After the Death of God: from Political Nihilism to Post-Foundational Democracy
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After The Death Of God: From Political Nihilism To Post-Foundational Democracy Clayton Lewis A Dissertation Submitted To The Faculty Of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy Graduate Program In Social And Political Thought York University Toronto Ontario April 2017 © Clayton Lewis ii Abstract The topic of this dissertation is Heidegger’s deconstruction of metaphysics viewed through the prism of Nietzsche’s declaration that ‘God is dead’. I argue that Nietzsche’s transvaluation of value remains ensnared by the ‘will to power’ and the nihilistic destiny of the ‘eternal return’. I look at Heidegger’s late thought as a response to the disenchantment of nature and the technological ‘framing’ of Earth. I argue that the delineation of a non-instrumental way life requires a political turn that is quite different from Heidegger’s own conservative nationalism. While the post-structuralist appropriation of Heidegger’s late thought makes some tentative moves towards a post- foundational democracy, I argue that the deconstruction of political community stemming from Derrida, Levinas, and Nancy fails to adequately deal with the question of democratic sovereignty. In light of this inadequacy, I take up the political theory of Benjamin, Schmitt, and Agamben in order to further delineate a ‘negative political theology’ without reference to any metaphysical grounding of sovereign power. Essential to such a politics is the non-linear experience of time as ‘event’. I contrast Benjamin’s notion of empty ‘homogenous time’ with Agamben’s analysis of non-linear ‘revolutionary time’. I suggest that the eschatological remembrance of democracy requires an interruption of history as a linear sequence of time. Against the instrumental ‘framing’ of democracy, I advocate for the decentralization of sovereignty to local modes of participatory self-government such as general assemblies, councils, and cooperatives. iii Dedication To my parents, For their love and support iv Abstract . ii Dedication . iii Table of Contents . iv Introduction . 1 Section A: Argument . 1 Section B: Literature . 6 Section C: Context . 24 Section D: Method . 35 Section C: Summary . 38 Chapter 1: The Promethean Fate Of The West . 41 Section A: The Genealogy Of Morality . 41 Section B: The Death Of God . 52 Section C: The Destiny Of Nihilism . 66 Chapter 2: Overcoming Onto-Theology . 78 Section A: The Deconstruction Of Metaphysics . 78 Section B: The New Science . 85 Section C: The Holy . 95 Chapter 3: The Technological Framing Of Earth . 106 Section A: The Turn . 106 Section B: The Frame . 116 Section C: The Event . 130 Section D: The Trace . 143 Chapter 4: The Body-Politic . 163 Section A: The Strife Of The Political . 163 Section B: The Force Of Law . 176 Chapter 5: Negative Political Theology . 190 Section A: Sovereignty . 190 Section B: Violence . 200 Section C: Anarchy . 212 Conclusion: Democracy Now! . 225 Postscript: No Future? . 246 Bibliography . 250 1 Introduction: Argument A major claim of this dissertation is that modernity is an age of ‘spiritual crisis’. I argue that the modern age ought to be understood in light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s declaration that ‘God is dead’. The ‘death of God’ is the discovery that Truth is not absolute. Indeed, Justice, Beauty, and Truth are metaphysically ungrounded. The notion of Absolute Truth is untenable in the modern era. Truth becomes nothing but subjective preference. Postmodern thinkers interpret the relativity of truth as liberation. The deconstruction of that which Derrida calls a ‘transcendental signifier’ opens up a plurality of diverse interpretations in place of the ‘first cause’. Nevertheless, postmodernism in naïve to the extent that the very real danger of nihilism stemming from the ‘death of God’ is evaded, suppressed, and concealed. I argue that nihilism is not just an existential issue, but deeply political as well. The planetary framework of 2 rationalization, secularization, and modernization undermines social ties to communities of belonging, which in turn leads to social fragmentation, alienation, and anomie. In response to the dissolution of value and truth, the only perceived refuge becomes the ‘active nihilism’ of religious fundamentalism and political violence. As Nietzsche indicates, disclosing the ungrounded abyss provokes a ‘metaphysical need’ for moral absolutes. The challenge, therefore, is to face the void without succumbing to a nostalgia for the Absolute. Another major claim is that authoritarianism is symptomatic of nihilism, not its converse. Postmodern thinkers such as Jacques Derrida tend to associate nihilism with democratic pluralism and authoritarianism with foundationalism. For Derrida, nihilism is emancipation – freedom from moral absolutes and freedom to decide for oneself what is meaningful. According to this logic, post-foundationalism gives rise to the self-legislation of meaning, value, and truth. But what is meaningful? Indeed, what is good? More often, the discovery that our highest values are ontologically ungrounded provokes a sense of angst, anxiety, or horror before the abyss. We ignore the ‘metaphysical need’ for security at our own peril. To paraphrase Nietzsche, it is necessary for man to know why he exists. But what happens when all possible answers to such a question are exposed as nothing but myth? Derrida deconstructs the notion of a comprehensive meta-narrative that could give meaning to life. But the postmodern account of the dissolution of an overarching meta-narrative is itself just another meta-narrative – the myth of the absence of myth. While the myth of postmodernism has become entangled in its own web of self-contradictions, it is nevertheless impossible to return to a 3 dialectical belief in the innate logic of Reason, History, and the State. What, then, is the way forward? I intend to journey through the dangerous landscape of political nihilism in search of an answer. The path that leads out of political nihilism is long and winding. There are no clear answers to the problem of nihilism, and no guarantee that we will find our way. My hope is that insight into the ontological groundlessness of being may give way to post-foundational democracy rather than the law-founding violence of sovereign decision. I argue that the ‘death of God’ requires that thinking occur without recourse to metaphysical foundations. I understand metaphysics to be more or less synonymous with Platonic metaphysics. Platonic metaphysics is characterized by the unconditional grounding of meaning, value, and truth in a fixed origin, foundation, or cause. I interpret Martin Heidegger’s fundamental ontology as an initial attempt to think without foundations. I nevertheless argue that Heidegger’s ontology replicates that which it attempts to supplant – the primacy of the ungrounded ‘will to power’. Heidegger unwittingly assigns the divine attributes of God to Man – the power of creation ex nihilo. After the ‘death of God’, Man, not God becomes the sovereign legislator of value. Just as Nietzsche’s overcoming of nihilism is itself nihilistic, Heidegger’s deconstruction of metaphysics remains insufficient and incomplete. I therefore argue that it is necessary to move beyond the philosophical milieu of Heidegger’s confrontation with Nietzsche in order to more fully explicate a post-foundational democratic alternative to political nihilism. For this reason, I take up the post-structuralist appropriation of Heidegger’s thought by Jean-Luc Nancy, Jacques Derrida, and Emmanuel Levinas. I argue that the 4 deconstruction of political community and sovereign power ultimately renders democracy inoperative. I therefore turn to the political theology of Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin and Carl Schmitt in order to more fully illuminate an alternative post- foundational democracy without recourse to any ‘onto-theological’ grounding of sovereign power. Following Heidegger, I claim that the relentless destruction of nature in the modern era arises from the metaphysical dualism of ancient Greek philosophy. With the ‘flight of the gods’ in the wake of the universal scientific world-view, nature is reduced to nothing but a resource for technological exploitation. Heidegger’s late thought attempts to cultivate a non-instrumental relation to nature through the practice of mindful ‘dwelling’ in the world. But the political implications of this environmental ethic remain undeveloped. I find it necessary to leave the climate of Heidegger’s confrontation with Nietzsche in order to more fully explore the democratic implications of the deconstruction of metaphysics. I nevertheless use Heidegger’s analysis of the technological framing of Earth to understand the worldwide ‘depoliticization’ and ‘deterritorialization’ of democracy. I argue that liberal internationalism does not signify a more enlightened politics, but rather the narrow vision of the political as the ‘ground’ of politics. I attempt to think the political not as a metaphysical foundation of the state, but as the ungrounded ‘site’ of post-foundational democracy. A central argument of this dissertation is that there is a fundamental relationship between Heidegger’s overcoming of onto-theology and the struggle to overcome the authoritarian element of Schmitt’s political theology. Indeed, I argue that the 5 deconstruction of ‘onto-theology’ lends itself to a negative political theology of post- foundational democratic anarchism. Schmitt argues that political sovereignty is a secularization of the theological