Hegel, Death and Sacrifice Author(s): Georges Bataille and Jonathan Strauss Reviewed work(s): Source: Yale French

Studies, No. 78, On Bataille (1990), pp. 9-28 Published by: Yale University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2930112 . Accessed: 28/11/2012 02:52
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GEORGES

BATAILLE

Hegel, Death and Sacrifice'

of The animaldies.Butthedeathoftheanimalis thebecoming
consciousness.

I. DEATH

Man's Negativity In the Lecturesof 1805-1806, at the momentofhis thought's full the maturity, during periodwhenhe was writing PhenomenolThe in ogyofSpirit, Hegel expressed thesetermsthe black character of humanity: "Man is thatnight, thatempty whichcontainsevNothingness, in erything itsundivided the simplicity: wealthofan infinite number ofrepresentations, images,not one ofwhichcomes precisely of to are mind,or which [moreover], not [there] insofar theyare really as It present. is thenight, interiority-or-theintimacy Nature the of whichexistshere:[the] In purepersonal-Ego. phantasmagorical repit on resentations is night all sides:heresuddenly surges a bloodup spattered head; there, another, white,apparition; they and disappear just as abruptly. That is the nightthatone perceives one looks a if man in the eyes: then one is delvinginto a nightwhich becomes it of terrible; is thenight theworld whichthenpresents itself us."2 to
a on 1. Excerpt from study the-fundamentally Hegelian-thought Alexander of as to Thisthought Kojeve. seeks,so far possible, be Hegel'sthought, a contemposuch whatHegeldidnotknow(knowing, example, events for rary spirit, knowing the that since 1917and,as well,thephilosophy Heidegger), haveoccurred of couldgrasp and it and developit. Alexander Kojeve'soriginality courage, mustbe said, is to have it of the perceivedthe impossibility going any further, necessity, consequently, ofrenouncing creation an original the of philosophy and,thereby, interminable the of This essaywas first whichis theavowalofthevanity thought. starting-over pub? of Gallimard 1988. lishedin Deucalion 5 (1955).Withpermission Editions ed. 2. G. W. F. Hegel, Jenenser Philosophiedes Geistesin SamtlicheWerke, vol. FelixMeiner, in Hoffmeister, (Leipzig: 1931), 20 180-81.CitedbyKojeve Johannes C) YFS 78, On Bataille,ed. Allan Stoekl, 1990byYale University.

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whereHegel'sRomanticism this"beautiful finds Ofcourse, text," it If loosely. Hegelwas a romantic, is expression, nottobe understood manner was at anyratea romantic in (he was perhaps a fundamental revoat thebeginning-inhisyouth-, whenhe was a commonplace by the but lutionary), he didnotsee in Romanticism method whicha the proudspiritdeems itselfcapable ofsubordinating real worldto Alexander in of them, Kojeve, citing thearbitrariness itsowndreams. says of these lines thattheyexpress"the centraland finalidea of and whichis "theidea thatthefoundation the Hegelianphilosophy," and exisreality sourceofhumanobjective (Wirklichkeit) empirical whichmanifests itself negative as tence(Dasein) aretheNothingness or creative Action,freeand self-conscious." I accessto Hegel'sdisconcerting obliged world, havefelt To permit bothits violentcontrasts its and to mark, a careful examination, by ultimateunity. of philosophy For Kojeve, "the 'dialectical' or anthropological whichis the of Hegel is in thefinalanalysisa philosophy death (or, of same thing, atheism)"(K, 537; TEL, 539). a Butifmanis "deathliving humanlife"(K,548; TEL, 550),man's givenin deathby virtueof the factthatman's deathis negativity, from risksassumedwithout necessivoluntary (resulting essentially the of is nevertheless principle action. without biological ty, reasons), and Action.On Indeed,forHegel,Actionis Negativity, Negativity into theone hand,theman who negatesNature-by introducing it, the like a flip-side, anomalyof a "pure,personalego"-is present within like an intimacy light, withinthatNature'sheartlike a night whicharein themselves-like of withintheexteriority thosethings in a phantasmagoria which nothingtakes shape but to evanesce, wherenothing existsexceptabnothingappearsbut to disappear, which it sorbedwithoutrespitein the annihilationof time,from aspect: drawsthe beautyofa dream.But thereis a complementary in of thisnegation Natureis notmerely given consciousness-where that which existsin itselfappears(but only to disappear)-; this and really(in itself) negationis exteriorized, in beingexteriorized, Man worksand fights; transforms of he changesthereality Nature. it Nature and in destroying he createsa the given;he transforms
to Gallimard, 573.(TELedition of Introduction theReading Hegel,(Paris: [Paris: 1947), as citedin thetext, K; TEL). Gallimard, 575.) Henceforth 19801,

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GEORGES BATAILLE

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the a world, worldwhichwas not. On the one handthereis poetry, and diluteditself, blood-spattered a thathas surged destruction up On struggle. the one head; on the otherhand thereis Action,work, whereman "differs fromNothingness hand, "pure Nothingness," a onlyfora certaintime"(K,573; TEL, 575).On theother, historical thatNothingness thatgnawshim whereman's Negativity, World, the creates wholeofconcrete reality once objectand from within, (at man who thinksand subject,real world changedor unchanged, changestheworld). is Hegel'sPhilosophy a Philosophy Death-or ofAtheism3 of of The essential-and theoriginal-characteristic Hegelianphilosoof at phyis to describethe totality what is; and,consequently, the whichappearsbefore our same timethatit accountsforeverything accountofthethought language and to which eyes, givean integrated express-and reveal-that appearance. "In my opinion,"says Hegel, "Everything dependson one's exand Truth (only) substance, also as not as but pressing understanding subject."4
and I in 3. In thisparagraph, thefollowing,repeat a different whathas been form But I saidbyAlexander Kojeve. notonlyin a different essentiallyhavetodevelop form; whichis,atfirst difficult comprehend its thesecondpartofthatsentence, to in glance, of concrete aspect: "The beingor theannihilation the 'Subject'is thetemporalizing the of whichmustbe before annihilated annihilation Being, being:thebeingofthe a beginning. being (temporal) And the 'Subject'necessarily therefore, has, annihilation in whichnihilates ofthenothingness Being, beingnothingness as (insofar Time),the of thereforehas an end."In particular, is it "Subject" essentially I have negation itself: for doneinthepreceding followed this(asI havealready the of paragraph) part Introductionto theReadingofHegel whichconcerns parts2 and3 ofthepresent study, i.e., Appendix "The Idea ofDeath in thePhilosophy Hegel,"Kojeve, II, of 527-73. (TEL, note:This appendix, from whichall ofBataille'sreferences 529-75.) [Translator's to remains untranslated English; is notincluded AllanBloom's in it Kojevearetaken, in of Introduction theReading Hegel(NewYork: reedition abridgment) Kojeve's to of (and BasicBooks,1969).J 4. Cf.,G. W.F. Hegel,The Phenomenology Spirit, trans. V. Miller(Oxford: A. of Oxford University Press,1977),9-10. In his footnotes, Batailleattributes French the versions uses ofHegel to Jean he translation The Phenomenology of Hyppolite's of and often also citesthepagesfrom Spirit Introduction la lecturede Hegel where a Alexandre Kojeve quotesthesamepassages. However, Kojeve's version differs that from ofHyppolite Bataille's from and both.It is thelatter thatI havetranslated. referPage enceswillhereafter given theEnglish be to translation A. V.Miller, by which often is at withthequotations I haverendered as significant variance them.[Translator's note.]

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it is naturalknowledge incomplete, does notand In other words, isolated from whole,from a entities, any cannotenvisage butabstract whichalone is concrete. mustat Knowledge totality, an indissoluble "in the same time be anthropological: additionto the ontological mustfind those bases ofnatural Kojevewrites, "[knowledge] reality," through whichalone is capable ofbeingrevealed ofhumanreality, thisanthropology not does Discourse"(K,528; TEL, 530).Of course, sciencesbutas a movement impossiMan as do themodern envisage In the a ble to isolatefrom heartofthetotality. a sense,it is actually whereman has takentheplace ofGod. theology, whichhe placesat theheart, and Hegel,thehumanreality Butfor is different thatofGreekphilosophy. from of center, thetotality very tradition, whichemis His anthropology thatoftheJudeo-Christian and Like Judeohistoricity, individuality. phasizes Man's liberty, Christianman, the Hegelian man is a spiritual(i.e., "dialectical") the is realworld,"spirituality" fully being.Yet,for Judeo-Christian and speaking, properly onlyin thehereafter, Spirit ized and manifest is and real"Spirit, God: "an infinite eternal being." truly "objectively or to According Hegel,the "spiritual" "dialectical"beingis "necesThis meansthatdeathalone assuresthe and sarilytemporal finite." existenceof a "spiritual"or "dialectical"being,in the Hegelian man's naturalbeingdid not sense. If the animal which constitutes die,and-what is more-if deathdidnotdwellinhimas thesourceof it his anguish-and all themoreso in thathe seeksit out,desires and it-there would be no man or liberty, chooses no sometimesfreely in if In or words, he revels whatnonetheless history individual. other who risks him,ifhe is the being,identicalwithhimself, frightens a thenmanis truly Man: he separates himself beingitself, (identical) he is no longer, a stone, immutalike an the from animal.Henceforth and himNegativity; theforce, violence the he ble given, bearswithin movement history, of which cast ofnegativity himintotheincessant of real himandwhichalonerealizesthetotality theconcrete changes to whatis,tofinish it has thepower finish time.Onlyhistory through and immutable in the passageoftime.And so theidea ofan eternal a God is in thisperspective end,whichsurvives merely provisional better. and the while awaitingsomething history Only completed thenrevealed oftheSage (ofHegel)-in whomhistory revealed, spirit of of in full,the development beingand the totality its becomingwhichGod onlyprovisionally occupies, position, occupya sovereign as a regent.

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GEORGES BATAILLE

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The Tragi-Comic Aspect ofMan's Divinity

This way of seeing thingscan with justice be considered comic. it The textswhereit is Besides,Hegel neverexpressed explicitly. affirmed ambiguous, their are and extreme implicitly ultidifficulty full mately keptthemfrom consideration. is Kojevehimself circumspect.He does notdwellon themandavoidsdrawing preciseconcluthe sions. In orderto expressappropriately situationHegel got one himself into,no doubtinvoluntarily, wouldneed thetone,or at the of least,in a restrained form, horror tragedy. things But would quicklytake on a comic appearance. Be thatas itmay, passthrough to deathis so absent from divine the that a mythsituatedin the tradition figure associateddeath,and the agonyof death,withthe eternaland unique God of the JudeoThe deathofJesus of Christian to sphere. partakes comedy theextent introduce forgetting his eternal the thatone cannotunarbitrarily of divinity-whichis his-into the consciousnessof an omnipotent andinfinite God.Before the Hegel's"absolute knowledge," Christian based precisely thefactthatnothing on was already divineis myth senseofsacred)whichis finite. the possible(inthepre-Christian But vague consciousnessin whichthe (Christian) mythofthe deathof God tookform from thatofHegel: in order to differed, nonetheless, a of the as it misrepresentfigure Godthatlimited infinite thetotality, was possibleto add on, in contradiction withits basis,a movement the toward finite. for Hegelwas able-and itwas necessary him-to addup thesum of (theTotality) themovements whichwereproduced history. in But it seems, is incompatible with workand its necessary humor, asI to siduity. shall return thissubject;I havemerely, themoment, for to by divine grandeur that... of the apotheosizedand sovereign Sage,his prideswollenwithhumanvanity.
A Fundamental Text shuffled cards.... It is difficult pass froma humanityhumiliated to

In whatI havewritten to thispoint, up onlyonenecessity in emerges a precisefashion: there be authentic can Wisdom(absolute Wisdom, orin general anything approaching onlyiftheSageraiseshimself, it) ifI can put it thisway,to the heightofdeath,at whatever anguish to him.

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forceto of the A passagefrom preface thePhenomenology Spirit5 Thereis no doubt of the fullyexpresses necessity such an attitude. not text, of of the from start the "capitalimportance" thisadmirable of onlyforan understanding Hegel,butin all regards. Hegel,"-if we wishso to namethatunreality"Death,"writes there and to upholdtheworkofdeathis is thing is themostterrible hates beauty Impotent the strength. thetaskwhichdemands greatest of makesthisdemand beauty, becauseunderstanding thisawareness, is Now,thelifeofSpirit whichbeautycannotfulfill. a requirement of not thatlifewhichis frightened death,and sparesitselfdestrucattains but tion, thatlifewhichassumesdeathandliveswithit.Spirit It in itself absolutedismemberment. is not onlybyfinding its truth the awayfrom thatturns by power beingthePositive that(prodigious) or thisis nothing (thisis) Negative,as when we say of something: thereto something falseand,having(thus)disposedofit,pass from in is else; no, Spirit thatpoweronlyto thedegree whichit contemfaceto face(and)dwellswithit. This prolonged platesthe Negative the into whichtransposes negative givenis sojourn themagicalforce Being." The Human NegationofNatureand oftheNaturalBeingofMan the to I In principle, ought havestarted passagejustcitedat an earlier point.I did not want to weighthis textdownby givingthe "enigit. matic"lineswhichprecede ButI shall sketchout thesenseofthe whichthe without linesbyrestating interpretation, omitted Kojeve's would consequences,in spite of an appearanceof relativeclarity, remainclosed to us. and of worthy asForHegel, it is both fundamental altogether that (that tonishment humanunderstanding is, language, discourse) should have had the force(an incomparable force)to separateits These elements(thistree, the elementsfrom Totality. constitutive
A. 19. trans. V.Miller, CitedbyKojeve, Spirit, 5. Cf., Hegel,ThePhenomenologyof "Zerthe and Hyppolite, Batailleall translate German 538-39. (TEL,540-41.) Kojeve, the whichI in turn havegivenas "dismemberment," by rissenheit" "dechirement," to of in translation Hegel.It is important notethat same wordwhichappears Miller's and and,unlike of has theword"dechirement" themeanings "shredding" "tearing" units. into a does "dismemberment," notimply disarticulation predetermined InL'Exas for p6rienceint6rieure, example,Bataillespeaks of himself leftin "lambeaux" achevaitde. .. d6chirer," to whichhis "inability respond as (shreds, ofclothorpaper) (Paris:Gallimard, 1954),19).[Translator's note.]

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GEORGES BATAILLE

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from whole.Theyare the thisstone)arein fact thisbird, inseparable indeed material,bonds "bound together spatial and temporal, by Theirseparation whichare indissoluble." impliesthehumanNegativity toward NatureofwhichI spoke,without out pointing its decisive consequences.Forthe man who negatesnaturecould not in any way live outside of it. He is not merelya man who negates of he Nature,he is first all an animal,thatis to say the verything negates:he cannottherefore negateNaturewithoutnegating himin exof self.The intrinsic totality man is reflected Kojeve'sbizarre of thattotality first all Nature(natural is pression, it being), is "the animal"(Nature, animalindissolubly the linkedto anthropomorphic and whichsupports thewhole ofNature, Man). Thus humanNegadesireto negateNaturein destroying Man's effective it-in tivity, it he reducing to his ownends,as when,for example, makesa toolof it (andthetoolwill be themodelofan objectisolatedfrom Nature)insofar he is Nature, Man is exposed at Man himself; as cannotstop To to his own Negativity. negateNature is to negatethe animal not It whichpropsup Man's Negativity. is undoubtedly the underbreaker Nature's of whichseeksman'sdeath, yet and standing, unity, Actionof the understanding the separating the monstrous implies of of energy thought, the "pureabstract whichis essentially I," opto character the elements-conof posed to fusion, the inseparable of stitutive thewhole-which firmly upholdstheir separation. It is the veryseparation Man's being,it is his isolationfrom of in his Nature, and,consequently, isolation themidstofhis ownkind, The him to disappear whichcondemn definitively. animal,negating to no nothing, in a globalanimality whichit offers oppositionlost lost is of justas thatanimality itself in Nature(andin thetotality all dies,but today'sfliesare the same as thoseoflast year.Last year's has disappeared. The flies rehave died? . . . Perhaps, but nothing like the waves of the sea. This seems main, equal to themselves a from swarm, it takesis a can the all contrived: biologist separate fly it himself, does notseparate But he a brushstroke. he separates for it from others flywouldneed the the a forthe flies.To separateitself force theunderstanding; it wouldnameitself of then monstrous and effects means oflanguage, do what the understanding normally by of which alone foundsthe separation elementsand by founding it itselfon it,withina worldformed separated denomiof founds and nated entities.But in this game the human animal findsdeath; it
that is)-does not truly disappear... No doubt the individual fly

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findsprecisely human death,the onlyone whichfrightens, which freezes-but which only frightens transfixes man who is and the in absorbed his future to disappearance, theextent thathe is a separatedand irreplaceable being.The onlytruedeathsupposesseparationand,through discourse the whichseparates, consciousness the of beingseparated. "Impotent BeautyHates the Understanding" a Up to thispoint,Hegel's textpresents simpleand commontruth, but one enunciatedin a philosophicalmannerwhich is, properly speaking,sibylline.In the passage fromthe Prefacecited above, and affirms describes personalmomentof a Hegel,on the contrary, violence-Hegel, in otherwordsthe Sage, to whom an absolute has conferred definitive satisfaction. Knowledge This is not an unbridled violence.WhatHegel unleasheshereis not the violenceof or Nature,it is the energy, theviolence,oftheUnderstanding-the of itself thepurebeauty to Negativity theUnderstanding-opposing ofthe dream, whichcannotact,whichis impotent. is the of Indeed, beauty thedream on thatsideoftheworld where from whatsurrounds where is nothing yetseparated eachelement, it, in contrast the abstract to objects of the Understanding, given is in concretely, space and time.But beautycannotact. It can onlybe actionit would no longerexist,since and preserve itself.Through whatbeautyis: beauty, actionwouldfirst whichseeksnothdestroy to but ing,whichis, whichrefuses moveitself whichis disturbed by of does nothave the theforce theUnderstanding. Moreover, beauty to whichasks it powerto respond therequestoftheUnderstanding, the to upholdandpreserve workofhumandeath. is Beauty incapable ofit, in the sense thatto upholdthatwork, wouldbe engaged it in it Action.Beautyis sovereign, is an end,orit is not: thatis whyit is to not susceptible acting, and whyit is, evenin principle, powerless why it cannotyield to the activenegationof the Understanding, whichchangestheworldand itself becomesotherthanit is.6
6. Here myinterpretation differs from slightly Kojeve's(146 [TEL, 1481). [Transfrom lator'snote: thispassagetoo is missing Bloom'sabridgment Kojeve, of which starts onlywiththelectures givenin 1937-38. (The passagein questionis from the states that"impotent 1936-37lectures.)I is Kojeve simply beauty incapable bending of to therequirements theUnderstanding. esthete, romantic, mystic, of The the the flee itself something as theidea ofdeathandspeakofNothingness which " Inparticular, is. in the he admirably describes mystic thisway.But the same ambiguity found is in

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GEORGES BATAILLE

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without consciousness itself of cannot therefore This beauty realwhich"recoils horror in the ly-but notfor samereasonas life, from annihilation"-beardeathand death and wantsto save itselffrom in at itself it.This impotent from preserve beauty leastsuffers feeling of of indissoluble thebreakup theprofoundly Totality whatis (ofthe Beautywould like to remainthe sign of an accord concrete-real). of the real with itself.It cannot become conscious Negativity, and awakenedin dismemberment, the lucid gaze, absorbedin the the attitude Negative.This latter presupposes violentand laborious of struggle Man againstNatureand is its end. That is the historic himself "Subject"or as "abstract whereMan constitutes as struggle as and I" ofthe "Understanding," a separated namedbeing. "thatthought thediscourse and "Thatis to say," Kojeveclarifies, Actionwhichactuwhichrevealsthe real are bornofthe negative alizes Nothingness annihilating by Being:thegiven beingofMan (in and the Struggle) the givenbeingofNature(through Work-which from real contact the withdeathin theStruggle.) results, moreover, that That is to say, is therefore, thehumanbeinghimself noneother thanthatAction:he is deathwhichlivesa humanlife"(K,548; TEL, 550). I wantto insiston the continualconnection betweenan abyssal down-to-earth aspectand a tough, aspectin thisphilosophy, only the to The divergent one havingtheambition be complete. possibilities ofopposedhumanfigures confront other assemblein it: the each and of man and oftheproudone,who turns figure thedying from death, and thatofthemanpinnedto his work, of thefigure themaster the and of figure therevolutionary thatoftheskeptic, whose egotistical limitsdesire.This philosophy not onlya philosophy interest is of and death.It is also one ofclass struggle work. I the Butwithin limitsofthisstudy do notintend envisage to this otherside. I would like to comparethatHegeliandoctrine death of withwhatwe knowabout "sacrifice."
philosophers Hegel,in Heidegger), leastultimately. truth, at In Kojeve seemsto me (in not wrong to have envisaged, classicalmysticism, "consciousmysticism," beyond a conscious making Being of from a Nothingness, inaddition, and, defining impasse that as a Negativity whichwouldno longer havea field action(attheendofhistory). of The atheistic consciousofhaving die and to disappear, to mystic, self-conscious, would said concerning live,as Hegelobviously "in himself, absolute but, dismemberment"; for it of him, is onlythematter a certain unlike he period: Hegel, wouldnever comeout ofit,"contemplating Negative the in but right theface," never abletotranspose being it intoBeing, to refusing do it and maintaining himself ambiguity. in

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II. SACRIFICE

on Sacrifice, theone hand, and on theother, Gaze ofHegel the Absorbedin Death and Sacrifice I shallnotspeakoftheinterpretationsacrifice of whichHegelgives in of the chapter thePhenomenology devoted Religion.7 no doubt to It of makessensein thedevelopment thechapter, it strays but from the the essentialand,from pointofviewofthetheory sacrifice, is,in of it of thantheimplicit myopinion, less interest representation whichis in and given thetextofthePreface whichI shallcontinue analyze. to I Concerning sacrifice, can essentially that,on the level, say of Man Hegel'sphilosophy, has,in a sense,revealed founded and human in truth sacrificing; sacrifice destroyed animal8in himself, he by the and himself theanimalto survive allowing onlyas thatnoncorporeal truth whichHegel describes and whichmakes ofman-in Heidegwords-a beinguntodeath(Seinzum Tode), ger's or-in thewordsof Kojevehimself- "deathwhichlives a humanlife." the of in Actually, problem Hegelis given theactionofsacrifice. In strikesthe corporeal sacrifice, death,on the one hand,essentially in being;and on the otherhand,it is precisely sacrifice that"death livesa humanlife."It shouldevenbe said thatsacrifice theprecise is the to response Hegel'srequirement, original formulation whichI of repeat: in attainsits truth itself absolutedismem"Spirit onlybyfinding berment. does not attain that (prodigious) It powerby being the to the face poweronlyin thedegree whichit contemplates Negative thattheinstitution sacrifice of Ifone takesintoaccountthefact is it incarnated Man's in practically universal, is clearthatNegativity, of construction Hegel,butalso thatit not death, onlyis thearbitrary in thespirit thesimplest of has playeda role men,without comany
7. The Phenomenology Spirit, of 8: chapter Religion, Religion theform B.: in of Art,a) The abstract workof art (434-35). In thesetwo pages,Hegel dwellson the of disappearance objectiveessence,but withoutdeveloping consequences. its On thesecondpageHegellimitshimself considerations to proper "aesthetic to religion" of (thereligion theGreeks). 8. Still,although animalsacrifice seemstopredate humansacrifice, there nothis ingtoprove thatthechoiceofan animalsignifies unconscious the desire opposethe to animalas such;manis onlyopposedto corporeal the thatis given. is, He being, being furthermore, as opposedto theplant. just

Positive that turns away from the Negative. . . no, Spirit is that

to face [and] dwells with it . . ."

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GEORGES BATAILLE

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mon grounds comparable thosewhichare regulated to once and for of all by the ceremonies a Church-but nonetheless a univocal in to manner. is striking see thatacrosstheworld communal It a Negaof tivityhas maintaineda strictparallelismin the development stableinstitutions, whichhave the same form rather and the same effects. He Whether Lives orDies, Man CannotImmediately KnowDeath I shall speak laterof the profound differences betweenthe man of of sacrifice, actingin ignorance (unconscious) thefullscope ofwhat to he is doing, theSage (Hegel)surrendering theimplications a and of Knowledge which,in his own eyes,is absolute. the the Despite thesedifferences, questionofmanifesting Negativestillremains(andstillundera concrete form, at theheartof i.e., whoseconstitutive elements inseparable). priviare The theTotality, of is but in legedmanifestation Negativity death, death, fact, reveals In it animalbeing whosedeathreveals nothing. theory, is his natural, nevertakesplace. Forwhen the but Man to himself, the revelation him animalbeingsupporting dies,thehumanbeing himself ceasesto himself for to be. In order Man toreveal he ultimately himself, would have to die,buthe wouldhave to do it whileliving-watching himselfceasingto be. In other deathitself wouldhaveto become words, at consciousness thevery moment thatit annihilates conthe (self-) scious being.In a sense,thisis whattakesplace (whatat least is on thepointoftaking place,orwhichtakesplacein a fugitive, ungraspIn able manner) meansofa subterfuge. thesacrifice, sacrificer the by himself withtheanimalthatis struck identifies downdead.And so he dies in seeinghimself and even,in a certain die, way, his own by will, one in spiritwith the sacrificial weapon.But it is a comedy! if Atleastitwouldbe a comedy someother method existed which could revealto thelivingtheinvasionofdeath:thatfinishing of off the finite being,whichhis Negativity-whichkills him,ends him and definitively suppresses him-accomplishes alone and whichit alone can accomplish.ForHegel, satisfaction only take place, can desirecan be appeasedonlyin the consciousness death.Ifit were of based on the exclusionof death,satisfaction would contradict that if whichdeathdesignates, the satisfied beingwho is not conscious, not utterly conscious,of what in a constitutive manner is, i.e., he wereeventually be driven to from mortal, satisfaction death.That by

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mustreflect is whythe consciousnessthathe has ofhimself (must the of whichcreates mirror) movement negativity him,whichmakes reasonthatit will one daykill him. a man ofhim forthevery He will be killedby his own negativity, forhim,thereafter, but therewill be nothingleft;his is a creativedeath,but if the consciousness of death-of the marvelousmagic of death-does not he his touchhimbefore dies,during lifeit will seemthatdeathis not destinedto reachhim,and so the deathawaiting him will not give him a human character. Thus, at all costs,man must live at the momentthathe reallydies,or he mustlive withtheimpression of reallydying. a Knowledge Death CannotDo Without Subterfuge: of Spectacle the of This difficulty or proclaims necessity spectacle, ofrepresentathe of without practice whichitwouldbe possiblefor tionin general, in us to remainalien and ignorant respectto death,just as beasts is less animalthanfiction, are. whichis apparently Indeed,nothing the from real,from death. moreor less separated Man does not live bybreadalone,butalso bythecomedieswith In deceiveshimself. Man it is theanimal,it is the whichhe willingly naturalbeing,which eats. But Man takes partin ritesand performances. Or else he can read: to the extentthat it is sovereignin authentic-, literature prolongs himthehaunting magicofperforor mances,tragic comic. In tragedy,9 least,it is a questionofouridentifying some at with thatwe die, althoughwe are who dies, and of believing character but alive. Furthermore, and simpleimagination pure suffices, it has as or thesame meaning theclassicsubterfuges, performances, books, to whichthe masses have recourse. between Naive Behaviors and and Agreement Disagreement Hegel's Lucid Reaction with it theme Byassociating withsacrifice and,thereby, theprimary in I have sought ofrepresentation art,in festivals, performances), (in is thatHegel's reaction fundamental humanbehavto demonstrate or it ior.It is not a fantasy a strange attitude, is par excellencethe
on. further 9. I discusscomedy

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It expression endlessly repeated tradition. is notHegelalone,it is by to whicheverywhere all ofhumanity alwayssought, obliquely, seize whatdeathbothgaveand tookawayfrom humanity. therenevertheless BetweenHegel and the man of sacrifice redifference. a profound was consciousofhis representamains Hegel in tionoftheNegative:he situated lucidly, a definite it, pointofthe him to himself. discourse"whichrevealed That Totality "coherent includedthe discoursewhichrevealsit. The man of sacrifice, who consciousnessofwhathe did,had onlya "senlacked a discursive sual" awareness, i.e., an obscureone, reducedto an unintelligible It and emotion. is truethatHegelhimself, beyond discourse, in spite received shockof the ofhimself an "absolutedismemberment,") (in Moreviolently, aboveall,for primary the deathevenmoreviolently. of extended reachbeits reasonthatthebroadmovement discourse of of yondlimits,i.e., withinthe framework the Totality the real. for the Beyond slightest doubt, Hegel,thefactthathe was stillalive The on was simplyan aggravation. man ofsacrifice, theother hand, He it his maintains lifeessentially. maintains not onlyin the sense for of but thatlifeis necessary therepresentation death, [also in the it. he an sensethat] seeksto enrich Butfrom external the perspective, of was of greater inpalpable and intentionalexcitement sacrifice theinvoluntary ofHegel. The excitement terest than of sensitivity is it which I speak is well-known, definable; is sacred horror: the and richest themostagonizing whichdoesnotlimititself experience, but to dismemberment which,on the contrary, like a opens itself, ontoa realmbeyond world, this theatre where rising the curtain, light all and destroys ofdaytransfigures things their limitedmeaning. if Indeed, Hegel'sattitude opposeslearned consciousness the and of limitless to organization a discursive thinking thenaiveteofsacriand stillthatconsciousness thatorganization fice, remain unclear on one point;one cannotsaythatHegel was unawareofthe "moment" of sacrifice; this "moment"is included,implicatedin the whole movementof the Phenomenology-where is the Negativity it of as death,insofar it is assumed,whichmakes a man of the human animal.Butbecausehe didnotsee thatsacrifice itself in borewitness of to the entiremovement death,10 finalexperience-the one the
I 10. Perhaps lack of a Catholicreligious for experience. imagineCatholicism I closerto paganexperience; meanto a universal from whichthe religious experience distanced itself. a Reformation Catholic couldalonehaveintroPerhaps profound piety whichthephenomenology sacrifice ducedtheinward sensewithout of wouldbe im-

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to peculiarto theSage-describedin thePreface thePhenomenology he initialand universal-he didnotknowto whatextent was at first movement he the was right-withwhatprecision described intimate of the he of Negativity; did not clearlyseparatedeathfrom feeling of yard opposesa sortofshunting sadnessto whichnaiveexperience the emotions. Pleasureand the Sadness ofDeath of the Hegelthatinspired Itwas precisely univocalcharacter deathfor from whichapplies,again,to the Kojeve, thefollowing commentary the the (K, passagefrom Preface: 549; TEL, 551). "Certainly, idea of of the deathdoesnotheighten well-being Man; it doesnotmakehim in happynordoes it givehim anypleasure."Kojevewondered what a from familiarity theNegative, with from a results waysatisfaction it out to withdeath.He believed hisduty, ofdecency, reject tete--tete The said,in thisrespect, vulgarsatisfaction. factthatHegel himself in it itself absolutedismemthatSpirit"onlyattains truth finding by in withKojeve's ConseNegation. berment" goestogether, principle, to it quently, would even be superfluous insist.... Kojevesimply man's states that the idea of death "is alone capable if satisfying whichHegelplaces . . . Indeed,thedesireto be "recognized," pride." in couldbe expressed an intrepid of at theorigin historical struggles, to "It of attitude, thesortthatshowsa character itsbestadvantage. is awareofone'smortality only," saysKojeve,"in beingorin becoming one's existencein a universe in and in feeling or finitude, existing his or a withouta beyond without God,thatMan can affirm liberty, and his historicity his individuality- uniquein all theworld-and
much moreextensive possible.Modem knowledge, thanthatof Hegel's time,has assuredly contributed thesolution thatfundamental to of without enigma any (why, in has but plausiblereason, humanity general"sacrificed"?), I seriously believe thata could only be based on at least a Catholic correct phenomenological description period. whichdoesnothing,-to -But at anyrate, whatsimply is, Hegel,hostiletobeing in and is notAction,-was moreinterested military suchdeath death;it is through the of thatheperceived theme sacrifice he himself theword a moral uses in sense): (but he statesin his Lecturesof 1805-06, "and war are the "The state-of-the-soldier," of the real of objectively sacrifice thepersonal-I, danger death theparticular,-that for of immediate . contemplation his abstract Negativity . A" Hegel,Sdmtliche Werke, (in to vol. 20, 261-62. CitedbyKojevein Introduction theReadingofHegel,558 [TEL, sacrifice evenfrom 560]).Nonetheless, religious of has, Hegel'spoint view, essential an signification.

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But satishave thembe recognized. (Ibid.). ifKojevesetsaside vulgar faction-happiness-he now also sets aside Hegel's "absolutedisis memberment": indeed, suchdismembermentnoteasilyreconciled withthe desireforrecognition. in Satisfaction dismemberment and however, one point, coincide, withpleasure.This coincidence harmonize takesplace butherethey understood thenaive form life,as as it in "sacrifice"; is generally of existencein present whatMan is: the every time,whichmanifests in he after has becomeMan, on whichhe signifies theworld novelty his the condition thathe has satisfied "animal" needs. is At anyrate, pleasure,or at least sensualpleasure, such thatin affirmation to to wouldbe difficult uphold:theidea respect itKojeve's and in certain manner ofdeathhelps,in a certain cases, to multiply the pleasuresof the senses. I go so faras to believethat,underthe the the of form defilement, world(orrather general of imagery) death of is at the base of erotism.The feeling sin is connectedin lucid consciousnessto the idea of death,and in the same mannerthe no withpleasure. 1Thereis in fact human 1 of feeling sinis connected in someirregularity its circumstances, without without the pleasure and of of breaking an interdiction-the simplest, themostpowerful that is currently ofnudity. which, Moreover, possessionwas associatedin itstimewiththeimageof is it from ancient association backto a poetry very meaningful; refers in precisestateofsensibility whichthesacrificial element, feelthe ingofsacredhorror itself, joined,in a weakenedstate,to a tempered sacrifice theemotion and pleasure;in which,too,thetastefor which to itreleasedseemedinno waycontrary theultimate uses ofpleasure. like was of It mustbe said too thatsacrifice, tragedy, an element a it celebration; bespokea blind,pernicious and all the danger joy of the thatjoy, yetthisis precisely principle humanjoy;it wears and of withdeathall who getcaught in itsmovement. out and threatens up Gay Anguish, AnguishedGaiety To theassociationofdeathandpleasure, whichis nota given, least at in is notan immediate is given consciousness, obviously opposedthe
11. Thisis at leastpossible and,ifitis a matter themostcommon of interdictions, banal.

sacrifice;it was a sacrificein which woman was the victim....

That

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of In alwaysin thebackground consciousness. prinsadnessofdeath, in "recoils horror In before death." prinhumanity ciple,consciously, effects Negativity of have Natureas theirobciple,the destructive to himintoa confrontation with Man's Negativity drive ject.Butfor or danger, him to make ofhimself, at least oftheanimal,ofthe for the negation, naturalbeingthathe is, the objectofhis destructive is of banalprerequisite his unconsciousness thecause andtheeffects for of ofhisactions. Now,itwas essential Hegeltogainconsciousness its the as of Negativity such,to capture horror-here horror deathin and byupholding bylookingtheworkofdeathright theface. is Hegel,in thisway, less opposedto thosewho "recoil"thanto He most thosewho say: "it is nothing." seems to distancehimself from thosewho reactwithgaiety. similarity, their as as I wantto emphasize, clearly possible,after the oppositionbetweenthe naive attitudeand thatof the-absolute-Wisdom of Hegel. I am not sure,in fact,thatof the two attitudesthemorenaiveis theless absolute. of in I shallcitea paradoxical example a gayreaction thefaceofthe workofdeath. known was but The IrishandWelshcustomofthe"wake"is little It at stillpracticed theendofthelast century. is thesubjectofJoyce's of 12 Wake-the deathwatch Finnegan lastwork, Finnegans (however, at the readingof this famousnovel is difficult best).In Wales,the at was coffin placedopen,standing theplace ofhonorofthehouse. suit and top hat. His The dead man would be dressedin his finest all the who honored departed would inviteall ofhis friends, family the morethe longertheydancedand the deepertheydrankto his but the health.It is thedeathofan other, in suchinstances, deathof the otheris alwaysthe image of one's own death.Only underone of could anyoneso rejoice;withthepresumed condition agreement in the dead man-who is an other-, thedead man thatthedrinker his turnwill become shall have no othermeaningthanhis predecessor. a reactioncould be considered responseto the This paradoxical desire to deny the existenceof death. A logical desire?Not in deathis commonly on In theleast,I think. Mexico today, envisaged the same level as the amusementsthat can be foundat festivals:
du "Elucidation monomythe book,videE. Jolas, of 12. On thesubject thisobscure 1948):579-95. in de James Joyce" Critique(July

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skeletonpuppets, skeletoncandies,skeleton merry-go-rounds-but thiscustomis associatedwithan intensecult ofthedead,a visible 13 obsessionwithdeath. it IfI envisagedeathgaily, is not thatI too say,in turning away "it is nothing" "it is false."On theconor whatis frightening: from withtheworkofdeath, causesme anguish, connected is trary, gaiety, and in return exacerbates thatanguish: accentuated myanguish, by ultimately, anguish,anguishedgaietycause me, in a feverish gay whereit is my joy thatfinally chill,'4 "absolutedismemberment," wouldfollow wereI nottorn but tearsme apart, wheredejection joy all thewayto the end,immeasurably. that Thereis oneprecise opposition I wouldliketobring fully: out on the one hand Hegel's attitudeis less whole than thatof naive but one humanity, thisis meaningless unless,reciprocally, sees that is to itself without thenaiveattitude powerless maintain subterfuge. Discourse Gives UsefulEnds to Sacrifice "Afterwards." to I have linkedthe meaningof sacrifice Man's behavioronce his Man differs animalneedshavebeensatisfied: from natural the being is whichhe also is; thesacrificial gesture whathe humanly andthe is, thenmakeshis humanity spectacleofsacrifice manifest. Freed from he animal need,man is sovereign: does whathe pleases-his pleahe sure.Undertheseconditions is finally able to make a rigorously So longas he neededto satisfy autonomous gesture. animalneeds,he had to actwithan endin view(hehad to securefood, protect himself the from cold).This supposesa servitude, seriesofactssubordinated a to a finalresult:thenatural, animalsatisfaction without whichMan properly speaking, sovereign Man,couldnotsubsist. Man's intelBut as ligence,his discursive thought, developed functions servilelaof bor.Onlysacred, limitedto thelevelofimpotent poeticwords, beaufull sovereignty. ty,have retainedthe powerto manifest Sacrifice, is autonomousmannerofbeingonlyto consequently, a sovereign, extentthatit is uninformed meaningful the by discourse.To the extent thatdiscourse informs whatis sovereign given terms is it, in of
13. This cameoutin thedocumentary whichEisenstein drew from work a his for longfilm:i VivaMexico!The cruxofthisfilm dealtwiththebizarre practices whichI have discussed. 14. Reading "chaudet froid" "chaud-froid," for whichmeansa dishprepared hot butserved cold.

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Indeedbydefinition servitude. whatis sovereign does notserve.But simple discourse must respond to the question that discursive the asks concerning meaning thateach thing thought musthave on In the level of utility. principle, each thingis thereto servesome purposeor other.Thus the simple manifestation Man's link to of the of annihilation, purerevelation Man to himself themoment (at his when deathtransfixes attention) passes from sovereignty the to of associatedwithritual, at first primacy servileends.Myth, had the of but impotent beauty poetry, discourse concerning sacrifice slipped intovulgar, witheffects self-serving interpretation. Starting naively on such as theappeasing a godorthe imagined thelevelofpoetry, of the of discourse becametheabunpurity beings, end ofmeaningful The danceofrainorthecity's workofFrazer, well-being. substantial of that recallsthoseforms sovereignty werethemostimpotent who the for and,apparently, leastpropitious happiness, tendsto generally of as reducethemeaning theritualact to thesame purposes laborin an rite. and thefields, to make ofsacrifice agrarian Todaythatthesis but ofthe GoldenBoughis discredited, it seemed-reasonable insofar whosacrificed inscribed as thesamepeople sacrifice within sovereign It of of theframe a language plowmen. is truethatin a very arbitrary merited credence rigorous the of whichnever manner, reason,these and submitsacrifice the to people attempted, musthave laboredto, weresubmitted, or laws of action,laws to which theythemselves to submitthemselves. labored on Impotenceofthe Sage to AttainSovereignty theBasis ofDiscourse is of It Thus, the sovereignty sacrifice not absolute either. is not maintainswithinthe absolute to the extentthat the institution a whose meaningis, on the conworldof efficacious activity form A of trary, sovereign. slippagecannotfail to occur,to the benefit servitude. of its Iftheattitude theSage (Hegel)is not,for part, at sovereign, in function theopposite leastthings direction; Hegeldidnotdistance authentic and he himself ifhe was unabletofind sovereignty, cameas him from would even be it near to it as he could. What separated werewe not able to glimpsea richer imperceptible image through of which touch on sacrifice and which these alterations meaning, an have reducedit from end to a simplemeans. The keyto a lesser

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on not thatdiscourse rigorousness the partof the Sage is the fact, withina framethat cannotsuit him and engageshis sovereignty the in whichatrophies butprecisely opposite: it, sovereignty Hegel's attitudeproceedsfroma movementwhich discourserevealsand from revelation. its is It which,in the Sage's spirit, neverseparated cannot to fail cannever, be the therefore, fully sovereign; Sage,infact, it subordinate to thegoal ofa Wisdomwhichsupposesthe completion of discourse.Wisdom alone will be full autonomy, sovthe for if the bysearching it: and,in fact, I searchfor I am undertaking it, but of of project being-sovereignly: theproject being-sovereignly preWhatnonetheless assuresthesovereignty of supposesa servile being! is of the momentdescribed the "absolutedismemberment" which But for Hegel speaks,therupture, a time,ofdiscourse. thatrupture In itselfis not sovereign. a sense it is an accidentin the ascent. the the Although twosovereignties, naiveandthesageones,areboth of betweena decline at sovereignties death,beyondthe difference a gradualalteration an imperfect and birth (between manifestation), on differ yetanother it they precise point:on Hegel'spart, is precisely It of a a questionofan accident. is nota stroke fate, piece ofbadluck, of whichwouldbe forever deprived sense.Dismemberment on the is, fullofmeaning. its writes ("Spirit onlyattains truth," Hegel contrary, itselfin absolutedismember(but it is my emphasis),"by finding is It ment.")But thismeaning unfortunate. is whatlimitedand imthe whichtheSage drew from poverished revelation in lingering the regionswheredeathreigns.He welcomedsovereignty a weight, as whichhe let go ... Do I intend minimize to Hegel'sattitude? thecontrary true! But is I wantto showtheincomparable scopeofhis approach. thatendI To cannotveil the veryminimal(and even inevitable) partof failure. To mymind, is rather exceptional it the of certainty thatapproach whichis brought in myassociations. he failed, cannotsay out If one thatit was the resultof an error. The meaningof the failure itself fromthatof the failurewhich caused it: the error differs alone is In perhaps fortuitous. general,it is as an authenticmovement, with sense,thatone must speak ofthe "failure" Hegel. of weighty manis alwaysin pursuit an authentic of Indeed, sovereignty. That sovereignty, apparently, was, in a certainsense,originally but his, thatcould not thenhavebeenin a consciousmanner, doubtless and so in a sense it was not his, it escapedhim. We shall see thatin a
of ereignty being. .
.

. At least it would be ifwe could findsovereignty

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to of whatforever number wayshe continued pursue eludedhim.The essentialthingis thatone cannotattainit consciously and seek it, because seekingdistancesit. And yetI can believethatnothing is givenus thatis not givenin thatequivocalmanner. Translated Jonathan by Strauss

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