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Homo Sacer: Sacrificial Condition in Giorgio Agamben’s Narration of Sovereignty

Year 2016, Issue: 22, 16 - 40, 01.09.2016

Abstract

In this study, we attempt to put Agamben’s homo sacer conceptualization within a critical perspective. Agamben’s political philosophy, which contributes important insights into the invisible dimensions of sovereignty, gives a special place for homo sacer. However, even if this concept plays an important role in elucidating the certain dimensions of authority relations violence-law relationship , it is hardly a good attitude to permit it to monopolize every dimension of authority relations. This study, which tries to call attention to the troubles of such an attitude, gives special importance to the concept of sacrifice and claims that Agamben is at pains to purify authority relations and sovereignty from the symbolic elements. In the first part of the study, Agamben’s homo sacer conceptualization is presented. In the second, the inconsistencies and troubles in this conceptualization are highlighted. In the last part, it is claimed that Agamben’s account of sovereignty cannot transcend the logic of sacrifice.

References

  • Agamben Giorgio, Nudities, çev. David Kishik ve Stefan Pedatella, Standford University Press, Standford, 2011.
  • Agamben Giorgio, The Coming Community, çev. Micheal Hardt, University of Minnesota Press, London, 2007.
  • Agamben Giorgio, The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to Romans, çev. Patricia Dailey, 2005.
  • Agamben Giorgio, State of Exception, çev. Kevin Atell, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2005.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Open, çev. Kevin Atell, Stanford University Press, Standford, 2003.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Kutsal İnsan: Egemen İktidar ve Çıplak Hayat, çev. İsmail Türkmen Ayrıntı, İstanbul 2001.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Tanık ve Arşiv, çev. Ali İhsan Başgül, Dipnot, Ankara 1999.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Language and Death: The Place of Negativity, çev. Karen E. Pinkus ve Micheal Hardt, University of Minnesota Press, 1991.
  • Arendt Hannah, Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992.
  • Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, çev. Roger Crisp, Cambridge University Pres, Cambridge, 2000.
  • Başaran Melih, Kurban Sunu: Dile Getirilebilir ve Görülebilirin Mantık ve Ekonomileri, Ayrıntı, İstanbul, 2005.
  • Bataille Georges, Theory of Religion, çev. Robert Hurley, Zone Books, New York, 1992.
  • Bataille Georges, The Accursed Share, An Essay on General Economy, Zone Books, New York, 1991.
  • Bataille Georges, “Hegel, Death and Sacrifice”, Yale French Studies 78, 1990, 9-28.
  • Bataille Georges, “The Psychological Structure of Fascism”, New German Critique, 16, 1979, 64-87
  • Benjamin Walter, “Theses on History,” Illuminations, çev. Harry Zohn, Schoken Books, New York 1968.
  • Benveniste Emile, Le Vocabulaire des Institutions Indo-Europe1eenes, Les Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1969.
  • Britt Brian, “The Schmittian Messiah in Agamben’s The Time That Remains”, Criticial Inquiry 36(2), 2010, 262-287.
  • Chow Rey, , “Sacrifice and the Theorizing the Victimhood”, Representations 94(1), 2006, 131-149.
  • Connolly William E., “The Complexities of Sovereignty”, Giorgio Agamben: Sovereignty and Life, der. Matthew Calarco ve Steven DeCaroli, Standford University Press, Standford, 2007.
  • Dickinson Colby, “Beyond Violence, Beyond the Text: The Role of Gesture in Walter Benjamin and Giogio Agamben, and its Affinity with the Work of Rene Girard”, HeyJ 52(6), 952–961.
  • Durkheim Emile, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, çev. Karen E. Fields, The Free Pres, New York, 1995.
  • Finlayson James Gordon, “Bare Life and Politics in Agamben’s Reading of Aristotle”, The Review of Politics 72 (1), 2010, 97-126.
  • Fox Christopher A, “Sacrificial Pasts and Messianic Futures: Religion as a Political Prospect in Rene Girard and Giorgio Agamben,” Philosophy and Social Criticism, Vol: 33(5), 563-595.
  • Ferejohn John ve Pasquiono Pasquale, “The Law of the Exception: A Typology of Emergency Powers”, I.CON, 2, 2004, 210-239.
  • Foucault Michel, The History of Sexuality, The Will to Knowledge, çev. Robert Hurley, Penguin Books, London, 1998.
  • Girard Rene, Violence and the Sacred, çev. Patrick Gregory, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1989.
  • Girard Rene, The Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World, çev. Stephen Bann, Stanford University Press, Standford, 1987
  • Hansen S. Kathryn, “Agamben, Kristeva, and the Language of the Sacred”, Philosophy Today 56(2), 2012, 164-174.
  • Hussein Nasser, “Beyond Norm and Exception: Guantanamo”, Critical Inquiry 33(4), 734-753.
  • Jules Lobel, “Emergency Powers and the Decline of Liberalism,” The Yale Law Journal, 98(7), 1989, 1385.
  • Librett Jeffrey S., “From Sacrifice of the Letter to the Voice of Testimony: Giorgio Agamben’s Fulfillment of Metaphysics”, Diacritics 37(2), 11- 33.
  • Negri Antonio, “Giorgio Agamben: The Discreet Taste of the Dialectic”, Giorgio Agamben: Sovereignty and Life, der. Matthew Calarco ve Steven DeCaroli, Standford University Press, Standford, 2007.
  • Plato, Defence of Socrates, Euthypro, Crito, çev. David Gallop, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.
  • Sergei Prozorov, “Why Giorgio Agamben is an Optimist?” Philosophy and Social Criticisim, 39(9), 2010, 1053-1073.
  • Wahl, Johan Van Der, “Interrupting the Myth of the Partage: Reflections on Sovereignty and Sacrifice in the Work of Nancy, Agamben and Derrida”, Law and Critique, 16, 2005, 277-299.

KUTSAL İNSAN: GIORGIO AGAMBEN’İN EGEMENLİK ANLATISINDA KURBANSAL DURUM

Year 2016, Issue: 22, 16 - 40, 01.09.2016

Abstract

Çalışmamızda Agamben’in homo sacer kavramını eleştirel bir bakış açısıyla incelemeye çalıştık. Egemenliğin görünmeyen boyutlarının farkına varmamızı sağlayan Agamben’in egemenlik kuramında homo sacer mühim bir yerde durmaktadır. Ancak Agamben’in, egemenlik ilişkilerinin şiddet-yasa boyutunu aydınlatmak için elverişli olan bu kavramı, siyasi hayatın yegâne gerçekliği olarak ortaya koyması, siyasi kuramında bazı sıkıntıların ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Bu sıkıntıların kendini en çok belli ettiği yer ise, kurban kavramıdır. Çalışmamız, homo sacer’in kurbandan tam olarak arındırılamadığı gerçekliğinin altını çizerek, temsili ve simgesel olandan arındırılmış bir egemenlik anlatısının sıkıntılarını ortaya koymaya çalışmıştır. Çalışmamız birinci bölümünde Agamben’in homo sacer kavramsallaştırması üzerinde durulmuştur. İkinci bölümde bu kavramsallaştırmanın sıkıntılarına işaret edilmiş ve üçüncü bölümde, Agamben’in kurban mantığını aşamadığı ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır.

References

  • Agamben Giorgio, Nudities, çev. David Kishik ve Stefan Pedatella, Standford University Press, Standford, 2011.
  • Agamben Giorgio, The Coming Community, çev. Micheal Hardt, University of Minnesota Press, London, 2007.
  • Agamben Giorgio, The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to Romans, çev. Patricia Dailey, 2005.
  • Agamben Giorgio, State of Exception, çev. Kevin Atell, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2005.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Open, çev. Kevin Atell, Stanford University Press, Standford, 2003.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Kutsal İnsan: Egemen İktidar ve Çıplak Hayat, çev. İsmail Türkmen Ayrıntı, İstanbul 2001.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Tanık ve Arşiv, çev. Ali İhsan Başgül, Dipnot, Ankara 1999.
  • Agamben Giorgio, Language and Death: The Place of Negativity, çev. Karen E. Pinkus ve Micheal Hardt, University of Minnesota Press, 1991.
  • Arendt Hannah, Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992.
  • Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, çev. Roger Crisp, Cambridge University Pres, Cambridge, 2000.
  • Başaran Melih, Kurban Sunu: Dile Getirilebilir ve Görülebilirin Mantık ve Ekonomileri, Ayrıntı, İstanbul, 2005.
  • Bataille Georges, Theory of Religion, çev. Robert Hurley, Zone Books, New York, 1992.
  • Bataille Georges, The Accursed Share, An Essay on General Economy, Zone Books, New York, 1991.
  • Bataille Georges, “Hegel, Death and Sacrifice”, Yale French Studies 78, 1990, 9-28.
  • Bataille Georges, “The Psychological Structure of Fascism”, New German Critique, 16, 1979, 64-87
  • Benjamin Walter, “Theses on History,” Illuminations, çev. Harry Zohn, Schoken Books, New York 1968.
  • Benveniste Emile, Le Vocabulaire des Institutions Indo-Europe1eenes, Les Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1969.
  • Britt Brian, “The Schmittian Messiah in Agamben’s The Time That Remains”, Criticial Inquiry 36(2), 2010, 262-287.
  • Chow Rey, , “Sacrifice and the Theorizing the Victimhood”, Representations 94(1), 2006, 131-149.
  • Connolly William E., “The Complexities of Sovereignty”, Giorgio Agamben: Sovereignty and Life, der. Matthew Calarco ve Steven DeCaroli, Standford University Press, Standford, 2007.
  • Dickinson Colby, “Beyond Violence, Beyond the Text: The Role of Gesture in Walter Benjamin and Giogio Agamben, and its Affinity with the Work of Rene Girard”, HeyJ 52(6), 952–961.
  • Durkheim Emile, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, çev. Karen E. Fields, The Free Pres, New York, 1995.
  • Finlayson James Gordon, “Bare Life and Politics in Agamben’s Reading of Aristotle”, The Review of Politics 72 (1), 2010, 97-126.
  • Fox Christopher A, “Sacrificial Pasts and Messianic Futures: Religion as a Political Prospect in Rene Girard and Giorgio Agamben,” Philosophy and Social Criticism, Vol: 33(5), 563-595.
  • Ferejohn John ve Pasquiono Pasquale, “The Law of the Exception: A Typology of Emergency Powers”, I.CON, 2, 2004, 210-239.
  • Foucault Michel, The History of Sexuality, The Will to Knowledge, çev. Robert Hurley, Penguin Books, London, 1998.
  • Girard Rene, Violence and the Sacred, çev. Patrick Gregory, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1989.
  • Girard Rene, The Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World, çev. Stephen Bann, Stanford University Press, Standford, 1987
  • Hansen S. Kathryn, “Agamben, Kristeva, and the Language of the Sacred”, Philosophy Today 56(2), 2012, 164-174.
  • Hussein Nasser, “Beyond Norm and Exception: Guantanamo”, Critical Inquiry 33(4), 734-753.
  • Jules Lobel, “Emergency Powers and the Decline of Liberalism,” The Yale Law Journal, 98(7), 1989, 1385.
  • Librett Jeffrey S., “From Sacrifice of the Letter to the Voice of Testimony: Giorgio Agamben’s Fulfillment of Metaphysics”, Diacritics 37(2), 11- 33.
  • Negri Antonio, “Giorgio Agamben: The Discreet Taste of the Dialectic”, Giorgio Agamben: Sovereignty and Life, der. Matthew Calarco ve Steven DeCaroli, Standford University Press, Standford, 2007.
  • Plato, Defence of Socrates, Euthypro, Crito, çev. David Gallop, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.
  • Sergei Prozorov, “Why Giorgio Agamben is an Optimist?” Philosophy and Social Criticisim, 39(9), 2010, 1053-1073.
  • Wahl, Johan Van Der, “Interrupting the Myth of the Partage: Reflections on Sovereignty and Sacrifice in the Work of Nancy, Agamben and Derrida”, Law and Critique, 16, 2005, 277-299.
There are 36 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Mete Ulaş Aksoy This is me

Publication Date September 1, 2016
Published in Issue Year 2016 Issue: 22

Cite

Chicago Ulaş Aksoy, Mete. “KUTSAL İNSAN: GIORGIO AGAMBEN’İN EGEMENLİK ANLATISINDA KURBANSAL DURUM”. FLSF Felsefe Ve Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 22 (September 2016): 16-40.

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