The Use of Bodies (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)

Synopsis

Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer Was One Of The Seminal Works Of Political Philosophy In Recent Decades. It Was Also The Beginning Of A Series Of Interconnected Investigations Of Staggering Ambition And Scope, Investigating The Deepest Foundations Of Western Politics And Thought. The Use Of Bodies Represents The Ninth And Final Volume In This Twenty-year Undertaking, Breaking Considerable New Ground While Clarifying The Stakes And Implications Of The Project As A Whole. It Comprises Three Major Sections. The First Uses Aristotle's Discussion Of Slavery As A Starting Point For Radically Rethinking Notions Of Selfhood; The Second Calls For A Complete Reworking Of Western Ontology; And The Third Explores The Enigmatic Concept Of Form-of-life, Which Is In Many Ways The Motivating Force Behind The Entire Homo Sacer Project. Interwoven Between These Major Sections Are Shorter Reflections On Individual Thinkers (debord, Foucault, And Heidegger), While The Epilogue Pushes Toward A New Approach To Political Life That Breaks With The Destructive Deadlocks Of Western Thought. The Use Of Bodies Represents A True Masterwork By One Of Our Greatest Living Philosophers.-- Translator's Note, P.xı -- Prejatory Note, P.xııı -- Prologue, P.xv -- I. The Use Of Bodies -- 1. The Human Being Without Work, P.3 -- 2. Chresis, P.24 -- 3. Use And Care, P.31 -- 4. The Use Of The World, P.38 -- 5. Use-of-oneself, P.49 -- 6. Habitual Use, P.58 -- 7. The Animate Instrument And Technology, P.66 -- 8. The Inappropriable, P.80 -- Interrnezzo I, P.95 -- Ii. An Archeology Of Ontology, P.111 -- 1. Omological Apparatus, P.115 -- 2. Theory Of Hypostases, P.135 -- 3. Toward A Modal Ontology, P.146 -- Intermezzo Ii, P.176 -- Iii. Form-af-life -- 1. Life Divided, P.195 -- 2. A Life Inseparable From Its Form, P.207 -- 3. Living Contemplation, P.214 -- 4. Life Is A Form Generated By Living, P.220 -- 5. Toward An Ontology Of Sryle, P.224 -- 6. Exile Of One Alone With One Alone, P.234 -- 7. That's How We Do Lt, P.240 -- 8. Work And Inoperativity, P.245 -- 9. The Myth Of Er, P.249 -- Epilogue: Toward A Theory Of Destituent Potential, P.263 -- Bibliography, P.281. Giorgio Agamben ; Translated By Adam Kotsko. Originally Published In Italian In 2014 Under The Title L'uso Dei Corpi. Includes Bibliographical References.