scholarly journals The Limit: a Fundamental Question for the Subject in Human Experience

Konturen ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Willey Apollon
Keyword(s):  
Human Experience ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Link ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Passage To The Limit

From oneself to the Other, from the unpresentable quest of desire to the space of the receivable structured by the social link, from the audible (where the time of the quest is structured) to the visible (where the absence of its object reveals itself), the human lacerates itself in the impossible articulation of a passage to the limit. Borders that are forever to be reconstructed recount something that is impossible to say, in the process of which each one of us ceaselessly redefines his or her position in the difficult response to the only question that counts: "up to what point can I go too far, without cutting myself off from others?"

A lacanian reply to Marx : the necessity of topology in the formation of the social

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lawrence Loiseau
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Link ◽  
True Source ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study addresses Lacan's comments on Marx. While much has been done towards reading Marx with psychoanalysis generally, little had has been done to unpack the meaning and extent of Lacan's own statements on Marx. For example, while Lacanian Marxists like Slavoj Zizek have wielded Lacan to great effect in a critique of post-structuralism, they have neglected the full meaning and complexity of Lacan's own stance. What is argued thereby is that Zizek not only omits the discrete knowledge within Lacan's commentary, but misses what I describe as a Lacan's theory of the social. On the one hand, it is commonly known in Lacanian thought that discourse is responsible for making the subject. On the other hand, what is less known is that Lacan defined discourse as that which makes a social link which, in contrast with Marxist thought, introduces a certain affect and materialism premised on discourse itself, commonly known, but also for providing the underlying strata of topology (namely, paradox) requisite for making any social link between subjects. Although less commonly known, we can nevertheless gain new insight into Marx. On the one hand, Lacan concedes Marx's underlying structuralism. On the other hand, Marx fails to see the true source of discourse's origins, the real itself, and consequently fails to see the true efficacy of discourse. He fails to see how discourse, although negative, stands as entirely positive and material in its distinctive effects. Discourse negotiates subjects and their inimitable objects of desire in this singularity itself. This is where true production lies; it is that which precedes any social or economic theory, which are otherwise premised on reality. Lacan rejects reality.

scholarly journals Misreading and re-reading: interpretation in comparative religion

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
René Gothóni
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
The Other ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Marco Polo ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Holistic Conception ◽  
Sinhalese Buddhism ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Christian Discourse

Religion should no longer only be equated with a doctrine or philosophy which, although important, is but one aspect or dimension of the phenomenon religion. Apart from presenting the intellectual or rational aspects of Buddhism, we should aim at a balanced view by also focusing on the mythical or narrative axioms of the Buddhist doctrines, as well as on the practical and ritual, the experiential and emotional, the ethical and legal, the social and institutional, and the material and artistic dimensions of the religious phenomenon known as Buddhism. This will help us to arrive at a balanced, unbiased and holistic conception of the subject matter. We must be careful not to impose the ethnocentric conceptions of our time, or to fall into the trap of reductionism, or to project our own idiosyncratic or personal beliefs onto the subject of our research. For example, according to Marco Polo, the Sinhalese Buddhists were 'idolaters', in other words worshippers of idols. This interpretation of the Sinhalese custom of placing offerings such as flowers, incense and lights before the Buddha image is quite understandable, because it is one of the most conspicuous feature of Sinhalese Buddhism even today. However, in conceiving of Buddhists as 'idolaters', Polo was uncritically using the concept of the then prevailing ethnocentric Christian discourse, by which the worshippers of other religions used idols, images or representations of God or the divine as objects of worship, a false God, as it were. Christians, on the other hand, worshipped the only true God.

scholarly journals El sacrificio animal en la literatura mexicana: cuatro ejemplos

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-165
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Hernández Quezada
Keyword(s):  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
The Other ◽  
Animal Sacrifice ◽  
Physical Suffering ◽  
The Social ◽  
Juan Jose Arreola ◽  
Clifford Geertz ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Broad Approach

In this article we take a general look at four Mexican authors who have tackled the subject of animal sacrifice: Ramón Rubín, Juan José Arreola, Héctor Aguilar Camín and Alberto Chimal. Our broad approach is that one way or the other harmful and disadvantageous situations are expressed for the non-human entity, considering the social implications of the role which has been assigned to it across time, be it in the symbolic act or in today’s production logic. Departing from such Derridean considerations about the existing relationship between humans and fauna, it is evident that in the works of the authors analyzed, the topic or use of animals presents the material reach of their sacrifice, especially when the matter of the literary representation of pain or physical suffering comes into play. It is relevant at the same time to affirm that in this work we consider the reflections of several authors who, from a philosophic or anthropologic perspective, have delved into the fundamental aspects of the sacrificial act, pointing out the evocative role of the animal, rightly conceived as an important cultural event, wherein are manifested transcendental ceremonies (René Girard) or the rites of passage which strengthen the group’s ties (Clifford Geertz).

On the Meaning of “Sovietology”

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aryeh L. Unger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
Disciplinary Identity ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Common Area ◽  
Critical Scrutiny ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Western Scholarship

The article attempts to explicate the meaning of “Sovietology.” It traces the origins of the term and discusses the uses to which it has been put in the scholarly literature. Two different meanings have been attached to the term. One reflects the understanding of Sovietology as the study of Soviet politics; the other views it as a “basket” of several, variously specified, disciplines in the social sciences and—less often—the humanities, distinguished by a common area orientation. The resultant ambiguity has blurred Sovietology's disciplinary identity. Now that the record of Western scholarship on the Soviet Union has become the subject of critical scrutiny and debate, it is especially important that the meaning of “Sovietology” be clearly stipulated.

The Reform of Peking Opera in Taiwan

1974 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 140-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irmgard Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Chinese Opera ◽  
Dramatic Form ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Peking Opera ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One

Readers of this journal who, like myself, have been interested by Colin Mackerras’ article on “Chinese Opera after the Cultural Revolution (1970–72)” in The China Quarterly, No. 55, may like to have some comments on the fate of traditional Peking opera in Taiwan. There, too, there has been “reform” although not generally in such an obvious or dramatic form as on the mainland. At first sight indeed, one might think that ways in which opera is treated on the mainland and in Taiwan are completely different, with the one concentrating on opera as a weapon in the social and political struggle and the other on the development of opera as an artistic form. Nevertheless, in studying aesthetic and theatrical aspects of the changes taking place in Taiwan, which is my main academic interest in the subject, I have been struck by the fact that these can in no way be disentangled from social and political forces.

scholarly journals Hegel's Guilty Conscience: Three Forms of Schuld in the Phenomenology of Spirit

PhaenEx ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55
Author(s):  
MATTHEW LYONS CONGDON
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethical Code ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Phenomenology Of Spirit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Moral System ◽  
The Subject

In what we might call its particularly Christian manifestation, “guilt” denotes the feeling or fact of having offended, the failure to uphold an ethical code. Under such terms, “guilt” connotes negative consequences: shame, punishment, and estrangement. Yet, penetrating further into its meaning and value, one finds that guilt extends beyond this narrow classification, playing a productive, necessary, and ineluctable role for recognitive sociality. This paper examines guilt as it appears in Hegel’s thinking. I find that Hegel’s understanding of Schuld (guilt) in the Phenomenology, undergoes a crucial development over the course of the chapter titled, “Spirit,” culminating in a robust understanding of guilt that represents not a hopelessly broken bond, but a bond that awaits its fulfillment, its very incompleteness exerting a palpable pull upon the guilty party towards its fulfillment. I examine three key moments in “Spirit”: Hegel’s treatments of Antigone, the French Revolution, and the confession and forgiveness of evil. By comparing these moments, I distinguish between “abstract guilt,” guilt that only brings about shame and punishment, and what we might call “determinate guilt”: guilt that brings about action, reminds one of her/his indebtedness to the other. Understanding the development of guilt from the beginning to end of “Spirit” provides an entryway into a discussion of the social and political relevance of Hegel’s conception of the subject as—in a certain sense—always already guilty. I go on to argue that guilt as indebtedness and responsibility only exists as embedded within an already recognitive social structure. Re-thinking guilt as responsibility is not, therefore, a call to a new objective a priori moral system. Rather, it invites us to think through our recognitive being-together in a way that shakes off its metaphysical fetters. Such an ethics of recognitive intersubjectivity is an infinite task—not in the futile sense of the “unhappy consciousness”—but in the sense that we are responsible for constantly understanding, critiquing, and reforming ethical commitments that can only be (understood as) ours.

scholarly journals The significance of educational activeness among the elderly in a social and psychological context

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Marcinkiewicz-Wilk
Keyword(s):  
Information Society ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Critical Literature ◽  
Changing Society

Aim. The aim of this article is to show the significance of educational activeness among the elderly in the context of its adaptation to the ageing process itself (the psychological aspect), as well as to a rapidly changing society defined by technological progress (the social aspect). Method. The article has been formulated with the aid of critical literature on the subject Conclusion. Educational activeness is crucial in late adulthood. On the one hand it is an important element in allowing the elderly to adapt to a new stage of life, and on the other hand to keep up with a rapidly changing society, defined in the literature as the information society.

scholarly journals Diversities of choice, choice of diversities: Practical aspects of a diversity-centered exhibit

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 96-115
Author(s):  
Jeremy Brett
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Educational Experience ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Cultural Institution ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Creation

A cultural institution choosing to mount an exhibit centered on the theme of diversity (or at least to ensure that a reasonable variety of types of objects/creators is presented) faces an inherent contradiction. Namely, while the human experience is infinite, exhibit space is not. Trying to contain the naturally uncontainable obliges an exhibit curator to make choices of materials, manners of display, and item descriptions, which provide a sense of the subject, knowing that inevitably some people and groups will be excluded. Such was our experience at Cushing Memorial Library & Archives with the creation of our 2019 exhibit The Stars Are Ours: Infinite Diversities in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The exhibit is based around the social, ethnic, racial, gender and other diversities of science fiction and fantasy (SF&F) – diversities in creators, in themes, in characters and in plots. Curatorial decisions respected the overarching exhibit theme while also recognizing the physical reality of the space and ensuring an optimal educational experience for patrons. The exhibit is organized thematically rather than by a specific ‘type’ of diversity, because the idea of boxing groups into specifically delineated, ghettoized areas of the exhibit was counterintuitive to the idea of diversity. Most of the exhibit themes were chosen for their broad nature, which allow for a wider range of authors and works to represent them. Items were chosen that we felt could best reflect the diverse nature of the SF&F genres and demonstrate their commonality as documents of the human cultural experience. Exhibit display is also a process involving many factors. In creating exhibit descriptive material, we sought to make subtle rather than overt connections to the overall exhibit theme where possible. The exhibit, in short, is intended as a diversity ‘sampler’ rather than any sort of attempt to try to capture the breadth of the subject. No exhibit with ‘diversity’ as a theme – whether overtly stated or implied – can realistically do more than acknowledge its inability to be a full chronicle. In doing so, exhibit curators actually recognize, in fact, the deep and limitless richness of their chosen subjects.

Modesty versus Shame

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Rosaria Filoni
Keyword(s):  
Self Esteem ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject

The author addresses the subject of modesty, firstly by referring to an article by Alexander Lowen (IIBA Newsletter, 1994), and then an article by Umberto Galimberti, a philosopher and Jungian analyst. Lowen speaks of modesty as «natural pride”, as the expression of the degree of self-perception and self-esteem of the person. It denotes the individual’s ability to contain their feelings and therefore indicates their ability to hold a strong sexual charge. For Galimberti, the human being – who has both a body and individuality – «modesty” expresses the contrasting dialectic between the ego and their animal condition, the two dimensions that intimately constitute the person and tear him or her apart. Each dimension, in fact, hosts two subjectivities. One subjectivity that says «I”, with which we usually identify ourselves, and the other that establishes us as «officials of the species” ensuring its continuity. According to Galimberti, modesty does not limit sexuality but identifies it. The author then reflects on the social and historical aspects of modesty in Italy over the last 50 years.

Conclusions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Martire
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Body ◽  
Absolute Limit ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Preceding Argument

On the basis of the preceding argument, the author posits that the emergence of a new emergent virtual understanding of the individual, has brought us to the absolute limit of the normalizing complex. This vision of the subject as a virtual entity indicates a growing awareness of the presence of an existential uniqueness, or Otherness (born out of normalization’s inherent allusion to the Other as what lies beyond the norms), in everyone’s life that challenges the attempts at conceiving the social body in terms of normality. This has implications that are as yet undefined for our current legal system that has developed thus far in relation to the dynamics of normalization. Faced with the expansion of Otherness in our society, the author intimates that we may be forced to rethink the structure of our legal discourse, and imagine new foundations for the future of democracy and politics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document