In his Problems in General Linguistics , Emile Benveniste criticizes Saussure’s claim that the relation between the signifier (the sound sequence) and the signified (the concept) is arbitrary, often using Saussure’s own work to advance the critique. Benvenist argues that, Saussure to . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1907 treatise on Islam , the Reformed theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper denied that Islam’s power could be attributed to sheer deception or manipulation. He found a spiritual power in Islam’s relentless monotheism, and suggested that Islam’s conquest of previously . . . . Continue Reading »
A couple of days ago, Rusty Reno offered one of the most astute analyses of the Pope’s recent comments on gay marriage, abortion, and contraception. Reno said that the comments were in themselves innocuous, but the fact that Francis expresses himself in the rhetoric of progressivism creates . . . . Continue Reading »
Following up Agamben’s discussion: Robert Durling and Ronald Martinez ( Time and the Crystal: Studies in Dante’s Rime petrose , 269-70) explain the hexameral structure of the sestina by reference to both philosophical and biblical sources: “In both form and content, Dante’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Andrew Delbanco writes of the “two faces of American education” at NYRB this week. Two? I thought. Only two? Turns out, Delbanco’s essay is a review of Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools and . . . . Continue Reading »
Whatever happened to poetry? many wonder. Those who wonder probably don’t realize that a lot of poetry continues to be written. On the other hand, they may be perfectly aware that a lot of what’s written passes itself off as poetry, but they deny that it qualifies. And they have a . . . . Continue Reading »
In ancient Greek, dunamis was potentiality, energeia was power in act. Agamben ( The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans ) thinks that Paul is perfectly aware of the distinction, and actually employs it in Ephesians 3:7 and Philippians 3:21. Faith is the principle of . . . . Continue Reading »
Alain Badiou has made much of Paul’s contribution to Western universalism, which expresses an “indifference with regard to customs and traditions” and “an indifference that tolerates difference” ( Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism , 98-99). Agamben is rightly . . . . Continue Reading »
Agamben ( The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans ) makes an intriguing connection between the Pauline notion of calling and the Marxist theory of class. He takes a clue from the improbable etymology that links the Greek klesis to the Latin classis . Whether that etymology . . . . Continue Reading »
Giorgio Agamben offers an intriguing discussion of the Pauline concept of calling in his The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans . For Paul, calling is always linked with the arrival of the messianic age in Jesus. But this does not, contra Weber, imply an indifference to . . . . Continue Reading »
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