This is a book about pragmatism, intercultural philosophy, and ethics that attempts to bring to the fore the variations on the ethical and intercultural life of pragmatism, based on readings of William James, John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Roberto Mangabeira Unger. To this foursome is added the leading feminist thinker of our age, Luce Irigaray.

This essay is an attempt to propose an outline of a new respiratory animal philosophy. Based on an analysis of the forgetting of breath in Western philosophy, it aims to gesture towards a future, breathful and compassionate world of co-sharing and co-breathing. In the first part, the basic features of forgetting of breath are explained based on David Abram’s work in respiratory ecophilosophy. This part also introduces an important contribution to modern philosophy by Ludwig Klages. The second part is dedicated (...) to reflections on what I understand as an unfortunate transition from soul and pneuma to spirit and Geist. Based on these analyses, I proceed towards an idiosyncratic thought on the nocturnal mystery of pneuma, with references to ancient Upanishadic and 20th-century phenomenological Levinasian thought. Based on these teachings, I argue that, at the bottom of her existence, the subject is a lung partaking in an immense external lung (Merleau-Ponty). In the fourth part of the essay, I extend my reflections toward comparative animal respiratory phenomenology and argue for the immense compassion for all our fellow breathing beings. Finally, in the concluding, fifth part of this essay, I am arguing for a future biocentric and breathful environment, signifying and bringing a new compassionate-respiratory alliance into the world. (shrink)

This paper deals with the possibility of an incarnation in the feminine in our age. In the first part, we discuss sexual genealogies in ancient Israel and address the problem of the extreme vulnerability of feminine life in the midst of an ancient sacrificial crisis. The second part opens with an analysis of Feuerbach’s interpretation of the Trinity. The triadic logic, as found within various religious contexts, is also affirmed. Based on our analyses from the first and the second part, (...) in the third part, we address the problems of feminine vulnerability and fragility on one hand, and triadic thinking on the other hand, and relate them to an original proposal for the future matrixial theology of incarnation. (shrink)

In his insightful essay »Prophetic Religion and the Future of Capitalist Civilization« Cornel West fervently addressed a question of our abilities to imagine a more empathetic, more compassionate, and also more hospitable world, in which we could foresee, or perhaps already lay ground for a future community where the word religion would simply mean that we live our lives in the consciousness of our finitude and thus in an existential and cognitive humility. This kind of religion would enable us to (...) see beyond the margins of any narrow-minded religious ideology or any violent incarnation of religion. Based on these initial thoughts, we first wish to discuss two basic concepts of contemporary political theology – community and vulnerability. We shall argue that we need to offer in contemporary political theology a basic ethico-democratic response, infused with our imaginative capacity for remembrance and future hope. We will argue with Unger that we need to live through accepting an enhanced vulnerability, being shared in our democratic religious communities. From this view any loss of human life and its potentials is a sign of a grave injustice, and a catastrophe from an ethical point of view. Finally, we will propose the so called reverse thesis on religion – namely that today, perhaps, we should first look at religion in its radicalized ethico-political form which only later enables us to think about its various variations and incarnations within different traditions and cultures. We will argue that it is within this newly acquired temporality of religion and its inherent ontologico-political paradox, that it is possible to imagine a future place where recurrent hope for a life is reborn and nurtured within future pluralistic / inclusivistic / democratic / post-Christian communities, based on compassion and shared vulnerability, and not any more on power, or any other form of violence. (shrink)

Die Absicht dieses Artikels ist, zu erklären, wie man die Zukunft der Demokratie in Rahmen der Projekte der zeitgenössischen emanzipatorischen Politik versteht. Wir fokussieren uns erst auf eine kritische Fragestellung der emanzipatorischen Projekte von Žižek und Badiou und verknüpfen ihre Projekte mit der politisch-ethischen Frage der Ungleichheiten im Weltsystem. In dem zweiten Teil verteidigen wir das Projekt des radikalisierten Pragmatismus von R. M. Unger gegenüber Žižek und Badiou und erweitern seine Version des radikalisierten Pragmatismus auf weitere ethische Kontexte des zeitgenössischen (...) politisch-ethischen Denkens. (shrink)

In the first part of this paper we introduce some of the main ideas of two great philosophers of democracy – Richard Rorty and Luce Irigaray. We show that in a similar manner both deal with an ethical ideal of community to be imagined, and achieved in the future. In the second part of this paper we present two ideas about democracy as an ethical and spiritual community – i.e., democracy as it relates to the idea of the »child« and (...) democracy as shared atmosphere of »breath«. Finally, in the third part of this paper, we elaborate on the future of democracy in an eschatological sense, and argue, as Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Luce Irigaray would claim, that if democracy is related to the process of our own divinization, then it is precisely within this process that with our creativity, imagination, and love we indeed can become unlimited and infinite. (shrink)

Dans cet article, nous traitons de la question de l’avenir de la démocratie dans le cadre de certains projets politiques émancipateurs actuels. Nous critiquons d’abord la revitalisation de l’idée du communisme de Žižek et de Badiou. Conformément à cette approche, nous nous intéressons à un livre récent de R.M. Unger, The Self Awakened. À la fois nous défendons sa version du pragmatisme radicalisé et étendons certains de ses usages à un contexte politico-éthique plus large.

In this article, we are arguing for a possibility of a new elemental politics as based on breath and fire and gesturing beyond the modes and principles of ontology of violence, power struggles and war in philosophy and political philosophy. We first discuss the task of today’s political philosophy as a need to enkindle the humanity towards a new alliance in creativity and belonging. We propose a new, elemental approach, based on the revitalization of air/breath and fire and present Luce (...) Irigaray’s thought as a key intervention of this kind within the contemporary political thought. The second part brings an analysis of texts by Ernst Jünger and Alain Badiou on soldiers and war as examples of an unfortunate philosophical adventure. The third part is our proposal for another genealogy of human beings as breathers and igniters within the new peaceful and mindful culture of democracy, providing us with a possibility of a new ethico-political order, as based on the elemental constellations of silence, breath and fire. Finally, the idea of a quiet democracy is established, as a place of inner horizontal calm being gathered and cultivated in us by fire, and as a place for beings of this Earth to breathe and to share the air within a new elemental-spiritual conspiracy of love. Towards the conclusion, this essay also is a hommage to Luce Irigaray’s approaches to ancient Indian religious and philosophical thinking. (shrink)

U ovom radu razmatramo dvije različite kritike liberalne demokracije. Kroz analizu suvremene slovenske političke misli Slavoja Žižeka i nekih njegovih sljedbenika, koji u zadnje vrijeme revitaliziraju »ideju komunizma«, prvo ćemo kritički promisliti emancipacijski potencijal ove struje suvremene slovenske filozofije. Interludij se fokusira na uporabe i logiku nasilja te se zalaže za novu političko-etičku kulturu nenasilja. U drugome dijelu rada, uzimajući u obzir Levinasovu etičku kritiku liberalne demokracije i fokusirajući se na njegov pojam različite vremenitosti unutar političke etike, razmotrit ćemo neke (...) alternativne mogućnosti za budući napredak demokracije. (shrink)

Dans cet article, nous examinons deux critiques différentes de la démocratie libérale. En analysant la pensée politique slovène contemporaine de Slavoj Žižek et de certains de ces adeptes, qui ces derniers temps redonnent un nouveau souffle à « l’idée du communisme », nous allons d’abord réfléchir de manière critique sur le potentiel émancipatoire de ce courant de la philosophie slovène contemporaine. La partie intermédiaire se concentre sur l’emploi ainsi que sur la logique de la violence et plaide pour une nouvelle (...) culture politico-éthique de non-violence. Dans la deuxième partie de cet article, nous allons discuter – en abordant la critique éthique par Levinas de la démocratie libérale et en nous concentrant sur sa notion d’une temporalité différente à l’intérieur de l’éthique politique – de quelques possibilités alternatives pour le progrès futur de la démocratie. (shrink)

In the paper we discuss the question of the future of democracy within some current projects of the emancipatory politics. We first critically approach Žižek’s and Badiou’s well-known revitalization of the idea of communism and link their projects to the burning issues of inequalities in the world system. Following this approach we elaborate on R.M. Unger’s recent book The Self Awakened and both defend his version of radicalized pragmatism and enlarge some of his uses of pragmatism to wider politico-ethical contexts.

This paper deals with the concept of three eras, as brought to us firstly in the Babylonian Talmud, and later reshaped and reformulated by Christian theologians Joachim of Fiore, Amalric of Bène, and finally by Luce Irigaray. In the first part, we start with the idea of the three eras. This is followed by a critical approach to Sloterdijk’s You must change your life in which religion is substituted by the anthropotechnics. We argue that even in these secular times, the (...) salvation history still remains unfulfilled and that our world is in need of a new, post-Christian materially spiritual narrative. The second part is entirely dedicated to Amalricians and their teachings. Also by tackling strong Islamic influences, we try to find a new opening towards the post-Christian era beyond the mentioned anthropotechnics/atheism divide. In the third part, the Age of the Spirit is approached and defined as a future messianic-utopian era in which a hidden and forgotten inner spiritual core will be revealed to us and in which humanity will give itself a gift of becoming spiritually transformed and divinized. (shrink)

Through cutting-edge accounts and interdisciplinary critiques of shame, this collection responds to the epidemic of gendered violence that the world witnesses daily. Contributors expose and challenge how oppression and violence connect to regimes of injustice that have dominated modern times.

In this paper we discuss two different criticisms of liberal democracy. By analyzing the contemporary Slovenian political thought of Žižek and some of his followers, which recently are revitalizing the “idea of Communism”, we first critically reflect upon the emancipatory potential of this strand of contemporary Slovenian philosophy. The interlude focuses on the uses and logic of violence and pleads for a new politico-ethical culture of nonviolence. In the second part of the paper, by approaching Levinas’ ethical criticism of the (...) liberal democracy and by focusing on his concept of a different temporality within political ethics, we discuss some alternative possibilities for the future progress of democracy. (shrink)

This paper deals with the concept of three eras, as brought to us firstly in the Babylonian Talmud, and later reshaped and reformulated by Christian theologians Joachim of Fiore, Amalric of Bène, and finally by Luce Irigaray. In the first part, we start with the idea of the three eras. This is followed by a critical approach to Sloterdijk’s You must change your life in which religion is substituted by the anthropotechnics. We argue that even in these secular times, the (...) salvation history still remains unfulfilled and that our world is in need of a new, post-Christian materially spiritual narrative. The second part is entirely dedicated to Amalricians and their teachings. Also by tackling strong Islamic influences, we try to find a new opening towards the post-Christian era beyond the mentioned anthropotechnics/atheism divide. In the third part, the Age of the Spirit is approached and defined as a future messianic-utopian era in which a hidden and forgotten inner spiritual core will be revealed to us and in which humanity will give itself a gift of becoming spiritually transformed and divinized. (shrink)

In diesem Artikel besprechen wir zwei differente Kritikarten der liberalen Demokratie. Indem wir den kontemporären slowenischen politischen Gedanken Žižeks sowie einiger seiner Getreuen erörtern, die letztzeitlich die „Idee des Kommunismus“ revitalisieren, denken wir eingangs kritisch nach über das emanzipative Potenzial dieses Strangs der zeitgenössischen slowenischen Philosophie. Das Interludium richtet seine Aufmerksamkeit auf den Gebrauch bzw. die Logik der Gewalt und plädiert für eine neuartige politisch-ethische Kultur der Gewaltfreiheit. In dem zweiten Teil des Papers – indem wir an Levinas’ ethischen Kritizismus (...) gegenüber der liberalen Demokratie herangehen und uns auf dessen Auffassung der andersgearteten Zeitlichkeit innerhalb der politischen Ethik fokussieren – prüfen wir einzelne Alternativmöglichkeiten für den Zukunftsfortschritt der Demokratie. (shrink)

This book addresses issues connected with political, ontological, existential, and spiritual borders that define our being-in-common. Engaging with various debordering practices relating to migration, the media, hospitality, and the more than human world, it is a timely contribution to contemporary philosophical, political, and social studies.

An original and innovative exploration of Antigone, femininity, and love in various cosmological, philosophical, and theological contexts.

In this paper we outline the possibilities of an ethic of care based on our self-affection and subjectivity in the ethical spaces between-two. In this we first refer to three Irigarayan concepts – breath, silence and listening from the third phase of her philosophy, and discuss them within the methodological framework of an ethics of intersubjectivity and interiority. Together with attentiveness, we analyse them as four categories of our ethical becoming. Furthermore, we argue that self-affection is based on our inchoate (...) receptivity for the needs of the other and is thus dialectical in its character. In this we critically confront some epistemological views of our ethical becoming. We wind up this paper with a proposal for an ethics towards two autonomous subjects, based on care and our shared ethical becoming – both as signs of our deepest hospitality towards the other. (shrink)

This essay rethinks democratic experimentalism from an ethical point of view, and look at its potential for the future by drawing on two key thinkers of the late 20th and early 21st century: Richard Rorty and Luce Irigaray. I explore the experimentalist character in Irigaray's later thought and point to a pragmatist link in her works, and then dynamize her original theory of sexual difference by pointing to G.H. Mead's symbolic interactionism. Then a revolutionary character of Irigaray's thought is defended (...) by focusing on her interventions into the very core of Western philosophy and in particular its Hegelian heritage. By introducing Rorty into the debate, a pledge is made for a new democratic culture of love and nonviolence as a 'spiritual' mode of democratic experimentalism needed in our times. Finally, I show that Irigaray's and Rorty's thought share an affinity toward intercultural thinking, bearing important consequences for an ethicospiritual project of democratic experimentalism. (shrink)

This article deals with some intercultural and phenomenological uses of pragmatist thought. In the first part, early methods of comparative philosophy are linked to James's radical empiricism. The second part analyses Dewey's social philosophy, interpreted from the intercultural perspective and linked to James's philosophy. The third part argues for an enlargement of the uses of Deweyan social thought in the broader intercultural contexts. Finally, the phenomenology of breath is introduced and proposed as the basis for a new pragmatist social ethics (...) of solidarity. (shrink)

The paper discusses Rorty’s critique and special relation to intercultural thinking. It looks into the history of both pragmatism and intercultural philosophy, discusses some of their possible points of convergence, and finally follows the implications of this encounter for our intercultural underst..

L’article se focalise sur la vision pragmatique de l’expérimentalisme démocratique de R. M. Unger et sur sa mise en application possible dans le domaine de la philosophie interculturelle contemporaine. Le champ de la pensée politique et sociale dans le pragmatisme américain est mis en relation avec des questions importantes de la philosophie interculturelle contemporaine. Dans la deuxième partie, la philosophie de Unger est mise en dialogue avec la philosophie de Luce Irigaray, ouvrant ainsi une nouvelle plate-forme pour une vision éthico-politique (...) à l’ère de la globalisation. L’analyse de l’expérimentalisme démocratique se pose ainsi comme un projet alternatif d’éthique politique et comme le projet d’expérimentalisme démocratique de Unger et de Irigaray à l’ère de la globalisation. (shrink)

The paper focuses on R. M. Unger’s pragmatist vision of democratic experimentalism and its possible application to the area of contemporary intercultural philosophy. The paper connects the field of American pragmatism’s political and social thought with the contemporary pressing issues of intercultural philosophy. In the second part, Unger’s philosophy is put into a dialogue with the philosophy of Luce Irigaray, thus opening a new platform for the ethico-political vision of democracy in the era of globalization. The analysis of the democratic (...) experimentalism therefore states itself as an alternative project of political ethics and Unger’s and Irigaray’s projects of democratic experimentalism in the era of globalization. (shrink)

Diese Arbeit fokussiert sich auf R. M. Ungers pragmatistische Vision des demokratischen Experimentalismus sowie dessen etwaige Anwendung auf die zeitgenössische interkulturelle Philosophie. Hierbei wird das Sachgebiet des politischen und sozialen Gedankens aus dem amerikanischen Pragmatismus mit den kontemporären Kernfragen der interkulturellen Philosophie in Verbindung gebracht. Im zweiten Teil wird Ungers Philosophie mit jener Luce Irigarays in Dialog gesetzt, wodurch eine neue Plattform zur ethisch-politischen Demokratievision in der Globalisierungsära eröffnet wird. Somit stellt sich die Analyse des demokratischen Experimentalismus selbsttätig her – (...) als Alternativprojekt politischer Ethik bzw. als Ungers und Irigarays Projekt des demokratischen Experimentalismus im Globalisierungszeitalter. (shrink)

Članak se fokusira na R. M. Ungerovu pragmatističku viziju demokratskog eksperimentalizma i moguće primjene na suvremenu interkulturalnu filozofiju. Povezuje se polje političke i socijalne misli američkog pragmatizma sa suvremenim gorućim pitanjima interkulturalne filozofije. U drugom je dijelu Ungerova filozofija stavljena u dijalog s filozofijom Luce Irigaray otvarajući tako novu platformu za etičko-političku viziju demokracije u eri globalizacije. Analiza demokratskog eksperimentalizma se, na taj način, sama uspostavlja kao alternativni projekt političke etike te kao Ungerov i Irigarayin projekt demokratskog eksperimentalizma u dobu (...) globalizacije. (shrink)