The Use of Bodies (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)

The Use of Bodies (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)

Giorgio Agamben's <I>Homo Sacer</I> was one of the seminal works of political philosophy in recent decades. It was also the beginning of a series of interconnected investigations of staggering ambition and scope, investigating the deepest foundations of Western politics and thought. <I>The Use of Bodies</I> represents the ninth and final volume in this twenty-year undertaking, breaking considerable new ground while clarifying the stakes and implications of the project as a whole. It comprises three major sections. The first uses Aristotle's discussion of slavery as a starting point for radically rethinking notions of selfhood; the second calls for a complete reworking of Western ontology; and the third explores the enigmatic concept of "form-of-life," which is in many ways the motivating force behind the entire <I>Homo Sacer</I> project. Interwoven between these major sections are shorter reflections on individual thinkers (Debord, Foucault, and Heidegger), while the epilogue pushes toward a new approach to political life that breaks with the destructive deadlocks of Western thought. <I>The Use of Bodies</I> represents a true masterwork by one of our greatest living philosophers.