Seeking to contribute to the recent emergence of critical phenomenology by clarifying the relation between ontology and ethics, this article offers a new account of the sources of normativity in the context of Heidegger’s critique of technological enframing (Gestell) and Derrida’s political philosophy. I distinguish three levels of normativity in Heidegger and show how moving between the levels permits the critical deployment of the affirmation (Zusage) in response to being’s address. On this view, not only are humans constitutively claimed by (...) being, but the claim calls for its express hearing and critical elaboration. I then show how Derrida reconceives Heidegger’s normativity by developing a notion of double affirmation that communicates with key concepts from his moral-political work, such as the gift, the advance, and friendship. I conclude by indicating what double affirmation entails for critique today. (shrink)

En el siguiente trabajo analizaremos un conjunto de elaboraciones en torno a la sexualidad del Dasein en trabajos fundamentales de Heidegger del período 1928-1929, para reconstruir luego las interpretaciones desde las cuales J. Derrida articula su comprensión de las diferencias sexuales. En este marco nos proponemos poner en evidencia que el enfoque y horizonte fundamental en el que se inscriben tales tratamientos e interpretaciones se despliegan sobre la base del carácter primario de la estructura ontológica del Ser-con o la alteridad (...) radical y apuntan a clarificarlo. En este sentido, la comprensión de la sexualidad humana en estas elaboraciones se circunscribe en un conjunto de delimitaciones preliminares que buscan reorientar el pensar y su articulación discursiva, constituyéndose como antecedente ineludible para nuestros respectivos debates contemporáneos. (shrink)

This essay concerns Heidegger’s assertion that the biography of the poet is unimportant when interpreting great works of poetry. I approach the question in three ways. First, I consider its merits as a principle of literary interpretation and contrast Heidegger’s view with those of other Trakl interpreters. This allows me to clarify his view as a unique variety of non-formalistic interpretation and raise some potential worries about his approach. Second, I consider Heidegger’s view in the context of his broader philosophical (...) project. Viewed this way, Heidegger’s decision to neglect the poet’s biography seems quite reasonable and consistent with his inquiry into the being of language. Finally, I consider Heidegger’s suggestion that Trakl is a kind of mad genius. I recast this paradigmatic figure in terms of what I call the ‘wretched prophet’ and consider some ways in which its appeal sheds light on the crisis of modernity and the aestheticization of politics. (shrink)