Abstract

This article presents the phenomenon of the refugee, as Hannah Arendt experienced it, to show its paradigmatic function. This was done by a philosopher Giorgio Agamben who tried to show the concept of a refugee as paradigmatic in sense that it has power to change the current theoretical concepts of political philosophy. The main thesis of the article is that not only the concept of refugee can serve as a paradigm, but many others so the emphasis of this article is on a theoretical meaning and a conceptual productivity of a paradigm. In the context of a Forum Junge Theologie and its main theme »transgressions — Grenzüberschreitungen«, the concept of a paradigm is presented as a border–concept. Concept of a refugee as a border concept becomes a paradigm and in that way it can criticize the contemporary concepts such as state, citizenship and human rights and facilitate a new understanding of the society. The article, after presenting the argumentation of Agamben’s interpretation of the concept of a refugee as a paradigm, ends with thoughts about possible ways of overcoming of the border, which man had defined. Maybe this can be achieved by new appreciation of a human as such and not only as a citizen. The realities of state would remain in some way, but the understanding of the border between states should be reconsidered and changed.