Potentialities

This collection of essays in Potentialities by Giorgio Agamben explores key philosophical figures and concepts, merging historical and contemporary thought.

In Potentialities, the essays delve into the rich tapestry of philosophical thought, examining influential figures such as Plato, Plotinus, Spinoza, and Hegel. The exploration extends into 20th-century philosophy, highlighting the contributions of thinkers like Walter Benjamin, Heidegger, Derrida, and Deleuze, as well as the insights of historian Aby Warburg and linguist J.-C. Milner. This diverse range of perspectives creates a comprehensive dialogue that bridges historical and contemporary philosophical inquiries.

This collection features fifteen significant essays penned by renowned Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben over more than two decades. The volume begins with an introduction that contextualizes Agamben's work within both the history of philosophy and the landscape of modern European thought. The subsequent essays provide a series of theoretical confrontations with key figures in philosophy, politics, and criticism, traversing from Aristotle to Deleuze and Carl Schmitt to Benjamin, culminating in discussions involving Hegel, Warburg, Heidegger, and Derrida.

Three central concepts unify the essays: language, which emphasizes the essence of speech beyond mere statements; history, viewed through the lens of tradition, transmission, and memory; and potentiality, a critical issue in metaphysics, ethics, and the philosophy of language. The culmination of these discussions is found in Agamben's extensive analysis of Melville's short story 'Bartleby the Scrivener,' which reframes the relationship between potentiality and actuality, offering a fresh perspective on possibility and reality.