Pulvis' Philosophical Diary

Roland Barthes (1915-1980) is still one of the central figures in contemporary philosophy and critical theory for his contributions to semiotics, linguistics and literary theory are essential to anyone working within those fields of knowledge. However, it is Barthes’ more intimate philosophical journeys that we wish to present. It is there in his sentimentality, in his deeply affectionate way of elucidating the specters of human emotionality through music and literature, where the French thinker reveals his thought as a beautifully odd search for nuance, for miniature differences uncovering human existence’s endless configurations.   That is why, the following essay concerns...

In this third short essay, dedicated to Giorgio Agamben, the thought of the Italian philosopher is directed towards humanity’s never-ending confrontation with finitude or more precisely – towards humanity’s own consciousness of mortality, this unbearable knowledge that is one’s constant shadowy companion in the adventure of life.

If Eros and adventure are often intimately entwined, this is not because love gives meaning and legitimacy to adventure, but, on the contrary, because only a life that has the form of adventure can truly find love.G. Agamben, Adventure   In the last blog entry we explored Giorgio Agamben’s paradoxical ideas about love, remoteness and the unassailable alterity of the people we hold nearest and dearest. Now we turn our attention to the ways in which one may gently challenge this innate distance that both binds and separates two souls who’ve found meaning and tenderness in each other's presence. To...

This is a first of three essays on Giorgio Agamben, that are going to be shared on our newly found blog section. Agamben is one of the greatest living philosophers, whose thoughts touch upon some of the fundamental beginnings of culture, religion, and politics, and weaves them with rare finesse in a narrative that lays bare the fragile yet infinite potential of human creativity and desire for meaning.