DOCSLIB.ORG

Title the First Cut; the Locus of Decision at the Limits of Subjectivity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Title the First Cut; the Locus of Decision at the Limits of Subjectivity Title The First Cut; the locus of decision at the limits of subjectivity Type Thesis URL http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/6097/ Date 2006 Citation Bowditch, Isobel (2006) The First Cut; the locus of decision at the limits of subjectivity. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London. Creators Bowditch, Isobel Usage Guidelines Please refer to usage guidelines at http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected]. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author Thesis submitted for PhD (practice–based) examination October 2006 Title: The First Cut; the locus of decision at the limits of subjectivity Author: Isobel Bowditch Number of words: 51,307 (including footnotes, excluding supplements and bibliography) Degree awarding body: University of the Arts, London Abstract This project examines the concept of decision in philosophical writing, in particular the question of whether subjectivity can be said to constitute a ‘locus’ of decision. The writing of Søren Kierkegaard is the main focus of discussion. Giorgio Agamben, Michel Henry and Jacques Derrida also provide important contributions. Although for Kierkegaard ‘all decisiveness is rooted in subjectivity’, subjective agency takes the form of an active surrendering to an external unknown authority (God). Kierkegaard uses the term ‘leap of faith’ to describe the moment of decision where subjective transformation occurs. For Derrida, any decision requires an undecidable leap beyond all reasoning made in preparation for that decision. He extends a reading of faith beyond the theistic by suggesting that Kierkegaard’s unknowable God could also be another name for the ‘structure of subjectivity.’ Giorgio Agamben’s writing on the concept of human life situated at the threshold of categories (socio-political, philosophical, physiological and so on), helps to further the exploration of subjectivity as the ‘locus’ of decision. Michel Henry’s work on The Essence of Manifestation provides a focus for a discussion on the ‘radical subjectivity’ that Kierkegaard proposes as the fulcrum of decision. The research project as a whole maintains a synergy between these philosophical concerns and the form of their explication. The thesis is made up of both written text and DVD documentation of live works. These instances of practice, whose form and mode of presentation were informed by a specific aspect of the research, are integrated into the thesis to constitute ‘chapters’. The practice can and does function independently in other contexts. However, what is presented in this research document constitutes the outcome of my practice-based PhD project and includes both the ‘theoretical’ and ‘practice’ elements. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE Page No Preface 3 Chapter 1: Leap 4 the test of Abraham 4 the movement of faith 7 there must be anguish… 9 …and a secret trembling 11 the moment 15 a place and a time 18 decidere 22 nothing happened 24 Chapter 2: Exception 26 who is sacred? 26 an example 31 dialogue between two philosophers (DVD) 33 Chapter 3: Obedience 35 subditus 35 the calling 38 Chapter 4: Invisible 42 no sign 42 of life 45 Reading Michel Henry (DVD) 46 Conclusion to Part One 47 PART TWO Page No Preface 49 Chapter 5: Passion 53 Juliet 53 Inter et Inter 55 two places at once 58 the actor 62 the role 64 Chapter 6: Metamorphosis 67 the first 70 Chapter 7: Repetition 75 experiment 77 how to begin? 80 Interlude 85 Chapter 8: Anxiety 88 in the wings 88 altered 92 Chapter 9: Crisis 96 krisis 102 Conclusion to Part Two 106 Conclusion 108 Bibliography 113 Supplement 1 120 Transcript of dialogue between two philosophers 122 Photographs 132 Supplement 2 136 Reading Michel Henry Supplement 3 138 Reading/performance: What is radical subjectivity? DVD suite (in sleeve) Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following for their help and support with this project: The University of the Arts for awarding me a study scholarship for three years. Neil Cummings and Howard Caygill, my supervisors, for generously sharing their experience, knowledge and time with me and for their consistent encouragement and enthusiasm. Mark Wilbor for his humour, patience and support throughout. Sarah Wishart for her friendship and invaluable help with proof-reading the thesis. Sarah Colquhoun, Virginia Nimarkoh, Lisa Pember, Lawrence Sullivan, Hana Sakuma, Michael Curran, Vidyajyoti and Andrew Chesher for their friendship and moral support. Linda Large, Alastair Danson, Vasiliki Boutopoulou for saying ‘yes’ without hesitation when asked if they would like to participate in the project. Leo Carey and Liz Ward, from Chelsea library. Introduction At the centre of this project has always been the question: What does it mean to make a decision? In order to approach this general question, it must be broken down into several more specific areas: Who or what is the agent of decision? What is it that occurs in a decision as such or what does decision actually give rise to? At what point can I say that such a thing as a decision takes place, if it takes place at all? The question I am asking is in fact to do with the ‘locus’ of decision. Subjectivity, the ‘I’ who makes the decision, may be said to be such a ‘locus’ but as soon as the investigation begins, subjectivity, as a locatable agency, starts to dissolve. In order to address this problem, I looked at the writings of philosophers who have approached the question of decision from the point of view of subjectivity, that is, not as an attempt to look at objective analysis or in terms of, for example, ‘decision theory’. Instead, the exploration that I carried out is concerned with the connection between thought and subjectively lived experience and the kind of philosophical thinking that takes into account these two, often contradictory, spheres of human existence. My interests in the research question are philosophical, but I am not a philosopher in a conventional sense. The environment that I have worked in over the years has been fine art practice. Although I have been studying philosophy independently for many years, I have no formal qualifications in the subject. This fostered in me a level of uncertainty as to where I could situate myself as a researcher. I wanted to explore the research question philosophically whilst still remaining an artist. The situation of not entirely belonging in one discipline or the other turned out to have intrinsic value in developing the research, not least in keeping me keenly attuned to the notion of threshold that I was trying to explore. Therefore, I decided that it was in the best interests of what I was trying to do to make the most of this in-between status (an artist engaged with philosophical questions or vice-versa?) and to develop a philosophically inspired practice of my own. the practice I am interested in what constitutes the ‘practice’ of philosophy, that is, something which is not only an intellectual activity orientated towards universalising or objectifying aims but which also has emotional, playful or embodied aspects, in brief, an activity where contingency and subjectivity play a role. This aspect is frequently erased in the final product of philosophy, that is, the printed text or the conference paper. What process occurs in the formation of the ‘philosopher’ in his or her professional guise and in the development of the work that is called philosophy? At what point and by whose authority can a person say ‘I am a philosopher’ and what authority does this designation then hold? I wondered whether the practice of the philosopher could be compared to that of the artist and whether there is a way in which each can inform the other. As much as possible, I wanted to avoid making work or indeed writing about philosophy. I was looking for a way that I could do something that might be called philosophical, even if it was not conventionally recognisable as philosophy in the academic or institutional sense. The works that are presented with the thesis are the results of my endeavour towards such a philosophical practice. Practice-based doctoral research in a fine-art context often means that the researcher writes an academic thesis about their area of interest and presents their artworks independently of the thesis. In such an approach, the division between what constitutes theory and what constitutes practice is made clear (at least in terms of presentation and methodology). Although my research was also practice-based, to impose a strict separation between ‘practice’ and ‘theory’ seemed entirely antithetical to my concerns. I felt that the interdisciplinary nature of what I was doing meant, precisely, that I would be working in the space between fine art and philosophy and that my task was to develop a practice which would be situated there. With this in mind, it will be helpful for the purposes of this Introduction, to discuss the different forms of presentation included in this thesis as well as the theoretical sources. In the course of the project, I produced a series of works which aimed to synthesise philosophical ideas with artistic practice in such a way that research question itself was performed, or enacted. Two of these are presented as DVD documents and included as part of the main thesis. These instances of practice function independently from the thesis: they have been and/or will continue to be presented within other contexts. Here, the written thesis itself provides one such contexts through which they can be seen. In terms of the final presentation of this research project, therefore, it is my intention that the DVD’s are seen and interpreted in relation to the written text in the thesis.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Kierkegaard, Mysticism, and Jest: the Story of Little Ludvig
    Continental Philosophy Review (2006) 39:435–464 Ó Springer 2007 DOI 10.1007/s11007-007-9042-9 Kierkegaard, mysticism, and jest: The story of little Ludvig CHRISTOPHER A. P. NELSON Department of Philosophy, South Texas College, P.O. Box 9701, McAllen, TX, 78502- 9701, USA (E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract. Throughout his authorship, Kierkegaard appears remarkably uninterested in the tradition of Christian mysticism. Indeed, in the only two places in the authorship where he broaches the topic directly, the discussion is disclaimed in such a way as to suggest that Kierkegaard really has nothing to say about it at all. However, attending to the successive incarnations of the character(s) named ‘‘Ludvig’’ throughout the authorship – an appellation that harbors an especially self-referential dimension for Kierkegaard – the present paper attempts to elucidate what may, with due reservation, be referred to as the mystical element in KierkegaardÕs thought. The ultimate yield of this endeavor is a vision of ‘‘mysticism’’ that is more act than thought oriented, and a vision of the author ‘‘Kierkegaard’’ that is more delightful than melancholy. Key words: kierkegaard, mysticism, jest As with certain bird cries, we hear a mystic only in the stillness of the night; for this reason a mystic generally does not have as much significance for his noisy contemporaries as for the listening kin- dred spirit in the stillness of history after the passage of time. Søren Kierkegaard (JP, 3:2796)1 But no well-informed writer has gone so far as to affirm that S.K. actually was a mystic, in defiance of his own assertion to the con- trary.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 19, Tome I: Kierkegaard Bibliography
    KIERKEGAARD BIBLIOGRAPHY TOME I: AFRIKAANS TO DUTCH Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources Volume 19, Tome I Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources is a publication of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre General Editor JON STEWART Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Editorial Board FINN GREDAL JENSEN KATALIN NUN PETER ŠAJDA Advisory Board LEE C. BARRETT MARÍA J. BINETTI ISTVÁN CZAKÓ HEIKO SCHULZ CURTIS L. THOMPSON Kierkegaard Bibliography Tome I: Afrikaans to Dutch Edited by PETER ŠAJDA AND JON STEWART First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Peter Šajda and Jon Stewart The right of Peter Šajda and Jon Stewart to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-20940-4 (hbk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Cover design by Katalin Nun Copyright © Jon Stewart, 2017.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy P335 (§ 13649)/ P535 (§ 28458): Søren Kierkegaard
    Philosophy P335 (§ 13649)/ P535 (§ 28458): Søren Kierkegaard Spring 2011 Class Handouts by Paul Vincent Spade “Philosophy P335 (§ 13649)/P535 (§ 28458) Søren Kierkegaard: Spring 2011, Class Handouts,” by Paul Vincent Spade is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Table of Contents Course Syllabus ...................................................................................................................1 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................11 Suggested Paper topics (in no particular order) .................................................................16 Buzzwords in Kierkegaard .................................................................................................21 Chronology ........................................................................................................................22 Writings..............................................................................................................................29 Ethics..................................................................................................................................38 “Kierkegaard’s Three ‘Stages’” .........................................................................................39 Faithful Hans ......................................................................................................................40
    [Show full text]
  • A Report on the Metamorphosis of an Actress
    Inter et Inter: A Report on the Metamorphosis of an Actress ISOBEL BOWDITCH I. In 1847, Johanne Luise Heiberg, a Danish actress and friend of Søren Kierkegaard, performed the role of Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the Copenhagen theatre. This occasion prompted Kierkegaard to write an article for the newspaper Fædrelandet , called “The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress” under the curious name of Inter et Inter. This would hardly be a notable event except for the fact that Kierkegaard had only just publicly resolved to cease his literary activity once and for all and instead to write under his own name as a religious author. Kierkegaard frequently refers almost dismissively to “The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress” as the “little article.” 1 Despite this and the fact that it has had little attention in Kierkegaard scholarship, its publication appeared to represent a significant risk for him, both personally and professionally. At the time, Kierkegaard was still reeling from “The Corsair Affair.” Two years earlier, Peder Ludvig Møller had written a negative review of Kierkegaard’s Stages on Life’s Way , which Kierkegaard felt to be both unfair and ill-conceived. Møller was also a contributor to The Corsair , a Danish satirical newspaper which lampooned public figures. Kierkegaard, who until this point had been well regarded by the editor of The Corsair, wrote two responses to Møller’s review for publication in the newspaper , vehemently attacking not only The Corsair itself but openly inviting the editor to satirize him.
    [Show full text]
  • Søren Kierkegaard - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia 7/06/14 7:00 AM
    Søren Kierkegaard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 7/06/14 7:00 AM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard Go FEB APR OCT Close 160 captures 20 Help 26 Mar 04 - 1 Apr 14 2009 2010 2011 Søren Kierkegaard From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Søren Aabye Kierkegaard Sketch of Søren Kierkegaard by Niels Christian Kierkegaard, c. 1840 Full Søren Aabye Kierkegaard name 5 May 1813 Born Copenhagen, Denmark 11 November 1855 (aged 42) Died Copenhagen, Denmark Era 19th-century philosophy Region Western philosophy Danish Golden Age Literary and Artistic Tradition, precursor to Continental philosophy,[1][2] Existentialism School (agnostic, atheistic, Christian), Postmodernism, Post-structuralism, Existential psychology, Absurdism, Neo-orthodoxy, and many more Religion, metaphysics, epistemology, Main aesthetics, ethics, psychology, interests philosophy of religion Regarded as the father of Existentialism, angst, existential despair, Three spheres Notable of human existence, knight of faith, ideas http://web.archive.org/web/20100420134444/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Søren_Kierkegaard Page 1 of 24 Søren Kierkegaard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 7/06/14 7:00 AM ideas infinite qualitative distinction, leap of faith Influenced by Abraham, Aristotle, Christian Molbech, Hamann, Hegel, Kant, Lessing, Luther, Socrates[3] (through Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes), Trendelenburg Influenced Most philosophers after him including Auden, Barth, Binswanger, Bonhoeffer, Borges, Brandes, Brunner, Buber, Camus, de Beauvoir, Derrida, Frankl, Heidegger, Hesse, Ibsen, Jaspers, Kafka, Marcel, May, Percy, Rilke, Sartre, Shestov, Strindberg, Tillich, Unamuno, Updike, Urs von Balthasar, Welsh, Wittgenstein Signature Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (English pronunciation: /ˈsɔrən ˈkɪərkəɡɑrd/ or /ˈkɪərkəɡɔr/; Danish: [ˈsœːɐn ˈkʰiɐk̯ əˌɡ̊ɒˀ] ( listen)) (5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and psychologist.
    [Show full text]