A perfect fold

Agamben’s form-of-life as archaeology and messianism

Authors

  • Georgios Tsagdis Erasmus University Rotterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59391/inscriptions.v6i2.202

Keywords:

Agamben, form-of-life, Derrida, deconstruction, biopolitics

Abstract

The essay offers a critical examination of what Agamben calls the ‘syntagma’, ‘form-of-life’. This ‘syntagma’ becomes increasingly important in Agamben’s work as a way of redeeming and reconciling the archi-political separation of bios and zo?e? ? that his project Homo Sacer undertook, as a whole, to thematise. Given its pivotal function, the attention that ‘form-of-life’ has received in recent years is unsurprising. The present essay aims to show the structural instability of the ‘syntagma’ and its implications for Agamben’s ontology and politics. In doing so, it gestures towards a new path of investigation of the formation of life.

References

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Inscriptions 6, n2, cover image, Adorno as a photographic negative

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Published

2023-07-15

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2023): Open issue

Section

Academic articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Georgios Tsagdis

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