Interrupting the Myth of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Partage</Emphasis>: Reflections on Sovereignty and Sacrifice in the work of Nancy,Agamben and Derrida |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Johan?Van Der?WaltEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Rand Afrikaans University, Aucklandpark , 2006 Johannesburg, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Agamben traces the bio-political essence of modern politics to the non-sacrificial killing of Homo Sacer in Roman law. Nancy,
on the other hand, links the history of Western politics to the fundamental logic of sacrifice in Western metaphysics. He
nevertheless contemplates the possibility that Western societies may finally have arrived at the threshold of a non-sacrificial
existence. Derrida seeks to resist the sacrificial logic of Western metaphysics and politics, but nevertheless appears to
accept it as an irreducible fact of human co-existence. Unlike Nancy, he envisages no actual or actualised beyond beyond the realm of sacrificial metaphysics and politics. He thus can be said to interrupt Nancy’s ‘myth’ of a non-sacrificial
partage. This article compares these three philosophical stances in the hope of throwing more light on the role of sacrifice in the
law and politics of our time.
Professor of Law, Rand Afrikaans University. Conversations with Ann van Sevenant, Carol Clarkson, Louise du Toit, Peter Fitzpatrick,
Costas Douzinas and Adam Thurschwell gave impetus to many of the themes developed in this article. Concomitant shortcomings
and inaccuracies, as always, are mine. |
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Keywords: | Agamben courage cruelty Derrida myth Nancy political politics religion sacrifice |
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