On Biopolitics: An Inquiry Into Nature And Language

Description

In On Biopolitics, Marco Piasentier discusses one of the most persistent questions in biopolitical theory – the divide between nature and language – and attempts to redraw the conceptual map which has traditionally defined the permissible paths to address this question. Taking his cue from Foucault’s exhortation to think philologically and biologically, Piasentier traverses the main theoretical and methodological frameworks which have informed the biopolitical debate on nature and language, biology and politics. Biopolitical theory becomes the center of gravity for an investigation encompassing diverse philosophical models, from the Heideggerian linguistic turn to post-Darwinian naturalism. The divide between traditions is not proof of an impossible encounter, but constitutes the site for a new conceptual topography. Working in this interdisciplinary space, Piasentier puts into question the command of language and the ends of nature: two vestiges of a ‘human, all too human’ worldview that preclude the possibility of thinking philologically and biologically about biopolitics. On Biopolitics: An Inquiry into Nature and Language is essential reading for humanities and social sciences scholars with an interest in moving beyond debates about nature and language. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 4 Series Page......Page 5 Title Page......Page 6 Copyright Page......Page 7 Table of Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Introduction: Vestiges of Anthropomorphism......Page 10 Notes......Page 17 Bibliography......Page 19 Towards the “Turn”......Page 22 Dichtung......Page 25 The Two Voices......Page 29 Notes......Page 33 Bibliography......Page 37 Beyond the Anthropological Difference......Page 40 Homo est Brutum Bestiale......Page 48 Epistemological Indicators......Page 54 Notes......Page 59 Bibliography......Page 61 The Outside......Page 65 The In-Human......Page 69 The Commandment of Language......Page 72 Bibliography......Page 74 According to Nature......Page 77 Natural Genealogy......Page 81 A New Vital Imperative......Page 85 Another Human, all-too-Human Post-Humanism......Page 86 Notes......Page 89 Bibliography......Page 93 From the Stoics to Paley......Page 96 Natural Selection and Biological Functions......Page 99 Moths and Crystals......Page 102 Notes......Page 107 Bibliography......Page 110 A Dangerous Metaphor......Page 114 Prolegomena to any Future Biopolitics Beyond Natural Teleology......Page 117 Pan......Page 120 Excursus......Page 124 Notes......Page 127 Bibliography......Page 129 Index......Page 134