothing lessaddessed brothe Q those who aecled ecognize themselvs as the sons of God and brheamong hemselve Friendship here has to be intepreted a chaiyand as fteniy Bt the addess to God ielf already mplie thepoibility and the necessity of this po-scriptum that is originarilyessentia t it rs irreducibiliy is interpreted nally bt we won'telaboate on that hee in accord with the Augustinian thought ofreveation, memoy and time

Woud you say that everypost-iptmnecessarily lets itselfbe

interpeted in the same horizon? And that it has the same stucture?

No, not without numeus pecautions But can a poscpm e b inr in the sense of hermeneutic eading as wellas of musical performance, fo example without composing at leastindiectly with the Augustinian cnsion or scoe (pion? Ananalogous question could be posed for all that we in the West calautobiogrphy, whatve the singulariy of i "hee and now

-Do yo mean that evey here and now of a Wetern aubiography is aleady in memory of the Conions' here and now

-Yes but the onion themselves wee aleady in their wildest resent in thei date in heir pace an act of memoy Let usleave Agstine hee although he always haunts certain landscapsof apophatic myticism (Meister Eckhat cits him oen; he oencites the "without ofSainr Augustine, that quinegative pedication of rhe singular withot concept for exampe God is wisewitho wisdom good withot goodness poweful ithou powe) In his place of retreat you invited me to in this rown of

f I 0m 4'

milial eile where your mothe ha nor nished dying, on hesore of the Mediterranean wa abe to carry with me for theseOweek only etracts from the hrubii ofAngelusilesiu and the manuscits of this volume here Al the time I amwondering if this wok of Siesis indeed com unde negative

heology Are there sure criteia avlable to decide he belongng,vitua or actual, of a dscourse negative heology? Negativetheolo is nor a gene rst of al becuse it is not an a a literayat, even i as Leibni jstly reaked ofSiesius, it is a matter therealso of German oems poems beautil bsides ofdcult metaphors s there to take up agan an xpression ofMak Taylors, a classic negative theology? One c doubt thisand surely we shall have to retun to this grave and limitlessquestion If the consequent nfolding of so many discouses (ogical ontologica thelogica or not) inevitaby lead to conclusons whose fom o content is simila to negative thlogy, whee

ae the clsic fie of negative thlogy? The ct emainsthat the nale the concusion &chlu) of this book, and thisleads us back to the question of he addessee is a ltimateaddre t says something of the end of discouse itself and is anaddress to the fiend the extemity of the envoi the hail o thefaewell \Ivoi du a l ldij:

Frd ! auh gng. Jm u meh wl lee,So g un wd selst die chi un sls as Wsen

rin s nog; fo wis t r yno an cm orslf he wt a ysef essec

(6 6

he friend who is male rather [han female is asked, recommended, enoined,pcribed render himself by eading, beyondreading: beyond at let [he legibiiy of what is cuenrly readabebeyond he nal signaureand for [hat reason write ot toite this o that that lls outside his writing as a nte a no boapo-scm letting writing in its turn fall behind the witten


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ufk nom

bUI fo he friend himslf to ecome he wren o Wrng oecome he sen hat writng wl have trt. (No) moe placestarng from ere yond bu noing moe is tod us yondfoaos-srum Theossumwil e the deb o he duy w have o it shoud e rorb nto a writng that woud

nohng ohe tan the sn tat woud b nothng othe hanhe beingfend or e coming-end of he other The friendwil ony bcome what he s o wt he fend he wi ony havebome the frend a the moment when he wl have read hatwhch is to say when he w have ead beyondto w when hewl have gone, and one goes ter yond o gve onsef up onyby becomng wring roug wng The bomng Wn),he bcomng-fend the beomingwrtng and he senceWs woud be he se here

Ceranly u tis ssence (s) hat n wanng o rad

moe, the fend would ecome n wring n wng tsef nscrptng slf { srvnl srturn this sen wl havebn nothng befor ths becomng, ha s, before hs wrtngpcri to the frend-rader h essn s born from nohngand ends owad nothng For aer ddn' Sisus say

By what gh ae t aphorisms tse sententous agment or th otc Rshe nked togeter, as f thy fomed theconinuous iue of a syogsm? he n Bhu is not heconcuon of a demonsaion, bt he we of an envo Eachsakng k s independen I yyou cannot ogcalyconnt them n ay mne wthou posing hs poem of logc,form, heoric or pot You canno ta ths peregrnaon ofwrtng as a treatise ofphiosophy or theoo no even a sermonor a hymn

Cerany but n what remans the same book one aso read:

Nch w GNi wr was vr sr wiru ni vo U n, wrsu mmermer eo om ewen Lch

ufk nom

TMcm hg cm G bms wa isfre: f d n me nhNer w r eerna

; 1)0

43

How is ts bomngo be thought? a once bh and

change formation and ansfomation This comng to beingstatng from noing and nohng, a Go n Nohng, s theothng sl is bh that cs !whou pemise isbecomingsef s ecomng-Godor othnghat s wha ap impossbe moe than mpossbe he

mos mpossble ss

be more impossie than he imposse f he mpobe hesmpe ngatve mod of the possbe

hs thougt sms srangey fama to the experence ofwhat s caed deconsucion a from beng a mehodcal technque a possible or necessay procedure unong he law of aprogr and applyng les that s unfodng possibits deconstrcton has oen n dend the vey perience of thempossbe possi of he imposse of the mot mpossea condtion at deconsucion sha wh he gi6 he "ys tecome dson mony the sre, ec Ad rhaps dt

The ecomngnothng as ecomngself o as bomngGod he becoming the engendeng ofhe thr S the oer hat s what acording o Angels Ses possble but moe impossbe sl han the impossbe Ths

mo, ts yond ths r obviousy introduc anabsolute heteogeney n he order and n the moday of theposse The possbty of the mossible, of the moe possibe [ha as such s aso possble more mpossible than the mssbe marks an absoute nterupton n he rgme of the pobeat nonetheess emans f [hs can be sad n pace Whenesus wrts

bmgfchJ mchD kas m enm Pfel e Se rren,I ka m menm wl we esen


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44 ufk o

T ipo ibWith your ow you cnno rch the n,With mi: I sp ndr my the etern sn.

(6 I

The b of ugh oeove n sign jS s wel

"ost o ore than: the ost possble C o hnpoibe.

lsewhere:

Ge hn wo d nlc kan hd ss nchHOT wo nicS shlt nd ng! so sU wo GO

spricL

Go whr not s whee yo do no s;Har we nohng rings or sonds so r yo whee

God spes(I: [99)

-he posibil of the iposble of the "ost poble ofthe or poble than the os possble that eals ness tannone, what Heidegger a of death: "de Mgihkct dershehthnngen Daeinnglihet ("the posibt of theabol possbiy of Dasen)7 What s, for DI, for pobiy p and spl possble what s possble anddeath its nae wonde f [hat s a aer of a pr folanalog Wha f negave heolo wr spang at botto of heortal ofDn?Ad of s heage? Ofwha is wten aer t

aoding to [dpJ ? We shl no dobt oe bak to ths.

All the apophat ystis an so be ead as powerfl dsoses on death n the possble possbly of the poperdeath of bengthee that sp and that speas of what areaway ntepts denes o nnh ts speaing as well as tswn DI. Bwn the exstental anay of bingtodeath orbengfodeath n &g d , n the rears of Heideggeon the theoogal the heologc n above al on a theolo n

uf/ o 45

whh the wod "beng' wold not even app


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fk o

very poi I wil be necsay o once moe a ruepost-cpt

Wha you sed abo you sad o me, ws to esito a gade whose ng wo o e whot eato to

wha s ale hee negave heolo ad tha n s r wod oisk ot too h beog igrae, an nveron ha les inwa to heaten al apophac moveens Ad hen no ob yohave more aiy at he oe a iae any given ocvaed wih parcar ptcipas, wh pacar scoresheld here

Wha's he se of denying i? B aso whas he use ofrearing o ndenng i These shared poions pag'],hese comon ncnatios, or hese cossed pahs appea fo heeadg of or especve exs, n paicuar hose hat are pb

ishe ght here. And if hav O ye ever me he ohe paicpants of te coloqui, s so re ha y frendshp an myadaon y graefuness o Mk ayo are not sepaable frmhs hogh o his wrgsicg the tex whch he s publshg n he proceein of t coloqiu

Neheless wou lke o spek of anoher conity (awo eve mch ke of s conoato of paricipao indeed so, dencaion: s s any threats asproms) of aohe bngtgethe tha s one hee of anohegatheing-ogethe of sngaries, of aohe fendship eehogh tha fendshp no ob owes he ssena to beig- orgahering-ogether I an he frendshp ha peits such aeeing and ha vey polyogue hough which are wite anread hose forwho negaive heoogy" throgh he eniga of snae an s ogn ack of eanng, sl sgnies smehg andpshes hem o address one anoher th ae th aea thi tt

How, today can one speakha s, spek ogeher addess soeone eon he sbjec of and n he nae ofnegaive heoogy?

fe 10m 47

Howca tha ake paceoday oday sl solong erhe agaopengsof he via at? s egave theolo a topc" Englhin orignaEd] How wo wha stil coms to us nde hedomestc Eurean Geek and Chrstan e of egatve heoo of egatve way of aophac dicose, be he chance of an

ncoparabe ansatabiiy in principe whou li No of aniversal onge of a ecens or of soe cnsensus b of aDnge o come hat can be share ore la eer? e shodwoner wha signies in his reg he fredship of he fend fone withdraws it ie egative heolgy isef, fo al its donadeeiaons in he Greek o Chrisian wod fro he fraternfraernalis an phaoceic schea ofphiaor charity as we asfo a cerai arresed for of eocray

Fendshp and raslao, hen, and he peree of ansao s fendshp, hat s wha yo see o wsh we were sang

abo t s e hat one agns wh cy a trasato, nhe curen sen of he er, whee is copeen or nowho some phiki, wto some love or enship wihousoe ovene" [aa] as yo wou say bone pote towadhe hng e , o he ote o e ransae Even hate cshpen e vglce of a taslaor ad oate a deysingntepetao, is hate stil n nense for of ese,nte ndeed sao

hoe ae peiencs of ansato ss o me, at aep this Coloqum, and alos al he auhors even gve ts t

be remared Le it be sa n passing a ransaio (he nonorgna vesion of a texa eve tha wl have precede so shaha curios sas of he po-ct abo which we ae gongand cces

n which raher we dscuss [o batto, we Rondero 10 batto How does negative heoogy ways rn ers of resebng an eecse of tansaon An eercse and


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uf om

nohing bu? Ad n exercise in he form of a ot-ctum? Howwould hs risk so give i a chance?

-Le'S start agn from his prposion, f you lie: "Wa isclled negaive heology, in an idiom of GrecoLain liaion, s a

languge gg

-Only a lnguage? More or less hn a language? Isn alsowha quesions and cas supicon on he vey essence or possibiliy of lnguage Isnt wha, in essence eds language, soha [he esence of negaive heolo would cay itself outside ofanguage?

Doubless, bu wha is led negave heology in n idiomof Grcoin liation, is a language, at least, ha says in onemode or another, wha we have J speied abou laguage, hat

is abou sel How doe one lap ou of his circle

-Consequenly, o beleve you an admissible dug coneaion nak of [his proposition of he type s P (wha sclle . s a language etc could no ke he form of areion could n consis in giving a criique of is fsenessbu in suspeing its vagueness, empiness or obscurity in accusing of no beng able o deermine eiher he subjec o he abueof hat dgmen ofn even proving hs lerne ignornce in hesense ennobled by Nicola ofCusa or cerain suppoe of negaiveheology. The poposiion (Wha is clled negaive eolo

is a lnguage has no rigorously deerminable eferen neiher nis subect nor n its aribue we ust said b n even in iscopula For happens ha, however lie is kown of he sadnegative theolo. .

-You avow hen ha wedo indeed ow somehng abou i, wedon' spea of n he void, we come Ifurhis nowlge, howeverminml nd pearious We preundesnd

ufk om 4 9

he preundersanding hen would be the from whch weshould ind sar in relaion o which we would be pacedaerot-o6]We come rth ctaps e fai] nd he dscursivepossbilii of he v gvare doublexhaused, ha s wharemans for u t hin Beside, they wl be ey qucly ex

has; hy will aways consist in an inimae and immediaeehauon hauo of hemseve, ifhey could no have anyhsoy Tha is why he sghtness of e eferen corpu (here hChc Wanr for emple or e rection of eamphould no be a serous problem We e in absolue eemplay asin he aridiy of he deer for he esenial endency s o rmzing rarecion mpoverishmen is de rgeur

-hese dscursive possibilie ae ehaused form possibliies, no doub nd ifwe fomalize t he reme the pocdues ofhis theology Which seems faible and temping hen noing

remains for you, no ven a name or a referene ou c spe ofehason [dpu only in e perspive of hs compleeformlizon nd in posng exrinsi o tis formal or concepul ompleenes ose dicul meaphors nclinng lmost odlessnes, hat poeic beauy , which Leibniz spaabout concrning Angeus ilesius Thus you woud oppose oneform o e oher, ha of onologcl formlsm to tha of poecs,and would remn psoner of a problematic opposion beeenfom and coen u this so radiionl disuncion bewenconcp and meaphor beween loc rheorc, and poec, beeen sense and language isn' it a philosophica preudgmen noonly ha one can or mu deconsruct, bu hat, in its vey possbiliy he even named negave heoo will have poweUlycoribued o calling io queon?

-I only waned o ral ha we peunderood ndherefore ha we wrie preundersanding negave heology asa critique (for he momen l's no say a deconsrucon of heproposiion, of he verb

,,4n he hrd peron indicaie and of


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Sau nm

eeything that, in the deteminaton of the essence, depends onIhis mood, this time and ths peson: brieRy a ctique ofoology.of thogy, and of anguage To say "Wha s caled 'negativetheoo n an idom of GecoLatn ation, s a nguage isthen to say ie amost nothng ehas ess thn nothng

-Negative theoogy means t say) vey tte amost nothing,ehaps somehng othe han something Whence ts nexhastibe hason

hat being the cae an one be 3hoed t speak of this appaenly eemenay um erhas ndetemnate obscue ooid and yet hady contestabe o wit ou eunderstandng ofwhat is caled ngatve heoo , etc What we ae dentng unde the wo wods, day isnt it rst of a a cous, onceoen and osed gen welodeed a set of statements [U

dn1 ecognzabe eithe by he my esembnce [Egish anthecal gos in the ogna-Ed] o bcause they comeunde a egula ogcodiscusive whose ecence lends iselftoa fomazon? hs formaation c become mechnia

he moe mechanzabe and ealy eoducibe siabeeosed fogey and countefeit since he statement of ngativetheoo emtes isef by denition, by ocation of a ntutiveentitude Kof dsus f a henomenologa ype of es foowed for dstnguishing beween a ntuton and an empyo symboic ntendng [ foget of the oiginay eceonsuong t then the aohatic statements a. mu b on theside of the emy and then of mechana indd uey veb,eetton of haes wihout aca o l ntenona meanngAohaic statements eeent what Hsse ident te moment of (fogettng of the and ogina intton, emynctonng of symboc laguage objectism, etc) But in rvealng the oginy nd na necessiy of ths css, n denouncngfom the anguage ofcss the snaes of ntuitve consciousness nd

$nm 5

of henomenology, hy dtabii the ey omatis of thehenomenologca whch s aso the ontologa and trscendenta ctiqu Emptines s esena and necessay o thm f theyguad against s, it is hugh the moment of ayr o the hymnBt ths otectiv momen remains stuctuay exteio to the

uely aohatc nstance that s, to naiJ hoo as such fthere is ny in ict sense whih c at tm be doubted Thevalue e aU4in of te ay of e ntensy, o of he forofeens of negatve eoo wod then esut fom s "ntha ticulates hivod [] on e nttude of a paye o anattibution (heoogia heoogia o ontologica negated[nie say denegaed he ceion s th masue of ain. and this eaon is stehed between wo pos one ofwhch mst be that of ostviy denegated

-Fm what doe this dobtabe mechaniciy esult, the c

y at the c be in miating o fabcating negatie theoogyo as wel a oey of the sme insation, of which we ndhave eamp)? om the c, beve, that the vey nctioningof hse statemen esides in a fomaaon This fomaizaonessentiy doe without, tends esentay to do wthot a conentand eey idiomatic sgnie evey resenation o eeentaton,mages d ven nmes of God, fo ame, n his tongue o hatcue n be negate thoogy ets isefbe aoached (eundestood as a corus rgey rchived wth propositions whoseogica modaliti, gammr exion, and vey sematics are aeady accssble to at est for what s deteminabe n them

-Whence the ossibiy of a canonizing monumentaizaton ofwos that obeyng aws seem doce to the noms of a gene andan These wok eeat taditions; they pesent themsees aiteabe, nuena o nenceabe, obects of ansfe of ceditand of disciine o thee ae mastes and disces thee ecaDonysus and Timothy Thee a eecss and fomaions theeae schoos n the Chstan myti adion as we as n an


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Sf

omotheologial or eonologial (o Geek) tdton, in exotec o esoec fos.

-urainly and he s ady a dscple owe inspr, teone who wote tat not only Go bt the d sp knowl

edge that te singlay of the nnown God overows tene and te dvny twartng n tis anner the oppostonsof te natve and the postve ofng and notngness, of thngnd nonthng-ths tanscendng l [he theoogcl atttes:

nn OWa GO ist wB man niht Eist nicht Lict niht Gistiht Wnnikt nht Eins [Dra's vrsin iht

Whrt Eint Ens] nit was man Gttt histiht WBt nit Vrstan nict x Will GUKn Din n nin ach kin n kin GmUt ich n n kn Ctr

wir n sin E ni rhrT nnoW

Wh G is n nws nt He is nt lt nt spir,t digt n n [ ruth nty n] nt what

l int wm n intllct nt lv n tng, no n-tin thr n se, no oneHe is what I, o o an hr cU w cam what H is hav nvr cm t knw

Te folowing i s peisly addessed SaintAgstne s f to soeone close, a aste and a pedeesso that hecan acaly or respectly callenge "tOP yA'n: foeyo have penetrated God to the otto X, one wil ndthe ente sea n a sll pt Gbin 4 22.

Angels less had s own pecla genis t rdy hewas repeatng continng ipotng transpoting e wold

Sf 53

transfe o tanslate in l te senses ofths te becase heredy p-win hs her kept e ache, kept n eoy theteacing of Crisop Ke. e ad ead aer RysoeBoehe d aove lat.

-Wat we oght to st fo, f ndersad yo rigtly andtis wold te a prii of or a pst to wt of s pp we ae engged in) s this astonshng c t], thsal"ay ne dj ], s a n tot r] wle negating oecng al, whie poceeng to radcat eery preiate andclang to nhait the dert

-h deset s one of te eatil and dct etapos thatLeibnz was no dot spekng of, bt I a aso stck y iscenc n othe words, y te pial in that repodesthe etapho like a Ts

Mn no GO. Wl sl h nn nun n?Jch m n r GOt in in wUt zehn

O on G What shul m qUt hen mt n in a r fe.

7

gain

Ein

Di Eik is{ nt: ch nr nh min U all in in Wstn yn

lit is ns, t nl n (in) plic vrywhr i a dt

117

nd esewe t s a eston of desert ts in i wUen i: 184) Isn't the deset a paradoxc g of theapri? No p


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54 f nom

maked OUt [d osued pasage. no oute i ny cae, atthe vey most tis that a O eiabl ways th paths a ot yetclead 1 , nes e sad ha aeady ecoved hem Btis' he ucled way aso he codto of iiono n whchcosist in openg he way i ring rhu i gog bqnd

I (s)passing h apoia?

-Despt this det, [he, what we ca egativ theoo gowsand cuivate itself a a emoy a istittio, a hioy a dscipne I is a cul[, with achivs ad i adiio It accumlate e o a togue J That p s what thphas "What s ced gve heoogy in a iom o GecoLti ao. is a aguage wod suggest Howeve much oecas (o piy ust l ad e hat that poves thpobiiy of te memoy ept) ha egative heoogy "cosissthough it lam to depa fom al cosistecy i a anguage that

do ot estig e vey o anguage ad epalytho o poposionl, heoei o consave aguage

By hat gative theoo woud be not oy a nguage ad atestg of aguage but above a the ost hg he mosteactig the os itactabe peece o the "sece o aguage: a dcoue on anguage a moologue (n the heteoogica ss at Novais o Hede gv o wod whichagage and ongue spa fo hemves ad od [nj that rch rich Whece this poeic o ctoa dimesio, a i ioic, aways legoca, abou which some would

say that it is ony a om a appeaace, o a siuacum I isue that simutneously, ts id cionaiy teds to denouceiag ues idos hetoc iconocastic cio m hought.

-owve much one says the, ha byod the thoem adcostative desciptio the discouse of gative theoogy cossi exceedig ce ad agage by tetg t min.

f nom 5

What does eai mea hee? Is it a modiy of beig

I dont kow Pehaps is pisy, that s theoloy woudbe ong

o be othig woudt hat be is set o dla vowWha do you blie you ae hus theteig t wth? discusso st supposes that ths theoo is somethng (deemiabead ot othing nd wats o be o become omethg ahe hnnothig ow we m jt a omen ago too o cla thecontay

A qustio o eading o hig [j In ay gative heoogy wod be othing, vey smpy nothig, if this ecesso this supus (with egd o agage) dd nOt imp somema o some sgula evet of lnguage ad dd not ave some

ens on e boy o a onue

A cops i sum

ome ace emais ght this copus beco this copas r-vvnco apophass moe an life ad moe tha deathsuvivace o iea otoogicomatic autodctothee wil have bee absote eCion he dethave akenpace ohig wi have ae pae bt hs plac etaiy euknowabe God (D nndt 4: the igoed oecogzd God that we spoe about says ohig: of him thee

is othing said hat igh hold

-Save his ae fon nom; a, his nae]

-ave he ame tha ames ohig that ght hod ot e aiviity ; othig whose withdawa j doeso cay awy vey phas hat ties o meaue tsf against hmGod "is the ame o this booss coaps of this edles


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destiction of lagge. But me tac of this negative opetonis nscrib in and on and a e nt {what om, what er and whch s way snguar what nds n ths kenss the decsive condtion of ts cong o ts upsurgng) Th" [hisent whch eans even f ths renance s not ore substan

a, oe ssent han ths God oe onoogcay deternabethn ths nae of God of who it s said that he nas nohnghat is, neither ths nor that h is even sad of h that he is notwhat is n the sene ofNb He is not wha givs hs sbeyond gs !k Gb 4 30

-Don' foget that that s sd n the course of a paye Wat spayer? No on shoud not ak "What s praye praye ingenel t s ncessay Q attept [0 thnk prayer n ruth to test itout (to pray it, f one can say hat, and tansivey) throuh thisparticua paye ths singu prayer n whch o towad which

payer in gneal t Fo is ptcua praye k nothng, the whe king o t eyhng. t ask Go o vehelf ther han gs: Gebs dich ncht sebst so hnt gegeben; If you don gve youslf o e then you havegven nothng Whic nterpet gn te divnity of God a godesie of gvng Ad pe s ths ntepetaton the vey bodyofis nterpeaon n and on you sad, that ps, apparenysoe oo .

or soe M (boy withou body absent body buunque body and pace [ of eveythng, n he pace of eythng intev pac [, spacng). Woud you so say ofM, you wee just doing in a uu, save s nae [afon nomsafe i nae] Eveythng secret s payed ou hee o thsocaton dispaces and dsorganizes ou ORtoopoogc peudces, n partcua he objectve scence of space KM s overthee but ore "hee than any hee

-You wel know that n neay al s Gek, Christ OfJeish noks [l the v nti conugates rfnco

fk nom 7

God the naof God, with hprencof pla. Thdes isalso a gue of hpure plac. ut ation in gn esuts foths spatty fo hs oty of thwod okl

-, Angeus Slesius wres ths abou th wod Wot

that s to say about th dvne word s we, and so transattheUt spy by God:

WoD or nd's st Ens, un ieht c

(y Egr i)r neh as Wor.

Th p/u s ,ht T pla a h is o, an wr h ace oof al a ry! the woul not .

I 05

-Not obectiv no 3hy, hs pac coe unde no gogaphy, geo, or gophysc t s not tht in hih is found asubect or a obect It s found n whn h uivocncs of at onrecognzng t d geng rd of t

Oh StlbsindiNih u bis n m Orh, r Orh r is n irWir hn aB so sh d Ew sho hr.

h pu i nI s yu in e ace, t pa s in y

Cas , an hee s ay rnyI 18S)

he here (hi of eenit s stuated there aeady (chon:lay thee t stuates this thowng o ths thowng upjl Awn s dcut to transat at once xuson, pttngde, thowing out 1/], but st of a throwng that putsutde that prodces th otsde and thus , paats the


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8 fk om

place fm sel Mor). It s fom hs aleady tha the posri nds s place-and faally

- f n esponse, t s aleady n coespondence wh whatMak Taylo wl have wten ofhe "petex of he ex whch s

a befoe that s (awys) yet o come O agan when he playswthout payng wh he wod the wod fo wod, such as takeplace o takes up esdence n he othe's ongue: Wat s the Orof the or?

-he even emans a once ad language, hen, wnand a the su (a suface open, xposed, mmedatey oveRowed ousde of self. The event emins n and on he mouhon he tp [bo] of he ngue as s sad n Englsh and Fench oon e edge of he lps passed ove by wods that a hemselvowad God. hey ae cad [po , boh pordand or

by a movement offc (nsfeence efeence deence towad God. hey name God spa ofhm speak hm speak o hm hm pa hm et themselv be caed by hm, make(themselve) a efeece o jus wha he name supposes to namebeyond elf he nameable beyod the name, the unnameabenameabe f w neceay boh to save the name and to saeeveyhng ecep the name, V h am [saufe nom] as f t wasneessay o lose he name n ode to save what beas he nme, otha owad whch one goes though he name Bu to ose hename s no t aack o desty t o wound L n the cono lose he name s que smply 0 espect t as name ha s 0sayto pnounce t, whch comes down tavesng t owad heothe the oe whom t nmes and who beas t o ponounce wthout ponouncng L o foget by llng by ecallng toneself whch cmes down (0 callng o eclng the ohe .

-Cetinly bu s then necesay0 Sop submng languageand the name n language (by the wy, s he name he popename o he name pa ecellence lguage and wha would hsuson mean? (0 genealy (0 whateve gue o topologca

m 9

shema? We speak hee and o a language tha whle bengopened by thsr says the nadeuaton of he efeence, hensucency o the lapse of kowng s ncompeence as o wha ts sad (0 be the kowng o uch an nadequaon tnslae andetys he absence of a common measue beween he openg

openess apr], evelaton knowedge o he one hand ad ohe othe a cetan absolute sece, non povson heeogeeous0 ll manfestaon hs sece s not a eseve o poetal [po nowng, a potental [1 pa manfaon Ad thelanguageofabnegaton o ofenuncaon s no negave no onybecause t doe no sae n he mode ofdescpve pdcon andof he ndcatve poposon smply aced wh a negao hss no tha but beause denounc as muh t enounces; and denounces enonng pcbes oveowng hs nsuency madae dong he mpossbe necesstaegong (h Go! hee whee one annot go Passon o fo he

place, agan I shall say n Fench ya (whch means t s necessay "hee s gund fo endeng oeself hr whr s mpossble t go ve thee, twd the name towad hebeyond of the name he e owad wha, wad he o shewo emanssave the name [safk om, o safe the named] Gong whee t s possble o go would no be a dsplacemeno a decson t woud be he esponsble unfoldng of a pgamhe sole decson possble pases ough he madness of heundecdabe ad the mpossble t go whee wo, Or Wo smpossble to go. ecll

h ho d nch n h o d het c[:H wo nicu saUt klig, so bisU WOo sh(I: 199

Accodng o you, t s hs nomave denuncaton on thegound of mpossbly, ths swee age agant language thsealous ange of language wthn self and agast tself, t s thsasson hat leaves the mak of a sca n ha place whee the


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60 uf nom

mpoible ta place. s't it? Over there. o the ote sde o theword? Te oter sde f od, s that st te word n tewod. te oterod or te othe fod, eveythng savetewod [Osu mon aso "totay sae the ord-Ed]

-Ys, (e ound is thee, ove thee s thee some oe tg,eve, hat may b egbe Some other tng ta te [ae o awond And some ote hng that may eve take plae Do youkno aoe denton o vent

B noting s moe iegibe tan a ound, as e sUPat in yo eye legiblt and egbity do not equal o tispace Accordng to y t s ts trace any ase that comeegbe. renders and endes te egbe: n and on langage thatis, at the edge o angage

-Tee is oy te edge n anguage Tat s, reeence Fomte spposed Ct tat thee neer anyng bt reeece. aeducbe reeece, one UUconcude that te reeet-veyhng save te name [ouufk nom, also totay sae.he ame -EdI-s o s not ndspensabe stoy o egativeteoo, bet pays itse ot n this bre ad sgt axom

-t te edge o agage wod then mean: at te edge asagage, in te same and double movement: witdawng obmn ad oveowng [o t a te moment andte oce as the momnte njcto tae pacepadess bord as tey daw he ene m hing a"yee t s as a pomse-te legbelegbe text, teeoloconegative maxim SnI emans a a pos-scipum ts ogaiy a posHcum, t come ater te eet

an evet nderstd gt, tat wod ave te om o ase, as wtness thou tnes, t ee commtted to keepng asecret the event seaed wth n ndecipeabe sgnate, a set ontis, a ie in beoe te etter

uf nom

_e seaed event orespondng to e expeience o a aiawn ine. Zug, edge borde oveong eaton to te ote,g, Bug eece, eeence to some tng than se dance) te deeed acton PS-coup] s ndeed the comg o;wtng ate te ote p1-cm

Te tace o ts woded witng tat bears the stgmata o tsown pope iadeqaton: sged asumed camed

. . o it on poper dspoporon aso, o ts hub thuscontesigned: tat canot be a simple mak detica 0 sel

- a there ever ee ay

-hat nnot be a sgnatue neced, neceabe vneabe, legbe o what t s o a surce, gt o a sppot tat

od oy eqa one wit itse e very sce sevng assppo o e sgnatre [ U mn emans mpobableis m a pace ae takng pace a sight dscret. butpowe movemet o dsoaton. on he ustabe and dvdeddge o at s caed lagage Te very uny o at s aledangage becomes engmatc ad cein thee

nd so te pae Wat is cae negatve theoo s aangagesays at once t mc and t e t no oger as thenteigibiy o a sure axom, no onge gves te chace o aconsens e hater o a oloqum, o e assred space o acommunton

Lets ot yt discedt the phrase et provsioly keep i a gdng tead s we had eed o t ad te de o gongte

ont a te apopatc teoogemes ave he stats o aee movement e nstaby o hs taectoy ont tey esembe aos dat [ai a goped ing o aos destned toot n te me decton Bt an ao s ony an ao; it s


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thaI of this conversato or of this coloqium in which e cossthematcs Chstian and non*Chsia Owish. Mslim, HindBddhist etc), phlosophic and nonphilosophca, Eropeanand nouropean etc

-Do yo see i this egagemmsomehin tha is lled with thissinla friendship yo spoke about jt a moment o wthratelnsad apropos rtiude?

do' kow l s emns vey prelminay s pcpitatedsa pos*spumcan be f e wods s phlosophicl and Gks "paadoxcal hypebole, 1 do so s of al. amon othe thn.to pont [i sige] owad a welknown passae of Patos R*pb Hupebonames the movemet of tanscendene hat cr*es or tanspots beyod ein o beines {a epekea o . This xcive movemen the rin of this dsplacin aow

[uec pe encoae sayin: X is beyod whais byond bin o beines t X hee e the Good it maeslle for te moment sce we ae analyn he fomal possiblyof sayin: X "s eyond what "is X s withot bein ?J This hypeoe aoe annouce in a dole sense:it an open possibility, t t also provoketheey the open of he possibility s event is at once eveali ad podcin,pONpm and polomenon, inaal witi s even annoces what comes and makes come what wll come from now onin the movemets n hp ura au*! b be, whicwil peiptate disou o, st of all exstence hs peciptaio is thei passio

-You said "exstence, f undestd ht in ode ot o say"sbect, "so, "spit, eo, no ven And ye Daseiis ope bein as bein by the possibility of oin beyond thepesent of what is ssion tscendence

-o be se and Hedee dos ideed ndestad Daseihs: he decibe the movemet of its tanscendence y xplicitly

f om

cit he Platonic epeia ousa. t hen he sms o ndestad/hea the byond s the beyond of e toaty of bein andnot a the beyond ofein tself in he sese of eatve theoloyNow the hypebolic movemens in the latonic lotinan oNeoplatonic style will not only preipiate beyod ein or God

inso as he s (the speme ein [ but eyod God evens nme, s namin namd, o nameble, iso a efeence ismade ere to some hn he name elf seems omems to ehere no lone fe The name isef seems sometim o e noloe hee save [safe]

_ . besids the beyond eyond God is o a place t amovemen of tanscendence hat spasses God himse benessence the poper o the selfsame, the e/bs or & of God hedivity of God - which it srpases posive he well s wha Hede popoe to heil tha s dis

course on the divty heio) of the dive Anel Silsisaa, who w sayin you real:

M m o O

J muS h e O en wt zehn 7

bt lso:

GOW n vn , g mir nch ht

ebe*COnhit t e Le d mein ehtT nd divn

at of nt ye eTe yn i s y l an my lht

I S)

-ayin itself eyond this movemet adcally dissociatesbein ad knowi and existence ad nowede t s, as it wee. a


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6 Suf/ 10m

factu of m gio (Augutna or Catsian) a th coo gv [0 now no

On the Name - Jacques Derrida

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