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Coversheet for Thesis in Sussex Research Online A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The Motif of the Messianic Law, Life, and Writing in Agamben’s Reading of Derrida Arthur Willemse Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Arts History and Philosophy University of Sussex July 2015 2 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been submitted, either in the same or different form to this or any other University for a degree. Signature: Date: 3 University of Sussex Doctor of Philosophy The Motif of the Messianic Law, Life, and Writing in Agamben’s Reading of Derrida Summary This is a study of the relationship between the works of Giorgio Agamben and Jacques Derrida. It explains how the vantage point of Agamben’s thought is achieved by rendering Derridean terminology inoperative. It is argued that this enactment of suspension with regards to Derrida is Agamben’s way of undoing a theological structure of thought that philosophy has unknowingly appropriated. Agamben claims a position that is decidedly post-Derridean, and it is from this position that his sometimes baffling claims about philosophy and its tradition obtain their justification. The closure of the Derridean era and the inoperativity of Derridean terminology is sealed and traced by a messianic motif. Only Derrida can object to the naivety of Agamben’s claims, as he did in his final seminar-series. For anyone else to make such objection would be to take the bait. This is because the apparently dizzying magisterial position that Agamben occupies makes sense only in a philosophical landscape wherein Derrida has become obsolete. However, this thesis will argue how Derrida’s thought even in its desuetude continues to exert influence, now as a paradigm of language. As Agamben recalls in his essay “The Messiah and the Sovereign”: “[...] in the Jewish tradition the figure of the Messiah is double. Since the first century B.C.E.., the Messiah has been divided into Messiah ben Joseph and a Messiah ben David. The Messiah of the house of Joseph is a Messiah who dies, vanquished in the battle against the forces of evil; the Messiah of the house of David is the triumphant Messiah, who ultimately vanquishes Armilos and restores the kingdom” (Agamben 1999a, 173). The 4 vanquished messianic force here represents Derrida’s work that in its defeat releases its positive messianic twin, the thought of Agamben. In the first chapter of this thesis I will give an introduction to Agamben’s thought specifically speaking to the motif of the messianic in its relation to infancy. In the second chapter the outline of the messianic exhaustion of the law of potentiality will be examined closely in the literary figure of Herman Melville’s scribe Bartleby. In the third chapter it will be argued that in the philosophical constellation Bartleby’s role as the paradigm of the self-capacity and passion of writing is fulfilled by Derrida. This is argument is presented against the background of the theme of life in philosophy. Furthermore, this chapter presents a close reading of Derrida’s khōra essay as a counterpart to Agamben’s text on Bartleby. Finally, in the fourth chapter, the positive gains of Agamben’s thought are explored by looking at two messianic tableaus: life and writing. Life is explored the shape of a contingent “being”, a “creature” in the theological sense – yet one that has vanquished its theological condition of abandonment. In this sense, the modality of contingency is sought in a condition of being theologically disenchanted. Furthermore, passing beyond the Derridean paradigm of pharmacology, a new paradigm of writing is indicated. 5 Contents Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Indication of the research territory: Rousseau, Kleist, Tolstoy .................................. 10 A Problem for Philosophy .......................................................................................................... 20 Outline of the relation between metaphysics and the messianic ............................... 23 Explanation of source material and method ...................................................................... 28 With regards to Agamben and Indifference ......................................................................... 31 Question and objective of this thesis ..................................................................................... 35 Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 38 Philosophy of Infancy and the Messianic ................................................................................. 38 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 38 1.1 Thought beyond presupposition ................................................................................. 44 1.2 Philosophy of infancy ....................................................................................................... 48 1.3 Paradigms and signatures .............................................................................................. 60 1.3.1 Paradigm ....................................................................................................................... 61 1.3.2 Signature ....................................................................................................................... 66 1.4 The ban and the secret ..................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 74 Agamben: Law and the messianic in potentiality ................................................................. 74 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 74 2.1 Aristotle’s potentiality ..................................................................................................... 79 2.2 Bartleby the Scrivener ..................................................................................................... 90 2.3 Bartleby as a messianic figure ...................................................................................... 99 2.4 Messianic contingency .................................................................................................. 101 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 106 Agamben and Derrida: The life of philosophy ..................................................................... 106 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 106 3.1 Derrida and theism – survival .................................................................................... 110 3.1.1 Différance and metaphysics in Radical Atheism .......................................... 113 3.1.2 Religion in Radical Atheism................................................................................. 120 3.1.3 The messianic in Radical Atheism .................................................................... 123 3.1.4 Messianism and the messianic in Miracle and Machine .......................... 124 3.2 Derrida and Agamben ................................................................................................... 126 3.2.1 Derrida and Agamben on the messianic time of politics ......................... 127 6 3.2.2 Derrida and Agamben on theology and philosophy ................................. 134 3.3 Khōra and contingency ................................................................................................. 143 3.4 Derrida and Agamben on the life of philosophy ................................................ 155 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 161 The Messianic Registry ................................................................................................................. 161 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 161 4.1 The creature on the threshold of sovereignty: the Open ................................ 165 4.2 L’animot before the Fall
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