E-LOGOS – Elec onic Jou nal o Philosophy 2017, Vol. 24(2) 33–44
ISSN 1211-0442 (DOI 10.18267/j.e-logos.447),Pee - e iewed a icle
Jou nal homepage: e-logos. se.cz
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F om he Meaning o Meaning o Radical
He meneu ics
Rica do Gil Soei o
1
Abs ac : P ima ily ocusing on S eine ’s Real P esences (1989) and Capu o’s Radical
He meneu ics: Repe i ion, Decons uc ion, and he He meneu ic P ojec (1987), he p esen
a icle wishes o come o an unde s anding o he ela ionship be ween S eine ’s he meneu ics
o anscendence and John Capu o’s adical he meneu ics. Faced wi h he XX h cen u y
inhumani y, S eine seems o be emb acing he mos adical mo e in he meneu ics, and he
does so by wage ing on anscendence, in which he meaning o meaning peace ully es s on
he a ms o God, hus ejec ing he nega i e semio ics o De ida. Howe e , when looked upon
by he demanding eye o adical he meneu ics pu o h by Capu o, S eine ian he meneu ics
soon e eals i sel in alliance wi h a me aphysics o p esence and a philosophical hough
which holds back he ee play o di e ence. Whe eas S eine seeks ‘ he meaning o Meaning’,
John Capu o, one o Ame ica’s mos espec ed and con o e sial con inen al hinke s, has
been bo h b aced and e i ied by F ied ich Nie zsche’s demand o ake he u h s aigh up,
o going he need o ha e i ‘a enua ed, eiled, swee ened, blun ed and alsi ied,’ eadily
con essing ha we ha e no been handpicked o be Being’s o God’s mou hpiece, ha i is
always necessa y o ge a eading, e en i (and p ecisely because) he eading is he e is no
Reading, no inal game-ending Meaning, no decisi e and sweeping S o y ha w aps hings
up. E en i he sec e is, he e is no Sec e . ‘We do no know who we a e – ha is who we a e.’.
Keywo ds: Answe abili y; E hics; He meneu ics; Meaning; T agedy.
1
Cen o de Es udos Compa a is as, Faculdade de Le as da Uni e sidade de Lisboa, Alameda da
Uni e sidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Po ugal, ica dogilsoei [email protected] .
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„Ha e you no hea d o ha madman who li a lan e n in he b igh mo ning hou s, an o he
ma ke place, and c ied incessan ly: »I seek God! I seek God!« As many o hose who did no
belie e in God we e s anding a ound jus hen, he p o oked much laugh e . »Has he go los ?«
asked one. »Did he lose his way like a child?« asked ano he . »O is he hiding?« »Is he a aid
o us?« »Has he gone on a oyage? emig a ed?« Thus hey yelled and laughed. The madman
jumped in o hei mids and pie ced hem wi h his eyes. »Whi he is God?« he c ied; »I will ell
you. We ha e killed him – you and I. All o us a e his mu de e s. Bu how did we do his? How
could we d ink up he sea? Who ga e us he sponge o wipe away he en i e ho izon? Wha
we e we doing when we unchained his ea h om i s sun? Whi he is i mo ing now? Whi he
a e we mo ing? Away om all suns? A e we no plunging con inually? Backwa d, sidewa d,
o wa d, in all di ec ions? Is he e s ill any up o down? A e we no s aying, as h ough an
in ini e no hing? Do we no eel he b ea h o emp y space? Has i no become colde ? Is no
nigh con inually closing in on us? Do we no need o ligh lan e ns in he mo ning? Do we hea
no hing as ye o he noise o he g a edigge s who a e bu ying God? Do we smell no hing as
ye o he di ine decomposi ion? Gods, oo, decompose. God is dead. God emains dead. And
we ha e killed him.”
2
Lucidly p oclaimed as a p ophe ic announcemen , hese wo ds by F ied ich Nie zsche a e so
o e whelming, hey a e so nea he hea o he being o man oday, ha by simply quo ing
hem we eel ha we a e no longe sailing o I haca, bu a e o e e los in Mino au ’s laby in h.
Fo wha does he Madman say, as he ligh s a lan e n a high noon – o a he wha does he
shou , while unning ac oss he ma ke place? »God is dead!« God was sun o he ea h. Man
spli hem, o e one om he o he and hence o h he ea h, de ached om he sun, is alling
in o an in ini e nigh . Acco ding o Ma in Heidegge , Nie zsche’s p onouncemen o he dea h
o God is no me ely a pe sonal exp ession o his a heis ic a i ude, and i should no he e o e
be unde s ood as a me e o mula o unbelie . “God” names no only he Ch is ian God, bu
designa es in addi ion he supe senso y wo ld in gene al, he wo ld o Ideas which, since Pla o,
has been aken as he ue and genuinely eal wo ld. “God” designa es he me a-physical wo ld
in he Kan ian sense, ha is, he wo ld which is beyond he physical, senso y wo ld. In his
sense, Nie zsche’s p onouncemen “God is dead” ce ainly means ha he me aphysical,
supe senso y wo ld has los i s e ec i e powe and ha “God” as he name o his supe senso y
wo ld o ideals no longe unc ions as he e ec i e au ho i y ha de e mines he senso y,
physical wo ld om abo e and om wi hou . In e es ingly enough hough, in he Twiligh o
he Idols, Nie zsche admonishes us ha we a e no ge ing id o God, because we s ill belie e
in g amma . Fo him, whe e “God clings o ou cul u e, o ou ou ines o discou se, He is a
phan om o g amma , a ossil embedded in he childhood o a ional speech”, a ling abou like
an old ag o a ghos in he a ic.
Con a y o Nie zsche’s oublesome and sombe message, Geo ge S eine – one o he mos
ou s anding con empo a y in e na ional li e a y c i ics o ou ime – pos ula es in Real
P esences “ ha any cohe en unde s anding o wha language is and how language pe o ms,
ha any cohe en accoun o he capaci y o human speech o communica e meaning and eeling
is, in he inal analysis, unde w i en by he assump ion o God’s p esence.” Agains he
decons uc ion o Jacques De ida, who wishes o undo “logocen ism” and o send he Wo d
in o he exile o w i ing, S eine a gues in Real P esences ha “Whe e we ead uly, whe e he
expe ience is o be ha o meaning, we do so as i he ex ( he piece o music, he wo k o a )
inca na es a eal p esence o signi ican being.”
2
F ied ich Nie zsche (1974), The Gay Science (1882, 1887) § 125 (edi ed by Wal e Kau mann), New
Yo k, Vin age, p. 181.
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S eine opens he collec ion No Passion Spen (1996) wi h “The Uncommon Reade ,” a ou -
de- o ce medi a ion on Jean-Siméon Cha din’s pain ing Le Philosophe lisan (1734), which
becomes, h ough a en i e eading o de ails – “his olio, his hou glass, his incised medallions,
his eady quill” – an emblem o he anishing cul u e o he book and o he lec u e bien ai e
(Cha les Péguy’s ph ase). Reading has always been, o S eine , a quasi-p ies ly ac i i y, and
Cha din’s eade , in his soli a y bea ing, his g a e demeano , hono s his mos eigh ed
obliga ion, which can be cons ued as an obliga ion o being i sel .
Al hough haun ed by a pos -Auschwi z Jewishness ha in o ms his agic eading o man,
S eine ’s wo k emains ne e heless commi ed o an un elen ing ques o a “poe ics o
meaning” embedded in his assessmen o he he meneu ic ac , and in so doing he ‘no one’s
ose’ (Paul Celan) is unexpec edly illumina ed by he “g amma o hope” implici in his
concep ion o eading.
The p esen essay, d awing upon Geo ge S eine ’s Real P esences (1989) and John Capu o’s
Radical He meneu ics: Repe i ion, Decons uc ion, and he He meneu ic P ojec (1987),
wishes o pu sue he implica ions o such a wage and un a el i he e is any place o hope in
S eine ’s agic ision.
To do so, allow me o lay an ini ial heo e ical ounda ion s one by s a ing ha he ‘Shoah’
agically co obo a es S eine ’s suspicions abou he elegiac sense ha we li e in a ‘pos -
cul u e,’ in a ime o epilogue, a e he all – and his, I belie e, canno be easily di o ced om
Heidegge ’s con ic ion ha he ‘ o ge ing o being’ (Seins e gessenhei ) equi es ha
philosophy e ace i s oo s eps h ough a p oduc i e ‘des uc ion’ o he his o y o on ology.
In La Fic ion du Poli ique. Heidegge , l’A e la Poli ique (1988), Philippe Lacoue-Laba he
a gues ha Auschwi z does ep esen wha Hölde lin called a ‘caesu a’, a adical b eak in
his o y which comes in o iew when God and humani y d aw apa om one ano he . S eine ,
oo, in The Dea h o T agedy a gues simila ly ha “God [...] dwells now in some o he co ne
o he uni e se so emo e ha His messenge s canno e en each us.”2
“We come a e ,”3 he w i es in Language and Silence and, in he seminal essay “The Long Li e
o Me apho : An App oach o “ he Shoah””, he goes on a guing ha Auschwi z signi ies: “on
a collec i e, his o ical scale he dea h o man as a a ional, “ o wa d d eaming” speech-
o ganism ( he zoon phonan a o G eek philosophy).”4
In addi ion, a he close o In Bluebea d’s Cas le (1971), and in ega d o a heo y o cul u e,
S eine lea es us s anding “whe e Ba ók’s Judi h s ands, when she asks o open he las doo
on he nigh .” I is hus unsu p ising ha S eine a gues ha absolu e agedy is a nega i e
on ology, in which bi h i sel is seen as a agic ac and exis ing in he wo ld as a a ali y,
quo ing in his espec , in No Passion Spen (1996), Ka ka’s s a k inding ha “ he e is
abundance o hope bu none o us.”
Despi e S eine ’s da k pic u e o exis ence – clea ly media ed h ough high A ic agic d ama,
as well as h ough Schopenhaue ’s pessimis ic iew o li e, one can pe cei e in his he meneu ic
w i ings (namely, in Real P esences) a dissimila ame o mind: he e is illumina ion, as in he
iny, ee-s anding ph ase in wha is pe haps Celan’s da kes poem, ‘Teneb ae’: ‘Es glänz e’
2 Geo ge S eine (1961), The Dea h o T agedy, London, Fabe and Fabe , p. 353.
3 Geo ge S eine (1967), Language and Silence: Essays on Language, Li e a u e, and he Inhuman,
London, Fabe and Fabe , p. 4.
4 Geo ge S eine (1988), “The Long Li e o Me apho : An App oach o he Shoah”, in: Be el Lang (ed.),
W i ing and he Holocaus , New Yo k/London, Holmes & Meie , p. 156.
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(‘I gleamed’). In ac , jus as Tols oy o Dos oe sky was S eine ’s ipos e o he New C i icism,
Real P esences (1989), which expands on hemes om p e ious key essays such as “The
Re ea om he Wo d” (1961),5 “Silence and he Poe ” (1966),6 and “‘C i ic’/‘Reade ’”
(1979),7 is S eine ’s a emp o con on he cu en c isis o meaning embodied by De idean
decons uc ion, especially i s equa ion o ex and commen a y and i s elimina ion o he classic
humanis auc o i as. Fo he decons uc ionis he e is no dis inc ion be ween he p ima y ex
and commen a y, be ween he poem and i s c i ique. All w i ings, be hey p ima y o seconda y,
a e pa o a web o in e ex uali y and no ex is p i iledged abo e ano he . All w i ing is he
p oduc o language, which “always p ecedes i s use and always imposes on his usage ules,
con en ions, opaci ies o which he is no esponsible and o e which his con ol is minimal.
No sen ence spoken o composed in any in elligible language is, in he igo ous sense o he
concep , o iginal.”8
De ida, as he eigning sa an o he p esen “ ime o epilogue”, insis s ha li e a y ex s can
ell us no hing a all abou any hing ou side he wo ld o ex uali y i sel : “il n’y a pas de ho s
du ex e.” Indeed, as he would ha e i , he signi ie s o which all discou se is comp ised only
bea upon hemsel es he aces o s ill o he signi ie s, so ha he e y dis inc ion be ween he
signi ie and he signi ied p o es in he end o be an u e delusion. To seek he meaning o any
gi en signi ie is only o be con on ed wi h an al e na i e signi ie , and hus any kind o
e minal meaning is o e e sca e ed and “no ye ,” so much so ha e en he eali y o one’s
own sel hood mus be ound o be some hing ho oughly insubs an ial and apo ous: in sho ,
ou condemna ion is o “ he p ison-house o language.” “I is,” says S eine , “ his b eak o he
co enan be ween wo d and wo ld which cons i u es one o he e y ew genuine e olu ions
o spi i in Wes e n his o y and which de ines mode ni y i sel .” In his la e ime o he a e -
Wo d, when logos and cosmos a e no longe conside ed o mee and when he e y concep o
e e ence, nomina ion, and p edica ion a e pu in ques ion ( his b eakdown o us eme ged in
decla ed awa eness wi h S éphane Malla mé’s disjunc ion o language om ex e nal e e ence
and in A hu Rimbaud’s decons uc ion o he i s pe son singula – Je es un au e), S eine
e uses any simple op imism abou he possibili y o sub e ing decons uc ionis adical
skep icism abou meaning and mo ali y. As he says: “On i s own e ms and planes o a gumen
[...] he challenge o decons uc ion does seem o me i e u able.” Hence, S eine wan s ins ead
o egis e a passiona e plea ha we isk “a wage on anscendence.” He sees wi h absolu e
cla i y ha he mos essen ial epudia ion lying a he hea o he whole decons uc i e
en e p ise is a heological epudia ion, and hus, as he eels, he one kind o ai h (in un ai h)
may be coun e ed only by ano he kind o ai h. So, agains he cu en o decons uc ion,
S eine a gues, we mus ead as i he ex in on o us is meaning ul, and as i he his o ical
and cul u al se ing o he ex is signi ican o i s meaning. The poem is he p oduc o poiesis,
he c ea i e ac , upon which he commen a y is con ingen . The e o e, he p ima y ex comes
be o e he commen a y. Fo S eine , sense is a ma e o us – he calls his Ca esian-Kan ian
wage , ou leap in o sense. Me apho ically, he g ounds his wage on meaning in an explici ly
Ch is ian image, ha o he Eucha is : “Whe e we ead uly, whe e he expe ience is o be ha
5 Geo ge S eine (1967), “The Re ea om he Wo d” (1961), Language & Silence: Essays on
Language, Li e a u e, and he Inhuman, London/Bos on, Fabe and Fabe , pp. 12-35.
6 Geo ge S eine (1967), “Silence and he Poe ” (1966), Language & Silence: Essays on Language,
Li e a u e, and he Inhuman, London/Bos on, Fabe and Fabe , pp. 36-54.
7 Geo ge S eine (1984), “‘C i ic’/‘‘Reade ’” (1979), Geo ge S eine : A Reade , New Yo k, Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, pp. 67-98.
8 Geo ge S eine (1996), No Passion Spen . Essays 1978-1996, London, Fabe and Fabe , p. 28.
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o meaning, we do so as i he ex ( he piece o music, he wo k o a ) inca na es ( he no ion
i g ounded in he sac amen al) a eal p esence o signi ican being. This eal p esence, as is an
icon, as in he enac ed me apho o he sac amen al b ead and wine, is, inally, i educible o
any o he o mal a icula ion, o any analy ic decons uc ion o pa aph ase. [...] These a e no
occul no ions. They a e o he immensi y o he commonplace. [...] To be “indwel ” by music,
a , li e a u e, o be made esponsible, answe able o such habi a ion as a hos is o a gues –
pe haps unknown, unexpec ed – a e ening, is o expe ience he commonplace mys e y o a eal
p esence.”9
S eine is he e p omo ing an on ological encoun e wi h he aes he ic, s essing he immediacy
o in e p e a ion and he accoun abili y ha such immediacy en ails. In his espec , he quo es
Rilke’s beau i ul a chaic o so o Apollo which bids us “change ou li es” (Du muβ dein Leben
ände n) which, o a ce ain ex en , mi o s poe ically he philosophical concep o “expe ience”
pu o wa d by Ma in Heidegge : in Un e wegs zu Sp ache, he Black Fo es philosophe
claims ha “To unde go an expe ience wi h some hing – be i a hing, a pe son, o a god –
means ha his some hing be alls us, s ikes us, comes o e us, o e whelms and ans o ms
us.”10
The ollowing lines, aken om he collec ion o essays Language and Silence and exp essed
h ough spa kling p ose, a e a i ing es imony o his no ion: “In ha g ea discou se wi h he
li ing dead which we call eading, ou ole is no a passi e one. Whe e i is mo e han e e ie
o an indi e en appe i e sp ung o bo edom, eading is a mode o ac ion. We engage he
p esence, he oice o he book. We allow i en y, hough no ungua ded, in o ou inmos . A
g ea poem, a classic no el, p ess in upon us; hey assail and occupy he s ong places o ou
consciousness. [...] To ead well is o ake g ea isks. I is o make ulne able ou iden i y, ou
sel -possession.”11 Ou mode o eading should be al e ed so as o e hicize, o mo ally
impassion, he p ocess o in e p e a ion: “ o ques ion uly,” he a gues in his monog aph
Heidegge (1978), “is o en e in o ha monic conco dance wi h ha which is being ques ioned.
Fa om being ini ia o and sole mas e o he encoun e , as Soc a es, Desca es and he mode n
scien is - echnologis so in a iably a e, he Heidegge ian aske lays himsel open o ha which
is being ques ioned and becomes he ulne able locus, he pe meable space o i s disclosu e.”12
Re e sely, one is eminded o Nie zsche’s Za a hus a saying “O all ha is w i en, I lo e only
wha a man has w i en wi h his blood.” In addi ion, and a he ellingly, as an epig aph o
9 Geo ge S eine (1989), Real P esences. Is The e Any hing Real in Wha We Say? London/Bos on,
Fabe and Fabe , p. 36.
10 Ma in Heidegge (1971), On The Way To Language, New Yo k, Ha pe and Row, p. 57. In he o iginal:
“Mi e was, sei es ein Ding, ein Mensch, ein Go , eine E ah ung machen, heiβ , daβ es uns i , übe
uns komm , uns umwi und e wandel ” Ma in Heidegge (1996 [1959]), “Das Wesen de Sp ache”,
Un e wegs zu Sp ache. Gesam ausgabe (Band 12), F ank u am Main, Vi o io Klos e mann, p. 149.
Fo S eine oo, who has been no iceably in luenced by Heidegge ’s o acula oice (Fo a ho ough
discussion o Heidegge ’s in luence on S eine ’s hough , see G aham Wa d (1994), “Heidegge in
S eine ”, in: Na han A. Sco , J . and Ronald A. Sha p (eds.), Reading Geo ge S eine ,
Bal imo e/London, The John Hopkins Uni e si y P ess, pp. 180-204), o make an expe ience o a poem,
a symphony, o a pain ing, means ha is o be s uck. C . Thomas M. Kelly (2002), “Geo ge S eine ’s
Real P esences: The F aming o he Con empo a y P oblem”, Theology a he Void: he Re ie al o
Expe ience, No e Dame, Uni e si y o No e Dame P ess, pp. 91-118, pa icula ly page 111.
11 Geo ge S eine (1967), Language & Silence: Essays on Language, Li e a u e, and he Inhuman,
London/Bos on, Fabe and Fabe , pp. 10-11.
12 Geo ge S eine (1978), Heidegge , Hassocks, The Ha es e P ess Limi ed, p. 56.

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An igones, S eine quo es Wal e Benjamin on he “ligh ning bol ”, he illumina o y lash o
insigh , o u gen esponse, o a ex : The ex is he hunde -peal olling long behind.
The ac o eading, unde lined by he c ucial concep o esponsibili y, “houses a p ima y no ion
o ‘ esponse’, o ‘answe abili y’. To be esponsible in espec o he p ima y no ion o seman ic
us is [...] o accep he obliga ion o esponse hough [...] in an almos pa adoxical eedom.
I is o answe and o answe o . Responsible esponse, answe ing answe abili y make o he
p ocess o unde s anding a mo al ac .”13 In acco dance wi h his dynamic accoun o he ac o
eading, S eine cas s a new ligh on Kan ’s h ee i al ques ions: Wha can I know? Wha shall
I do? Wha may I hope? – “Was kann ich wissen? Was soll ich un? Was da ich ho en?”
(K i ik de einen Ve nun , 1787). In e es ingly and signi ican ly enough, Alexis Philonenko14
ela es h ee o he mos impo an wo ks by Geo ge S eine o hese h ee kan ian ques ions: in
his iew, A e Babel poses he ques ion “Wha can I know?”, An igones solici s he ques ion
“Wha shall I do?”, and inally Real P esences aises he ques ion “Wha may I hope?”, and
oge he hese h ee ques ions o e a esponse o he o e iding ques ion “Wha is man?”
In he book Radical He meneu ics, John Capu o, one o Ame ica’s mos espec ed and
con o e sial con inen al hinke s, asks he same kan ian ques ions. Wha a e we o do now,
a e he “end” o me aphysics?, he asks; i he e a e no me aphysical ounda ions, i he e a e
oo many u hs and i he lux is all, and linguis ic, his o ical s uc u es a e no hing mo e han
w i ings in he sand which we manage o insc ibe in be ween ides, wha hen? Wha i ale heia
only means he scene ac oss which a i eless oupe o his o ical ac o s con inually passes,
coming and going, eci ing hei lines and hen anishing in o he da k?
In wha ollows, I will be conce ned wi h Capu o’s adical he meneu ics. Wi hin he con ex o
his b ie heo e ical accoun , I can do no mo e han ske ch in he possible lines o such an
inqui y, bu i is my con en ion, and he in o ming hypo hesis o his p esen a ion, ha i is
possible, and e en desi able, o s age a ui ul dialogue be ween hese wo majo hinke s (In
his espec , see my G amá ica da Espe ança: Da He menêu ica da T anscendência à
He menêu ica Radical, Lisboa, Vega Edi o a, 2009).
Capu o’s en u e is mos poignan ly encapsula ed in he ollowing passage om his book Mo e
Radical He meneu ics (2000): “I ha e always been bo h b aced and e i ied by F ied ich
Nie zsche’s demand o ake he u h s aigh up, o going he need o ha e i ‘a enua ed, eiled,
swee ened, blun ed and alsi ied.’ I eadily con ess ha we ha e no been handpicked o be
Being’s o God’s mou hpiece, ha i is always necessa y o ge a eading, e en i (and p ecisely
because) he eading is he e is no Reading, no inal game-ending Meaning, no decisi e and
sweeping S o y ha w aps hings up. E en i he sec e is, he e is no Sec e . We do no know
who we a e – ha is who we a e.”15 As hese wo ds make clea , Capu o unwa e ingly abides
13 Geo ge S eine (1989), Real P esences. Is The e Any hing Real in Wha We Say? London/Bos on,
Fabe and Fabe , p. 90.
14 Alexis Philonenko (2003), “S eine e la Philosophie”, in: Pie e-Emmanuel Dauza (ed.), S eine , Pa is,
Édi ions de L’He ne, p. 40.
15 John D. Capu o (2000), Mo e Radical He meneu ics: On No Knowing Who We A e, Blooming on,
Indiana Uni e si y P ess, p. 12. On Capu o’s concep o ‘ adical he meneu ics’, see: “Desmi ologizando
Heidegge . A He menêu ica Radical de John D. Capu o”, de Ny hama de Oli ei a, and “Reabili ando
a He menêu ica da Fac icidade: Sob e Desmi ologizando Heidegge de John D. Capu o”, by Luiz
Hebeche, bo h included in João Vila-Chã (o g.) (2003), Re is a Po uguesa de Filoso ia, 59, pp. 1301-
1307 and pp. 1309-1320, espec i amen e. On na o e all assessmen o Capu o’s wo k, see: James
Ol huis (ed.) (2002), Religion wi h/ou Religion: The P aye s and Tea s o John D. Capu o, London and
New Yo k, Rou ledge; Ma k Dooley (ed.) (2003), A Passion o he Impossible: John D. Capu o in ocus,
Albany, S a e Uni e si y o New Yo k P ess; and Roy Ma inez (ed.) (1997), The Ve y Idea o Radical
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by he Kie kegaa dian sugges ion ha we a e, om he e y ou se , ineluc ably si ua ed in he
ush o exis ence, caugh in he g ip o ac ical li e, exposed o he me ciless icissi udes o ime
and chance. As “poo exis ing indi iduals” we a e always al eady embedded in socio-linguis ic
amewo ks, webs o belie s and p ac ices ha de e mine how we iew he wo ld and how we
ela e o he o he s wi h whom we sha e i .
Me aphysics has all along been a me aphysics o p esence: om he s a , i has been gi ing us
eloquen assu ances abou Being and p esence and aking he easy way ou , hus be aying he
o iginal di icul y o li e. The p ojec o adical he meneu ics is ben on making ouble o
he meneu ics in he la e Heidegge ian sense o an “escha ological” he meneu ics which makes
e e y hing depend upon wai ing o a god o sa e us. The poin o adicalizing he meneu ics in
his way is o sugges ha we a e unable o o e ide in e p e a ion, ha he e a e no
unin e p e ed ac s o he ma e , and ha he wo ld is una ailable o us in any naked o aw
sense. Capu o’s ‘ adical he meneu ics’ will ne e i e o elling ealis s Nie zsche’s s o y o
how he eal wo ld became a able. The hing i sel , la chose même (which is wha we lo e and
desi e; who would desi e any hing less?), always ‘slips away’ (dé obe), always eludes he play
o signi ie s in i ue o which any such so called “ eal hing” is signi ied in he i s place. A
he end o a amous eading o Husse l, a e saying ha he pa h owa d p esence always akes
he way o Ica us, which is o say ha he waxen wings o ou signi ie s a e headed s aigh
owa ds a mel down in he sun o p esence, De ida adds: “And con a y o wha
phenomenology – which is always a phenomenology o pe cep ion – has ied o make us
belie e, con a y o wha ou desi e canno ail o be emp ed in o belie ing, he hing i sel
always escapes (la chose même se dé obe oujou s).”16
Fo Capu o, we mus be p epa ed o ace he wo s , ha is o say, we mus be p epa ed o go he
dis ance wi h Nie zsche when he sugges s ha we a e bu cle e animals making ou way in he
mids o an anonymous umbling which is de oid o sense and meaning, in he sca ing dance
o he “innocence o becoming” (Die Unschuld des We dens). As such, in his adical
he meneu ics, we a e ne e qui e su e as o who we a e o whence we came.
In his b illian essay “Telling Le om Righ : He meneu ics, Decons uc ion, and he Wo k o
A ,” Capu o pu s o h he classic di ision be ween he meneu ics on he igh (S eine ’s
he meneu ics o anscendence) and decons uc ion on he le (Capu o’s adical he meneu ics),
a he meneu ic igh wing and a decons uc i e le wing. And he goes on wi h his depic ion o
hese wo ways o expe iencing meaning: “Re ie al and memo ial hinking he e, dis up ion
and ac i e o ge ing he e. The sa ely deli e ed messages o He mes on he one hand ( he igh
hand, no doub ), he dead le e box on he o he . Heidegge on he igh , De ida on he le .”17
Howe e , s ikingly enough, in he conclusion o his essay, Capu o poin s ou he po ous bo de
be ween he meneu ics and decons uc ion: “He meneu ics and decons uc ion: all he o ce o
he “and” is con ained in he Es gib which c osses back and o h be ween he wo, c iss-
c ossing hem, in e lacing hem, blu ing he lines be ween hem, dis up ing ou a emp o
He meneu ics, A lan ic Highlands, N. J., Humani ies P ess, as well as he a icle: Michael E. Zimme man
(1998), “John D. Capu o: A Pos mode n, P ophe ic, Libe al Ame ican in Pa is”, in: Con inen al
Philosophy Re iew, 31 (P ima e a de 1998), pp. 195-214. Capu o has answe ed sho ly he ea e . C .
John D. Capu o (1998), “An Ame ican and a Libe al: John D. Capu o’s Response o Michael
Zimme man”, in: Con inen al Philosophy Re iew, 31 (Sp ing 1998), pp. 215-220.
16 Jacques De ida (1973), Speech and Phenomena and O he Essays on Husse l’s Theo y o Signs.
T ansla ed by Da id Allison, E ans on, No hwes e n Uni e si y P ess, p. 104.
17 John D. Capu o (1986), “Telling Le F om Righ : He meneu ics, Decons uc ion, and he Wo k o A ”,
in: Jou nal o Philosophy, 83, p. 678.
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abula ize hem. The Es gib issues in a he meneu ic ha concedes he dissemina ion o u h,
on he one hand, and a decons uc ion in e laced wi h an idea o a-le heia, on he o he . […]
We canno e en ell le om igh .”18
As we mo e owa ds he end o his essay, and in so concluding, and o be a li le impuden , we
no e ha hope ( he hi d ques ion posed by Kan ) has been a consis en , albei no explici ly-
named, heme h oughou Capu o’s and S eine ’s wo k alike. Capu o’s adical he meneu ics
in i es he messianic as a s uc u ally open-ended hope o he incoming o he ou au e, he
hope ha he e is a lo ing p esence in he lux and ha Nie zsche’s aes he ic celeb a ion o he
“innocence o he becoming” will be edeemed by he p ophe ic call o he su e ing O he . By
he same oken, S eine ’s wage on he meaning o meaning s a es a he ho izon, hoping o
he Logos. His wo ds a e b ea h aking: “The app ehensions and igu a ions in he play o
me aphysical imagining, in he poem and he music, which ell o pain and hope, o he lesh
which is said o as e o ash and o he spi i which is said o ha e he sa ou o i e, a e always
Sabba a ian. They ha e isen ou o an immensi y o wai ing which is ha o man. Wi hou
hem, how could we be pa ien ?”19
Bo h Capu o and S eine alk abou hope, e en i i is an unknowing and a humble hope, a hope
agains hope (Ho nung au die Ho nung o which He mann B och ells us in De Tod des
Ve gil), de ini ely “a hope like ha ound in he closing pages o Thomas Mann’s Doc o
Faus us: ‘a hope as spec al and mu ed as he las embling cello no e o Le e kuehn’s g ea
can a a, a me e ib an ghos on he ai o sca cely audible silence’. Wha is being pu sued he e
h ough he halls o hell is a hope beyond hopelessness – ha possibili y o esu ec ion.”20
Re e ences
Wo ks by Geo ge S eine :
STEINER, Geo ge (1961), The Dea h o T agedy, London, Fabe and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1967), Language & Silence: Essays on Language, Li e a u e, and he Inhuman,
London/Bos on, Fabe and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1971), In Bluebea d’s Cas le. Some No es Towa ds he Re-de ini ion o Cul u e, London,
Fabe and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1972), Ex a-Te i o ial. Pape s on Li e a u e and he Language Re olu ion, London, Fabe
and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1975), A e Babel. Aspec s o Language and T ansla ion, Ox o d, Ox o d Uni e si y P ess.
STEINER, Geo ge (1978), Heidegge , Hassocks, The Ha es e P ess Limi ed.
STEINER, Geo ge (1983), Nos algia o he Absolu e, To on o, CBC En e p ises.
STEINER, Geo ge (1984), Geo ge S eine : A Reade , New Yo k, Ox o d Uni e si y P ess.
STEINER, Geo ge (1984), An igones: How he An igone Legend Has Endu ed in Wes e n Li e a u e, A , and
Though , Ox o d, Cla endon P ess.
18 Id., Ibid., pp. 684-685.
19 Geo ge S eine (1989), Real P esences. Is The e Any hing Real in Wha We Say? London/Bos on,
Fabe and Fabe , p. 232.
20 G aham Wa d (2005), “S eine and Eagle on: he P ac ice o Hope and he Idea o he T agic,” in:
Li e a u e and Theology, Volume 19, Numbe 2 (June 2005), p. 106.
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STEINER, Geo ge (1988), “The Long Li e o Me apho : An App oach o he Shoah”, in: Be el Lang (ed.), W i ing
and he Holocaus , New Yo k, Holmes & Meie Publishe s, pp. 154-171.
STEINER, Geo ge (1989), Real P esences. Is The e Any hing Real in Wha We Say? London/Bos on, Fabe and
Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1996), No Passion Spen . Essays 1978-1996, London, Fabe and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (1997), E a a: An Examined Li e, London, Weiden eld & Nicolson.
STEINER, Geo ge (19981), “The Wound o Nega i i y: Two Kie kegaa d Tex s”, in: Jona han Rée/Jane
Chambe lain, Kie kegaa d: A C i ical Reade , Ox o d/Malden, Mass., Blackwell, pp. 103-113.
Pos e io men e incluído em Daniel W. Conway/K. E. Go e (eds.), Sø en Kie kegaa d. C i ical Assessmen s
o Leading Philosophe s. Vol I – Au ho ship and Au hen ici y: Kie kegaa d and His Pseudonyms,
London/New Yo k, Rou ledge, 2002, pp. 285-294.
STEINER, Geo ge (20011), G amma s o C ea ion, London, Fabe and Fabe .
STEINER, Geo ge (20021), “To Speak o Wal e Benjamin”, in: Helga Geye -Ryan (ed.), Pe cep ion and
Expe ience in Mode ni y, Ams e dam/New Yo k, Rodopi, pp. 11-24. Es e ensaio se á in eg ado em Les
Logoc a es, pp. 31-49.
STEINER, Geo ge (2005), Dix Raisons (Possibles) à la T is esse de Pensée, Pa is, Albin Michel.
STEINER, Geo ge (20031), Lessons o The Mas e s, Camb idge/Massachuse s, Ha a d Uni e si y P ess.
STEINER, Geo ge (20032), Les Logoc a es, Pa is, L’He ne.
STEINER, Geo ge (20041), The Idea o Eu ope, Tilbu g, Nexus Ins i u .
STEINER, Geo ge (20042), “‘T agedy’, Reconside ed”, in: New Li e a y His o y. Re hinking T agedy, ol. 35, nº
1 (In e no de 2004), edi ado po Ralph Cohen, The John Hopkins Uni e si y P ess, pp. 1-15.
STEINER, Geo ge (2006), Le Silence des Li es sui i de Ce ice enco e impuni pa Michel C épu, Pa is, A léa.
STEINER, Geo ge (20072), “Le Fu u du Ve be”, in: Re ue de Mé aphysique e de Mo ale (Ab il/Junho de 2007),
nº 2, pp. 147-155.
STEINER, Geo ge (2008), My Unw i en Books, London, Weiden eld & Nicolson.
STEINER, Geo ge (2009), Geo ge S eine a he New Yo ke , New Yo k, New Di ec ions (edi ed by Robe
Boye s).
Wo ks on Geo ge S eine :
BUCHHOLZ, Ja oslaw (2000), “L’a , chemin d’é e ni é pou l’homme. Un essai héologique à pa i de Geo ge
S eine ”, in: Epheme ides Theologicae Lo anienses, ol. 76, nº 4 (Dezemb o de 2000), pp. 327-353.
CASTAÑÓN, Adol o (2000), Lec u a y Ca a sis: T es Papeles sob e Geo ge S eine seguidos de un ensayo
bibliog á ico y de una heme og a ía del au o , México, D.F., Ediciones Casa Juan Pablos, Ediciones Sin
Nomb e.
CHATTERLEY, Ca he ine Dawn (2007), Disenchan men : A C i ical S udy o Geo ge S eine ’s Though on he
Holocaus , An isemi ism, and Wes e n Cul u e, PhD in His o y p esen ed o he Uni e si y o Chicago.
CHEYETTE, B yan (2000), “Be ween Repulsion and A ac ion: Geo ge S eine ’s Pos -Holocaus Fic ion”, in:
And ew Leak/Geo ge Paizis (ed.), The Holocaus and he Tex : Speaking he Unspeakable, New Yo k, S .
Ma in’s P ess, pp. 67-82.
DAUZAT, Pie e-Emmanuel (di .) (2003), S eine , Pa is, Édi ions de L’He ne.
DAUZAT, Pie e-Emmanuel (coo d.) (2006), Geo ge S eine . La Cul u e con e la Ba ba ie. Le Magazine
Li é ai e, nº 454 (June 2006).
FRANK, Man ed (1993), “»Ze schwa z e Dich ung« o »Reale Gegenwa «”, Condi io Mode na. Essays,
Reden, P og amm (Auswahl on Be Sande ), Leipzig, Reclam, pp. 156-171.
HIDDEMANN, F ank (1999), “Vom Schweigen zu P äsenz. Kuns heo ie und Kul u k i ik bei Geo ge S eine
bis zu seinem Essay »Von eale Gegenwa «”, in: Die ich Neuhas/And eas Me in (eds.), Wie in einem