Language and Death

The Place of Negativity

2006
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Author:

Giorgio Agamben
Translated by and Michael Hardt

Explores the symbiosis of philosophy and literature in understanding negativity

A formidable and influential work, Language and Death sheds an original light on issues central to Continental philosophy, literary theory, deconstruction, hermeneutics, and speech-act theory. Focusing on the incompatible philosophical systems of Hegel and Heidegger within the space of negativity, Giorgio Agamben offers a rigorous reading of numerous philosophical and poetic works to examine how these issues have been traditionally explored.

Makes a remarkable contribution. Language and Death combines erudition with analytical rigor and is most provocative. Giorgio Agamben deploys an impressive knowledge of the history of Western thought in his analysis of the place of negativity in philosophical discourse.

—

Robert Harrison, Stanford University

A formidable and influential work, Language and Death sheds a highly original light on issues central to Continental philosophy, literary theory, deconstruction, hermeneutics, and speech-act theory. Focusing especially on the incompatible philosophical systems of Hegel and Heidegger within the space of negativity, Giorgio Agamben offers a rigorous reading of numerous philosophical and poetic works to examine how these issues have been traditionally explored. Agamben argues that the human being is not just “speaking” and “mortal” but irreducibly “social” and “ethical.”

Giorgio Agamben teaches philosophy at the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris and at the University of Macerata in Italy. He is the author of Means without End (2000), Stanzas (1993), and The Coming Community (1993), all published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Karen E. Pinkus is professor of French and Italian at the University of Southern California.

Michael Hardt is professor of literature and Romance studies at Duke University.

Makes a remarkable contribution. Language and Death combines erudition with analytical rigor and is most provocative. Giorgio Agamben deploys an impressive knowledge of the history of Western thought in his analysis of the place of negativity in philosophical discourse.

—

Robert Harrison, Stanford University