Ce collectif fort de 26 contributions est le fruit d’un atelier comparatiste qui s’est déroulé au fil de différentes rencontres, sous la forme de séminaires et d’un colloque, dont le livre constitue une étape ultérieure, réflexive, sur les acquis des discussions antérieures. Le point de départ de cette réflexion partagée est la question de la figuration, à travers différents temps et différents espaces. Fidèles à l’esprit dans lequel Marcel Detienne a mené naguère ce type d’atelier, les direc...

The notion of 'symbol' in Eriugena's writing is far from clear. It has an ambiguous semantic connection with other terms such as 'signification', 'figure', 'allegory', 'veil', 'agalma', 'form', 'shadow', 'mystery' and so on. This paper aims to explore into the origins of such a semantic ambiguity, already present in the texts of the pseudo-Dionysian corpus which Eriugena translated and commented upon. In the probable Neoplatonic sources of this corpus, the Greek term symbolon shares some aspects of its meaning with (...) other words inherited from the ancient tradition, such as synthēma , eikōn , homoiotēs. Some of them, such as eikōn and homoiotēs, belong to the field of images and are associated with linguistic semantics in the Neoplatonic commentaries not only to Plato but also to Aristotle's logical works. Among the late ancient Neoplatonists, particular attention is paid to Proclus and to his use of the term agalma. In fact, the textual history of this word seems to be a privileged perspective from which to reconstruct the Neoplatonic semantic blending of symbol and image, as well as the main role played by linguistic issues in this conflation. (shrink)

The expression "image" is characterized, starting with the Greek language, by a certain ambiguity, since it can point to an iconic sign or to an allegoric-figurative sign. However it is possible to find out in the history of ancient thought an acceptation of "image" where these features are both present, that is agalma whose first meaning in the lexicon of classic Greek is "sacred image". Neoplatonism particularly uses this expression as one of the key term of its doctrine about (...) the methods through which it is possible to reveal the divine. Agalma in that way was conceived as an iconic sign (a statue or a mimetic figure) whose morphological elements are the vehicle of allegoric meanings; these meanings then are able to refer to transcendent realities. So the capacity to reveal the God's nature is attributed to iconic image that becomes a sign no longer bound exclusively to material dimension (as it has been described, for instance, by Augustine and other late ancient and medieval thinkers). (shrink)

The expression "image" is characterized, starting with the Greek language, by a certain ambiguity, since it can point to an iconic sign or to an allegoric-figurative sign. However it is possible to find out in the history of ancient thought an acceptation of "image" where these features are both present, that is agalma whose first meaning in the lexicon of classic Greek is "sacred image". Neoplatonism particularly uses this expression as one of the key term of its doctrine about (...) the methods through which it is possible to reveal the divine. Agalma in that way was conceived as an iconic sign (a statue or a mimetic figure) whose morphological elements are the vehicle of allegoric meanings; these meanings then are able to refer to transcendent realities. So the capacity to reveal the God's nature is attributed to iconic image that becomes a sign no longer bound exclusively to material dimension (as it has been described, for instance, by Augustine and other late ancient and medieval thinkers). (shrink)

This paper examines the evolution of Jacques Lacan’s concept of mourning from his treatment of Hamlet in Seminar 6, “Desire and Its Interpretation,” to its transformation in the tenth Seminar on “Anxiety.” It is a transformation that occurs in tandem with Lacan’s reconception of anxiety as lack of the lack and his reshaped conception of the objet a as object/cause of desire. The key point is the way that Lacan’s renovated conception upends the common sense notion of mourning, that which (...) assumes that suffering the death of a loved one means accommodating oneself to an absence where there was previously a presence. On the contrary, says Lacan, part of what is most deeply to be mourned is the lack in the Other around which the love relation was constructed. The paper concludes by asking to what extent Lacan’s account of mourning should be distinguished from those of both Hegel and Freud. (shrink)

This article develops the concept of “agnotology”, a term coined by the historian of science Robert N. Proctor and the linguist Ian Bolas. Agnotology implies the study of ignorance, especially how ignorance and doubt are strategically induced by specific agents through misinformation, misleading research and inaccurate scientific data. The aim of this article is twofold: on the one hand it summarizes the main objectives of the agnotological area of study, taking into account the state of the art over the subject (...) matter. On the other hand it criticizes agnotology from a philosophical perspective. In fact, agnotology is heir to a metaphysical conception of reality grounded upon polar oppositions such as true/false, appearance/substance, good/evil. My claim is that agnotology’s efforts in studying the spread of ignorance remain entangled in a mindset, typical of conspiracy theories, which debases the complexity of reality into a two sided clash of ideologies. (shrink)

Against the Artists. Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and the Man of Art. -/- This essay explores the concepts of "art" (gei) and "man of art" (geinin) in Tanizaki's works. These two notions belong to an ancient Japanese aesthetic tradition. The concept of 'gei' means "realization", "skill", but also "technique" and "ability". Traditional stage performances such as 'nō', 'kyōgen', 'bunraku', 'kabuki', are typical examples of 'gei'. On the other hand the concept of 'geinin' implies three pivotal aspects: 1) a strict and harsh aesthetic (...) education; 2) an environment suitable to develop the man of art's sensitivity; 3) a long process of emotional maturation. This perspective, according to this paper, sheds light on the peculiar Japanese aesthetic "difference" in relation to the concepts of art and artist developed - on the contrary - in Western tradition. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to explore Mario Perniola’s perspective on art between the years 1966 and 1972. During this six-year period Perniola elaborates – mainly influenced by his closeness to revolutionary and protest movements such as the Situationist International and Ludd – a political and militant theory based on the dialectic overcoming of art. The year 1972, with the last issue of the journal Agar-Agar, marks the beginning of a theoretical rearrangement regarding art theory for the Italian philosopher. (...) Whereas several scholars have recently focused on the later phase of Perniola’s thought on art, this paper wishes to draw the attention on a less investigated area of his researches. Specifically, I will develop his claims on the identity of art and revolution and his idea of an “artistic alienation” which originated in Western society. (shrink)

Contemporary art, which explodes from the borders and identifiable genres, the dance requires to be discussed in a perspective that exceeds the narrow of the sector. It is a microcosm of the world, a privileged space for observing the displacements and tensions of the contemporary world whose stake is a new posture that redesigns the body map in the society of capital and in the era of relations mediated by the mechanisms of the network. The result is a unique field (...) of analysis to explore with the work of Michele Di Stefano, one of the most interesting figures in the advanced front of contemporary choreography. Space, time and aesthetic categories mark this path of reflection. (shrink)

Agalmato-eroticism is usually shown in the ancient world as a literary myth; it had lasted in the works of those poets such as Ovid and those writers of varia variorum like Pseudo Luciano in his Amores, who devoted to it their analyses and reflections. The best known example of Agalmato-eroticism is certainly the one which refers to Pygmalion’s story, who carved an ivory statue of a maiden and fell in love with it, then asked the ancient Greek goddess of love (...) and beauty Aphrodite, to change it into a woman. What appears emblematic in this story — that we might call of Metamorphosis — is its collocation: that is, between the prior event in the story of the Propetidi, and the conclusion referring to the story of Adonis, after a series of events deriving from the transformation of the statue in human being. Every event of agalmato-eroticism is a disruption of the natural order of things which cannot be without consequences. Through the illustration of Agalmato-eroticism the authors provided a very strong account of what it meant for a man to love a statue: to loose himself; and suicide and oblivion were the fundamental aspects of the defeated subject who remained confined in his own solispism. (shrink)