Hospitality in the age of econo-rithm

Dror Pimentel

doi:10.59391/g649rk72

Authors

Dror Pimentel Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59391/g649rk72

Keywords:

hospitality, economy, event, phenomenology, algorithm

Abstract

The notion of hospitality is re-thought as an event that pierces through three fundamental economies, constituting human existence: The economy of perception, addressed by phenomenology; the economy of sexuality, addressed by psychanalysis; and the economy of production, addressed by Marxism. Each of these economies negates primordial Being, understood through the Hebrew term rav. In each of these economies, the event of hospitality is described as a secondary negation of the rav’s initial negation. In phenomenology, the event is envisioned through in-stasis, conceived as the counterpoint to Heidegger’s notion of ek-sistence. In psychoanalysis, it is thought in terms of the uncanny. In Marxism, it is exemplified with Kafka’s figure of Odradek, that eludes the economy of commodification. This reframing of hospitality positions it as a fundamental trait of human existence, one that warrants further exploration. Discussion concludes with evaluating the relation of the current economy of the algorithm to hospitality.

Author Biography

Dror Pimentel, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem

Prof. Dror Pimentel teaches at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem, both at the Visual and Material Culture Dept., and at the M.A. Program of Policy and Theory of Art. Among his areas of expertise are continental philosophy, phenomenology, aesthetics and semiotics. Among his publications: The Dream of Purity: Heidegger with Derrida (Magnes Press, 2009 [Hebrew]); Aesthetics (Bialik Institute, 2014 [Hebrew]); Heidegger and Derrida: Being Written (Palgrave Macmillan NY, 2019); Aesth-etchis: Of Hospitality in Art (Bialik Institute, 2024 [Hebrew]); Aesth-etchis: Of Hospitality in Art (Palgrave Macmillan NY, 2025). He also published articles in: Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly; Heidegger Studies; British Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology; Performance Philosophy Journal, among others. He also translated to Hebrew Heidegger’s Letter on “Humanism” (Magnes Press, 2018).

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