The Idea of Language

The Idea of Silence

GIORGIO AGAMBEN
GIORGIO AGAMBEN
BOGRAPHY

Giorgio Agamben
--Italian philosopher
--was born in 1942
--mainly interested in Linguistics, Philology,
Philosophy, and recently Politics
--influenced by Walter Benjamin, Martin
Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein
Influences of Other Scholars On Agamben

--Martin Heidegger (Agamben attended

Heideggers seminars on Hegel and Heraclitus)

--Walter Benjamin (Agamben considered

Benjamins thought as an antidote to
Heideggers influence on him).
Influences of Other Scholars On Agamben

--In 1981, Agamben discovered several important

lost manuscripts by Benjamin in the archives of
the Bibliothque nationale de France.

--Agamben translated some of Benjamins works

into Italian and served as editor of Italian
edition of Benjamins collected works)
Famous Works of Agamben

--Homo Sacer (Kutsal nsan),2001, Ayrnt

Yaynlar
--Remnants of Auschwitz (Auschwitzden
Artakalanlar), Bamsz Kitaplar
--State of Exception (stisna Hali), 2006, Otonom
Yaynclk
--The Idea of Prose (Nesir Fikri), 2008, Metis
Style

--Agamben;
-- uses an idiosyncratic language
--loves using paradoxes and contradictions in his
works
--always gives references to philosophy, for this
reason one can not understand his texts
without further research
The Idea Of Language

--Frequently used terms/concepts in the article:

(revelation,
presupposition,
Word of God,
Anselms ontological argument, Wittgensteins
image of fly imprisoned in the glass, mediator
role of language (language is immediate) etc.)
The Idea Of Language
Language Revelation

--While language can be thought as a

presupposition (reference) for the revelation,
the same thing can not be said for the
language itself.

(revelation can be explained through language but language can

not be explained other than itself).
The Idea Of Language

Simply termed Anselms Ontological Argument:

--According to Anselm, uttering God is a way of

implying or accepting its existence.

--If we think something (being) in our mind, then it

can find a place for itself in reality. We
automatically accept its existence.
The Idea Of Language

When this concept of presupposition is

adjusted to language, it can be said that
language has nothing other than itself to
presuppose itself.

(self-referentiality of the language)

The Idea Of Language
However, Anselms Ontological Argument was
objected by many scholars both during his life-
time and later.

For example, Gaunilo, a monk and contemporary

of Anselm's, objected Anselm by saying that

one can not prove something by just thinking it

in his mind.
The Idea Of Language

Gaunilo:

One can not understand the meaning of a

statement by just hearing or understanding it
as an event of language.
The Idea Of Language
However;

These were the approaches mainly used in the past,

but contemporary approaches set a limit for
explaining the presupposition of the language.

For the first time, what preceding generations

called God, Being, Spirit, Unconscious appear to
us as what they are: names for language.
The Idea Of Language

--Contemporary approaches had the divine veils

on language removed.

(We now look without veils upon language.)

The Idea Of Language

Later in the article,

Based on the Wittgensteins fly image, Agamben

deals with the limits covering the language.

One must see and expose the limits of language

The Idea Of Language

Presupposition of language is opposed:

-If every human word always presupposed

another word, if the presuppositional power of
language knew no limits, then there would truly
be no possible experience of the limits of
language.
The Idea Of Language

The meaning kept secret beyond seeing the limits

of language is adressed.

Furthermore, the limits of a language in terms of

homonyms, polysemy etc. are analyzed.
The Idea Of Language

--Agamben asserts that language, which

mediates all things for human beings, should
be freed of every presupposition including self-
supposition.
The Idea Of Language

The result:
A language neither should be fully filled with
polysemy, homonyms etc. nor it should be
refined from all of these.
The Idea Of Language

Thus, the idea of language can be reached. Pure

philosophical presentation should not solely
analyze the ideas about language or the world,
instead it should analyze the Idea of Language
(the ideal way for language).
The Idea Of Language

--Here, the writer gives references to Platos Ideas

and Things,
The Idea Of Language

References:
--Kula, Onur Bilge. Dil Felsefesi Edebiyat Kuram.
stanbul: Trkiye Bankas Kltr Yaynlar,
2012
--web: < http://www.iep.utm.edu/agamben/ >
The Idea Of Silence

In this article the writer tries to explain the Idea of

Silence with the help of a fable.

According to the Fable, Athenians beated the

person who wanted to be a philosopher. If the
person endured the beating in a patient and
silent manner, then he could gain the right to
be philosopher.
The Idea Of Silence

However, in a case a person who endured the

beating in a silent and patient manner got
proud of himself by saying the following:

Well, worthy am I, then, to be called a

philosopher!
The Idea Of Silence

-Then he was answered:

You would have been if you had but kept quiet

The Idea Of Silence

Based on this Fable Agamben asserts that there

is a close relationship between silence and
philosophy.

On one hand Silence makes the Philosophy a

without-name thing, on the other hand it gives
the platform for the philosophy to gain a name.
GIORGIO AGAMBEN