Giorgio Agamben. Animal, Man and Language. 2011

so nobody trying to analyze the work of the linguist on which there is grounded distillery the laser states that he had this from the works of the French whose name is French is the innovative and then we also wrote an essay on the theory of the speech as we follow these essays which is a branch and the preface so what you could ask is to retake Austin still fishing and as we saw generalize its validity to the whole field of language so according to the distinction between accretionary and cannot really be community they're always present together and what he does is to criticize the modern of what he calls Sasori on linguistics and you know that modern business the founder in some way as a Cuban side by the work of descriptors language which is an object which is the concrete utilization of 50 making function so the language is the French or the English language then the parole is what I'm doing now to speak but this distinction is because what he will do is to constitute the land as an abstract system of relationship signification completely independent by any pragmatic and performative aspects now land is a system of science so it is a system of relationship between signifiers and see of course aspheric you read when you pronounce context detail the decision to change the draw reversed a lot of the transformation system undergoes according to the context for instance if I see Peter which character border this can be just a neutral information will come tomorrow but of course it can be the world pay attention to created in such a big way even my husband is cavity and so so Peter will come tomorrow perfect changed completely his traumatic allocations so it's being in some way according to the context in which it is uttered and there is always context but what every actress is always after in the context and this context always inclined transformation according to the pragmatical situation indicator showed is a big transformation perception train for me so on the contrary Sosua languages has to put between parentheses this transformation pragmatic a transformation and just consider the language as a system of science surgery so the analysis of the utterances Peter which are tomorrow will not take the current account the pragmatics must contain other words you can't be a silence the possibility of prostituting linguistic of science and Pacific Sosua perspective is linked to the living apart all the illocutionary and dramatical context and of course on the contrary the speech act theory is discovering a subway economy grow of the dis other aspect of language but which economy cannot be separated from why it was in perspective to things are separated mostly in the crow perspective the two elements constitute to get together language cannot be separated so the illocutionary this DJ is not an exception it is always there and so if you take the pronunciation chance words then another a musician just walk east charms working for another decision I wished that charge of producing image to wish the chance so from from a pure Sigma T aspects the segmentation systemic aspect the semantic content is it's a way to see the better chance then it completely changed so I'm assuming you surprised very briefly because then what they do is they do grow task is to analyze which aspects of any possible patterns ensure and trying to show that's never you can have a cure a practical Illuminati sharing even when it seems that it is just crucial the crucial in some way you can find the presence of a vocational so is criticizing the project of substituting with your science perspective is dutiful this means to leave see be led you know that sudra duplicity the bathroom is privacy and Interscope you Kroy just proposing that oh these two elements semantically perfectly corresponds to our model our mother is perfectly confirmed in this kind of analysis not the boat and homages aren't there they cannot be separated they are distinguished but inside and the work together and a recitation exclusion and the discovery of this implication is not only as Thomas said before when the Christian theologians developed the theory of science they absolutely water today fear is being a performative theory of language because how do you notice define design the tear of sacrament is a kind of a sacred theology and they promised suicide the sacrament is made by science but there are peculiar science which have the power to realize what they mean is quality the definition of the performative in a sudden you have a sign which realize what it means so Greece's the word pronounced by the priests in the Eucharist outside they were science but these sons in the sacrament required for realizing body so gray and white transform themselves so the theory of Socrates a perfect and this begins to Civic it's already in to be clearly formulated in 11th century tenets formulated by this fantastic center so much before hosting we have a perfect awareness that there is a peculiar force language which realize but it's now try to pastor try to understand where does this force of language transfer we saw that we must seriously the example low in II German reporters X according to different listing every utterance you see a peculiar source of language it's traveling try not to ask where this force language you remember that we connected our theology with model of the Genesis and bisoder disease is like a is something that you suppose to have happened but the you cannot situate in the apology an interest is effect about the article genesis is that scientists and scholars probably consequently to their professional deformation concede the natural genesis always is something concerning the intelligence of man the knowledge as it were only a question of brain volume suddenly the intelligence trying to develop to solve it the anthropologist is always open to see as a question concerning combination and say cognitive demand for some reason men became intelligent and it's also explained bringing this here again kind of prejudice it's a professional prejudice of the societies the reason only term of recognition and so they could see the true Genesis but it is that when this transformation this event could not concern all the cognition of this event for starting the transformed concern the whole be concerned this is a special and incredible transformation agents what was at stake in this Angelo genetical event was not only connected to something vision concerned the ethics the politics the patience everything so the almost Japanese denomination again it expresses the prejudice that the only question when irrelevant in the man is intelligence of osakans why not what were you just waiting so when we see me now we go to de vente blend travel stop to this became the lead with the tendency to explain the difference between animal languages and always in the form of great power so the language of the animals is a poor system outside science which has only a pragmatic colors and the utilization why according to this human language is so complex formation that's also again dependent on the language is only conceived in the perspective of coalition a greater nation then the dc-7 so forth because as you know how do people we're excited about something discover every day one traits of characters that we thought before also this character so this is the foods problem what I want to suggest is that when this event genican the difference between what was implanted in this was not only the cognitive power the difference between it is as if there is of course scientists exist do not go to engage complete their language they use the language but they want to put at stake their own nature in their language on the country what defines men is that man is a living being which puts at stake is natural in its language makes risks itself defines himself through language makes of language is specific the audience stood how dangerous discourse they refer to use language but for a limited field why men we can define man this perspective is in whose language is life is extinct and risk that's why language too the culture or the trade shows B etc etc but this is not this is a magical engagement we decide to wager your life with your life but this is not a cognitive instamate the part because we like clinicians we want to know more it is an ethical political and concerned afford this is perhaps why different from other animal man has to say yes to constitute a subject of language to appropriate and assuming the language through the Constitution I want to see is that the is force of must be understood in that respect so it meant is be a host language so life is at stake this is why language can have the between force that then was separated human by religion no magic etc this field which we saw that the first language is each time organized separated based system probably can be understood only in this anthropogenic perspective which the advantage meant the transformation of the whole world so the force stops imagine its force in this sense then perhaps we can understand why such a force language my emphasis men takes over why men engaged himself this world the over the net which you can see how this will be required ability language decide also to risk himself in language I think the whole is just an organization needs to be institutionalization right now that you will try to in the model of man as a being fish risks itself in its language where does violence exists where violence isn't see that the force language precedes and simply the forces language in this system friend of course force and - existed before just representing them but once the political event the sense of risk in its nature then this may be the kind of primacy of the force of language on the force this way we try to circumvent the physical force teams at the maintenance of the so this metaphor in some way this meant assuming physical force in the perspective of the first language that in tariqa system as we see transitivity the season it's precisely an organization of physical in order to maintain the oldest year no religion etc must be seen some way is coming after this from the perspective which was I trying to image because it's of course again this a decay we are speaking out the sound of a technicality thing but it's a it's a thought experiment we are cannot and cannot say other that moment I decided that we just a to experiment but I think that what we call the institutional institutions of human culture very old one religion no etcetera they are just attempt to organize establish and separate this religion decisions way loners explain just that forwarding from this the progenitor meant to say our date our status now in relationship to the apparatus where does capture coming to the process it was a captured decent rubber genital event was captured in a series of system liturgies practices which constitute our culture stages crisis recidivate this is a positive thing let's go he needed a miniature say he didn't mention voice we ended securitisation Forrester something that must be done again and again and again or is it something that was considered to be of an anthropological story that systematized which are quite similar in the bikini solo region it's not easy to distinguish how do we proceed liturgy is very interesting generalized because it is a peculiar activity in which there is a kind of an absolute operative eNOS what you do what you see is and this but with stirs determined the two leaders utopian future was in the beginning the political term and attention with Forrester did lead to this group where they some things that a citizen which citizen had to do for the sea organized the games organize the theater organize our ship this was publications that the signatories that the citizens had to do for the public and meet the technological utopia comes from Laos people and enemy was a puppet work for the research that we're never very judicially Jewish rabbis translated by the degree they choose to a spell to translate Jewish people and that means the law but from what I understand you to be saying well they are there is something primordial out the world about the law as we so interested in did you read it as system no it's not all bad news realized New York is the content of it also know regulates the usage of force which aims at maintains but since it's not far away of course a vision but Fuko 102 is that what we are conceived we usually consider as secondary we consider in our democratic traditions English between sovereign power citizens then we considered that the other distance that we call the government as secondary because they have just to apply so to say this is completely false this is completely false what we see very clearly today it is the executive power government which has the primacy and is a kind of it is the polemic matter which we will decide can I use again he has to take a sovereign decision if the public order straight and who decides in the fields in the moment so it's a kind of essential thing is the power of the citizen to elect the demand the day they will make the law so they can't complete perversion Viviani today there is a primacy of the executive power very sovereign power is sexy that moment of creation and the way I understand that moment of creation was prior to any linguistic mediation so then the theory modernist becomes the basis for ethics which is takes on these Irene and so on as more than this cognition and so on I'm wondering if we can put forward a way that a theory of other Ness might be thrown in Buddhism there moments this event of language which is an ethical moment yeah see better that lemonis is not the creation the ethical and fundamental moment is if I'm not wrong the visit of the attack it's the research of the other will oblige you to make you responsible they transform you in the message there are there you see free since an incorporeal transformation according to leading us the discharge of the others transforms you in a hostage ethical so again in the corporate us formation what was your question if that is where the other nest this of course this anthropogenically vent as being the ventral language within which the living being so to see the decides to put its life on stake at stake in its language of course and I and you are always implied in the next table next of language will not imply those two shifters adonis purposes implied there is no event of the language for only one person in the ventral language implies a darkness that doesn't exist a language for bankers one person couldn't yeah you spoke about on the trial right seems to me that there's something else language reason there's no it's only the force of language in the law because there's no like there's something else it's not like the hostage example where I become the hostage because I know then you have a gun there is no gun no voice that's that's what I'm that's what I'm like there's not this violent imposition of like the force of the hand it's only the force of the law and he is interpolated and he's he becomes something without absolutely if we follow our policy which i think is correct that Kafka is describing the corporeal transformation person when he becomes an accused person because there is an accusation undeterred general it indexation as you remember is never stated but there is there is another verb in English Thunder Thunder yeah because you remember the book begins salmon head slandered Joseph tan because it is accused but it is innocent information so all the book follows this idea of the in accusation probably false accusation which is never stated and you get the idea in the book if you remember as the judge the office never act it is he who goes looks for them goes in desert tries to find the place of the whole of Justice which we as you know is the kind of dirty place is kind of dirty places so if he is in some way slandering himself accusing himself as if Kafka thought that each man accuses himself food but this comes in a way from the load existence of the law makes of every man an accused person and obliged every person to slander himself in some way and then you remember the this very important moment of the novel is the delete the story of the priest told by the priest a countryman wants to enter in the house the door is open so it goes there but on the in the threshold there is a garden and he wants to enter the garden see that's not really impede or exert the force but tells him that he could never enter not just way to remember ways ways ways and then when the last moment is it almost is almost dead the garden comes and tells him you know the door of justice was tested only to you was open only to you now close it so that it's in but then if so there is never violence I'm sorry but indeed and we forgot this it is not finished no but the end we have now is that two people scan and then kill Jessica so in the in the last moment there is a violence which is an unexplained because in all the story the the offices of justice never act they are never do not even know if they exist really but but it is this I mean probably the story of the transformation with men and the rules when it is accused and probably by himself and good idea why there is this beautifully the other car means there is no real could be devastating ability ability every acquisition is for my low is there just to accuse this could be also another language once there he became speaking being language is there to transform themselves in some way as you speak and as you decide to risk your life you are in some way and there is a beautiful land goodbye great Italian Jewish was a specialist of procedure Reverend and he says in some way the essence below is the trial it's not the know the essence of the law is the amount of the trial and the sentence sentence will last not the pronunciation which does not concern that through door fools justice or injustice because as you probably know there is a moment in which the pronounces sentence acquire the power of truth even if after certain delay after certain point the sentence requires what language is said the force of judgment res judicata never mind perhaps it's false but it function has been so there is since available Batman the supported system where that language is the punishment I just wanted to add to that just a comment around sort of executive power and sovereign power because I think what would what would be good to kind of add to it is the unspoken back side of power that exerts the power on to the executive so all of the the backroom power assertions that function in any given society that help make the laws or push the laws or influence decision makings that are done without transparency without deliberation and simply in the background that can be like to say security done but then also the array of officially of official alarm which lies the for instance in Europe to the English numerical system are different from the European system but in today in the European Parliament most you don't have a no in the strict sense of the term you had decrease urgency decrease because the government has the necessity of a quick decision and it is the debate in Parliament would be too long so proposes a urgency decree which then after is approved by the Parliament and most receive most bitter decision in France Italy Germany are taken in this form of a decree which is not a law it is a decree proposed by the executive power and the Parliament ratified ratified the decree so you see that there is an inverter complete inversion so that if power is on the side of government so there are many measures and I think the distance is very important to understand because in some way it always existed this special power of the executive table but in after First World War the continuously proclamation of state of exception etc cetera d it is clear that today the sovereign element is the executive because became his normal way of gavin what in the beginning was a provisional an exceptional measure and then collect you was a kind of experiment even thousand but in our model it was a kind of thought experiment to understand the implications of the transformation my point is this is not only cognitive it in class recess is very interesting theory that what we call a subjectivity subject so human languages are constituted in a way the day always implied some very strange particles little words like I you not now yesterday tomorrow remind the very peculiarities of these little terms what is the meaning of I the man beneath sauce it's a shifter is it's not like the other test table means a certain object made by would saturate cetera I has no correspondence in the world means the person who is uttering the present instant of discourse containing so I is the one who now is pronouncing time that's why can be me you can so let's not like the table which is only one thing I can change every second because the meaning of I is not a lexical me like the other it refers only to the instance of description but this is also too far now here what does it mean here right don't try to define the meaning over here we reward answer you can define the meaning identified with fear means only if you refers to the present instance blanket so here means the place in which we you understand what I mean by here because I am pronouncing a certain manner now now now every moment of the day but now means the moment in which I but Freesat I and you but he know he is Mexican he means the third person is not like the first and second means certainly he's walking so he discovered is a very beautiful system which every language contains a set of terms which are only intelligible in reference to the distance of discourse which contains them and these are I to now here also tomorrow what is tomorrow's more is not a reality this tomorrow has meaning only because in reference of the quality which now today I am saying tomorrow today is the same and yesterday is the same and when you shift to another system instead of tomorrow what you will say tomorrow has meaning only in the discourse when you are writing a novel etc what we will say said over tomorrow the day after the set of yesterday you will say the day before now if you're writing it takes not in the first person so there are certain particles which are an intelligible only in reference to the when an author appropriates di in the character he's writing you know this is the first person to look at me know how pro-peace the eye of his character yeah when the person who writes it takes in the first person you have a fiction in which it will transfer to takes this search of the ship decided to accept that but it's a fictional proceeding but here we are decision because you can rest now very often if you choose the fiction of the Paradise course you will use the shifters as if they were the situation of discourse instance but start true way when you read you know that is true so practical neckties because then what is their fashion the function of this particle arrangement is precisely to allow the passage from the lung that's why I said that then his knowledge to speak has to see passkey that is around the English language then there is the parole people speak she's a soft wicker question the trick is not to ask for pee sometimes if we really think that such a thing as the English language's do you think that the language the theenglishman which exists but I doubt but if you think that the language learn the English language will exist in the other place then you have to explain but how is possible to fast from that's level to death because in the lack nothing explains the text because me then the grammatical rules but there is no act of language possible so me but in some way the shifters this I you now here I like the practice the particles who make the transition between yeah speaking and also with the linguistic shift I'm sitting here recently forgot to mention that one other very important this is the what in a verb indicates the present time so if I say I speak you understand that it is the present time but you can all the understand the present as present is what is the time in which the present instant of discourse is taking place what is the present so even this is some time is determined by the act of language this is function in which I am speaking nobody should go back to our subject this TV ministerium I will achieve terms of the disparity between a practical speech there is no human language shooters but on the console subjectivity can only be constituted sensor risks a ghostie cheese is a subject someone who will be - India - no and it's true because it is probably that the Listeria is correct that this idea is what we call subjectivity where the metaphysical ontological psychological issues a huge quantity of useless books on the problem of subjective most absurd things have had such activity this short essay by this very clarifying this hospital system the only consistence of subjectivity is the tech the present is that knowledge so the subject is the eye which actors the present distance language containing them in other ways another soil what then from death through all the rest capital to the cyclization cycle rotation of the eye the constituting of the eye in a metaphysical free subject to all these stupid things came from that simple fact that I see because it's very clear he's right the only meaning of I is dead then all the others development came after the final psychology as the introduction we introduced it delayed for five seconds four minutes one hour two hour between the they are all psychology it goes together so whatever trying to cite it has to show some way is that the force of language that we see acting it's a force of language does not depend it implies that's all goes together and yet the subjectivity is first of all a linguistic phenomenon and not deny go to rest and course then in the history of culture it's the rest which is important some previous yeah we're trying to identify the really original moment so is it this risking ourselves in our venture that ties us yeah that in some way the human society how could we build a culture Society or institution etc if no one stick to but nothing saying that this is good because this is also these Dukes men also do very difficult situation very next one you decide to make yourself too and perhaps never to experiment what we call an animal is just me who was aware of the trees because I'm because it's true not how its rooted now science is sure that animal languages exist it's not true that does not exist in some way they can be also elaborated but the difference so it's not cognitive as we think it is I will not put my nature at stake because what happens that we love static or Sunday change once you of course that's why we do not know what is our nature put your language you risk your language you've mentioned the language you do not know anymore the game so this is going to have that in the parlance of professor about you we'd like something like the this we find in the maintenance of fidelity absolutely decided you know this dude that Manson is truthful as a fidelity to such as through anything which we decide with truth fidelity to something once we had a discussion because so he in some way so in some way it defined men as we are doing here so the man is a being which will keep fidelity but dizzy will it will absolutely state as positive this is the good of man but one am now suggesting is this is true that this day what happened with man but this is not sir I'm not sure that this is only good thing is this is just the development of technology it's just a way in which the power of language really covered everything because once I asked me it's true but how well from where does the animal living being find the reserves the forces to keep fighting this cannot explain why can a man keep fighting in my perspective this can only be explained it already in the animal Santa Clause there you cannot establish a tactic between the being and the one who decides and then I think it's different to keep fidelity to language as such and keep fidelity to a truth which in value terms is a theory I would prefer a big man who tries to keeps fidelity to language its language as such it's being speaking fee but not keeping fidelity to a certain term truth this is ideological this means that you are truthful to Marxism to christianism to Islam - she's two masses I prefer a real attitude and only be grounded in fidelity to languages which is empty but maybe once you became speaking language not to it contained two language vitality to the potential of language directed shattered and up to a certain discourse in you must distinguish from the plan of languages such then the plan in training we see which you make them use that this is true Marxist reason God is surprised say that this is poetry defeated in two languages sash is what we call thought what you started if you did it to assert could be a diffusion policy that's why purchase going to use me never points retain that I did divided sin I have question regarding this sacrament you said these caesarian linguistic it's not able to cope with performative speech at that remind me of the model of the myth about my tribe to extend the ceremony for the second layer so to speak in order to cope with the UM I don't know how to say the identity i presents the real presence of the young for example worship and talk about these Africans saluting the flag of France the imperialism is present in the picture also it is not shown so it's like it reminds me of the function of the sacrament actually so there's Christ present in the bread but he's not there but this president same time and it's a simple but which is really the peculiarity of this kind of a science there are signs they are symbols but the implication is that something there is severe presence there usually we can conceive a sign it's not implying a we are present but the graphical fading to something so the idea is that the Christ is present it's not just memorized event the event is the game yeah but the same presence like the imperialism and the photograph of the African salutes the flag for a person who really believes need the flag implies the presence of something that's rather than the flag is kept at risk of death though the person has the flag try to die - yeah there are this this is a very kind of performative phenomena a sign which acts as a presence realizes the presence it's not the image of different things the nation of the king is present in the flag like a crisis present in the Eucharist actually when they get back to the and that's forgetting our main hypothesis because let me make a lot of digression big potential growth is make the crash with your right we have to thank you the eye has no no correspondence to a world I mean could we call the eye a generic procedure that negatively attaches being to a world so that you see that I it is the separation of being in world so that's the first thing but instead of and that's the MSPB and then on the other hand what the Commandant utters is precisely that split between being and world that will be being an ST so so the gap articulated by commandment is it's a new more profound gap that I would like to call perhaps the gap between being and body when what does that state now precisely dangers one being body syntax holy song yeah but something also never that explains their also to reinforce and then the connection of the force I swear a possible objection that he could do to administer tea revolution I is just the one who pronounces the present instant of discourse containing how can we identify this the only possible criticism is does this not presuppose the voice because as he treats this only in linguistic terms the subjects just this particle but then we have a person who utter the present and Rebs voice is what Ridley permits to identify it's my voice that promise you to identify me as the present relationship and it was in treating material to shifters and beneath them only refers to language is a system contained in the shoe store the voice is the place in which language a huge problem the device is the Forgotten programming language there is no linguistic of divorce

Channel: European Graduate School Video Lectures

Views: 18,709

Rating: 4.8928571 out of 5

Keywords: Giorgio, Agamben, Gilles, Deleuze, language, linguistics, Oswald, Ducrot, Ferdinand, de, Saussure, speech, act, performative, sacrament, animal, The, Trial, Franz, Kafka, law, Emile, Benveniste, Alain, Badiou, EGS, european, graduate, school

Id: KNVvvslTO8s

Length: 89min 45sec (5385 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 13 2012

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The European Graduate School updated their website recently and made several lectures available (you can find more of Agamben's lectures here). Unfortunately, they removed several small articles that were published there.