Description

Book Synopsis

Creation and the giving of orders are closely entwined in Western culture, where God commands the world into existence and later issues the injunctions known as the Ten Commandments. The arche, or origin, is always also a command, and a beginning is always the first principle that governs and decrees. This is as true for theology, where God not only creates the world but governs and continues to govern through continuous creation, as it is for the philosophical and political tradition according to which beginning and creation, command and will, together form a strategic apparatus without which our society would fall apart.

The five essays collected here aim to deactivate this apparatus through a patient archaeological inquiry into the concepts of work, creation, and command. Giorgio Agamben explores every nuance of the arche in search of an an-archic exit strategy. By the book's final chapter, anarchy appears as the secret center of power, brought to light so as to make possible a philosophical thought that might overthrow both the principle and its command.



Trade Review
"Adam Kotsko's lucid translation has continued his service to the field in making Agamben's texts accessible to a wider readership."—Devin Singh, Reading Religion

Creation and Anarchy: The Work of Art and the

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    A Paperback / softback by Giorgio Agamben, Adam Kotsko

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      Book details

      Publisher Stanford University Press
      Published 14 May 2019
      ISBN-13 9781503609266
      978-1503609266
      ISBN-10 150360926X
      Also in:
      Art & Photography The arts: general topics Social and political philosophy Religion Religion and beliefs Books by Giorgio Agamben

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Creation and the giving of orders are closely entwined in Western culture, where God commands the world into existence and later issues the injunctions known as the Ten Commandments. The arche, or origin, is always also a command, and a beginning is always the first principle that governs and decrees. This is as true for theology, where God not only creates the world but governs and continues to govern through continuous creation, as it is for the philosophical and political tradition according to which beginning and creation, command and will, together form a strategic apparatus without which our society would fall apart.

      The five essays collected here aim to deactivate this apparatus through a patient archaeological inquiry into the concepts of work, creation, and command. Giorgio Agamben explores every nuance of the arche in search of an an-archic exit strategy. By the book's final chapter, anarchy appears as the secret center of power, brought to light so as to make possible a philosophical thought that might overthrow both the principle and its command.



      Trade Review
      "Adam Kotsko's lucid translation has continued his service to the field in making Agamben's texts accessible to a wider readership."—Devin Singh, Reading Religion

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