[...]and sense


politics of difficulty

="large lg2" stl="font-size:110%"> ...to fall back on the conceptual ="trms">priority of the subject, ="trms">agency, or identity as the grounds ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we have politics because we have no ground

(="ppl">Keenan sug="trms">gests) “deconstruction” is not offered here as an anti="trms">authoritarian discourse, an attack on grounds, but as an attempt to think about this removal as the condition of any (political) action ='lgc'>}='lgc'>~= democracy


(="trms">according to ="trms">fables) ="trms">responsibility begins in the bad example (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the concept of conflict ='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> the ethics and politics of ="trms">responsibility)

the classical subject ='lgc'>--(the passage through the bad example)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> installed in its stance of ="trms">responsibility and the safety of identity

“What is at stake in the ="trms">fable is, more than anything else, the ="trms">interpretation and practice of ="trms">responsibility-our exposure to calls, others, and the names with which we are constituted and which put us in ="trms">question.” (="ppl">Keenan)

...practical effectivity of ="trms">literature


="lsts lst1">•(for Annabel Patterson='lgc'>:) ="trms">fable accomplishes a speculative Aufhebung ='lgc'>: “='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]the role of ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphor is to mediate between human consciousness and human survival, ='lgc'>[and here='lgc'>] the mind recognizes rock bottom, the irreducibly ="trms">material, by rejoining the ="trms">animals, one of whom is the human body”
="lsts lst1">•(for Louis Marin='lgc'>:) ="trms">fable='lgc'>: uncertain model of praxis
="lsts lst1">•(for ="ppl">Hegel='lgc'>: Aesop was a “misshapen humpbacked slave” and his) ="trms">fable='lgc'> = witty, witzig ='lgc'>=/= spirit, depth, insight, vision, ="trms">poetry, philosophy
="lsts lst1">•(for ="ppl">Lacoue-Labarthe='lgc'>:) ="trms">fable='lgc'>: a name for the ="trms">mutual implication and a="trms">symmetrical ="trms">interference of ="trms">literature with philosophy ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the suspension of the self-evidence of the ="trms">categories “="trms">literature” and “philosophy” in order to use each to put the identity of the other into ="trms">question. ='lgc'>[to think the ="trms">world as ="trms">fable. Is it possible='qstn'>?='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•(for ="ppl">Keenan='lgc'>:) ="trms">fable superimposes the ="trms">relation of an address to the other in its singularity and in its anonymity (="trms">responsibility for the other) ="trms">onto the traditional predicament of an ="trms">articulation between the order of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge or cognition and that of action, ethico-political or otherwise ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">responsibility in Western philosophical tradition='lgc'>: an address to an other='strcls'>*


...the ="trms">rhetorical event of a comparison

='at'>#='lgc'>[the theater of example='lgc'>]

the threat of example's ="trms">excess

="trms">fables of ="trms">responsibility ='lgc'>==securing='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>*the morality of the subject who means='strcls'>* (who can they finally be submitted to the logic of an ='strcls'>*evaluative destination='strcls'>*)

(="ppl">Derrida's) mode of ="trms">enunciation and the ="trms">literary vehicle entrusted with its exemplification ='lgc'>:
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]it is sufficient to introduce, into the ="trms">fold of speech acts, a few wolves of the type (“undecidability” or “unconscious”) for the shepherd to lose track of his sheep='lgc'>: one is no longer certain where to find the identity of the “speaker” or the “hearer,” ... where to find the identity of an intention.='strcls'>*
='lgc'>--='qstn'>?='lgc'>='lgc'>--> wolf in sheep's clothing ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> also the problem/fantasy of the “="trms">integration” project (as the space of ethics and politics)='lgc'>~~>(“Appearances are deceptive” ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusion of the parasite ='lgc'>+ identification of subjects as the task of ="trms">responsibility); -what would mean for the German shepherd to lose track of his sheeps='qstn'>? (to go from) the ="trms">fable of ='strcls'>*the oriented sheep="trms">fold='strcls'>* ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the ="trms">fable of ='strcls'>*losing count='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
="prgrph">-the vexed ="trms">relation between sheep and wolf, slave and master


(='mywrk'>my work is all about='lgc'>: can we please look at) some ='strcls'>*other='strcls'>* “="trms">interior of the ="trms">system”
(="trms">system never has only one ="trms">interior ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= conspiracy='lgc'>: ="trms">system's singular ="trms">interiority='lgc'>])


="lsts lst1">•="trms">literature's (ir)="trms">responsibility to philosophy
="lsts lst1">•art's (ir)="trms">responsibility to journalism


Xanthus the philosopher decides to buy a slave, goes with his students to the slave ="trms">market, and encounters the disfigured Phrygian Aesop (recently granted the power of speech after assisting a priestess of Isis and hence become too difficult for his previous master to handle). Their first exchange is exemplary, as the philosopher ="trms">interrogates the slave in order to determine whether “he knows anything,” receives equivocal replies, and finishes by asking, “Do you want me to buy you='qstn'>?”
(Life of Aesop)


thinking ="trms">fable as ="trms">language ='lgc'>: ‘="trms">Fabula’ (="trms">narration or account), derived as it is from the Latin root ‘fari’ (to speak) and linked to the ="trms">Greek ‘phanai’ (to speak or to say), finally implies nothing other than ="trms">language as such

Mythos and logos, the one is not more true (or more false, deceptive, ="trms">fictive, etc.) than the other


="large lg3" stl="font-size:110%"> (to open to the) alterity of an ungoverned ="trms">figuration


hero='lgc'>: the adventure of an identification that can only occur in the comparison that a ="trms">fable ="trms">demands

Horace's dictum='lgc'>: “with a change of names, the ="trms">fable is told about you” (a trans-subjective movement, a tropological ="trms">system ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphor or metonymy, )

="large lg4" stl="font-size:112%">
(for ="ppl">Nietzsche) ="trms">responsibility='lgc'>: the ability to make and keep one's promises='lgc'> = being (able to be) held accountable (not simply by another but) al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready in advance by and for oneself ='lgc'>: to answer to oneself in the place of the other
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Nietzsche's ="trms">fable of morality='lgc'>: lamb ='and'>& ="trms">bird of prey (“eagle is evil ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> lambs are good”)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='lgc'>[the ="trms">fable enacts the victory:='lgc'>] the lambs triumph in gaining the ability (and then the ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right) to hold the ="trms">birds of prey ="trms">responsible for doing what they do, for being what they are ='lgc'>--claim='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the strong man is fee to be weak, the ="trms">bird of prey free to be a lamb ='lgc'>==gain='lgc'>='lgc'>==> the ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right to make the ="trms">bird of prey accountable for being a ="trms">bird of prey
="lsts lst2">◦morality='lgc'>: a ="trms">fabulous ="trms">narrative about ="trms">language and how it gets turned (with ="trms">animals playing its roles) into an ethical and ="trms">epistemological ="trms">system ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the medium of the exploitation (='strcls'>*putting to use or the abuse of a ="trms">linguistic possibility='strcls'>*)
="lsts lst2">◦the ="trms">interpretation or institution of the ="trms">birds as subjeets (choosing, willing
="trms">agents) depends on a ="trms">fiction, a ="trms">fable='lgc'>: the doer is merely a ="trms">fiction added to the deed
='lgc'>==="ppl">Nietzsche='lgc'>='lgc'>==>
="lsts lst1">•='strcls'>*="trms">responsibility='lgc'>: an exploitation of a ="trms">verbal possibility='strcls'>*
="lsts lst1">•='strcls'>*="trms">fable='lgc'>: turning the merely grammatical subject into the ="trms">fiction of the acting='strcls'>* ='lgc'><='lgc'>== ="trms">zoo="trms">morphism (='lgc'>=/= ="trms">anthropo="trms">morphism)


="trms">fable of the eagle and the raven
the ="trms">story of the raven that, having once watched with envy as an eagle snatched a lamb from the flock and carried it off, later attempts a similar feat. But a raven is not an eagle, and his claws get stuck in the fleece of a wether (not a lamb)='lgc'>: his prey becomes his ="trms">trap. He is captured by the shepherd, his wings are broken and taken from him, and he is given to the shepherd's ="trms">children as a plaything
="lsts lst1">•identity check
="lsts lst1">•the ="trms">bird begins the ="trms">fable without (knowing) its name
="lsts lst1">•establishment of the raven as an (ir)="trms">responsible ="trms">agent, one that can be called to ="trms">respond for itself ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- an “I” has a name and a choice about its action, because it could have done otherwise
="lsts lst1">•raven's errancy consists precisely in wandering away from its name ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- in the ="trms">past ='lgc'>=/= now (now I know well that i am a rauen) we can act ="trms">responsibly
="lsts lst1">•act in ="trms">accord with the fate prescribed for you by your name ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> restore the proper name ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> establishment of the ="trms">responsible ="trms">agent
="lsts lst1">•critical ="trms">system of “error ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> correction ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> I='lgc'> = name” ='lgc'>==fix='lgc'>='lgc'>==> the link between the order of cognition (whether false ="trms">supposition or true knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge) ='and'>& that of action (take a lamb / as
the eagle did)
="lsts lst1">•don't compare yourself with what you are not ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reader is you are asked to compare yourself with the raven (follow its example)
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">fable of ="trms">responsibility='lgc'> = a ="trms">story about ="trms">language and its d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">anger (raven may be like an eagle, but it is not an eagle) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “know your name ='lgc'>+ do what it say” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">responsibility='lgc'>: the ="trms">response to the name by which one is called='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>the idea that ='strcls'>*="trms">supposing ='and'>& knowing='strcls'>* belong to one and the same homogeneous ="trms">system='strcls'>*

(the art of) ="trms">supposition='lgc'>: disguise, false knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge (guess, surmise, premise)
='lgc'>--or='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ungovernable and unrecoverable force of ='strcls'>*="trms">positing='strcls'>* (="trms">position or im="trms">position)

="large lg5" stl="font-size:130%"> (generation of the pure name in ="trms">fable of the eagle and the raven='lgc'>:)
non-="trms">symmetrical movement from nameless ="trms">bird ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">birdless name (a wingless not-eagle)


why ="trms">fables are important='qstn'>? ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- others and their traces are always working within us al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready, in a space and time that cannot be reduced to that of consciousness (or self-="trms">presence)
="lsts lst1">•profound ="trms">linguistic or ="trms">rhetorical complexity of the call and ="trms">response

the raven resounds (it does not just start talking) ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- it starts with the others='lgc'>: eagle, wether, shepherd

Lacoue­ Labarthe ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> identification (the self-bec[...]