General Information
Course Description
9544 - Morality, Memory and Loss of Experience - This course considers the relationship between morality, memory and experience by exploring: On what condition is responsibility possible? In order to understand the question, one must map the territories of irreplaceability, or of the subject, and of the relation to the other, or of knowledge without appropriation. We will consider Benjamin's attempt to define the subject historically and, in the process, construct a theory of history fit for the 20th century. In order to understand what Derrida already offers as an answer to the question, we will consider Levinas' idea of knowledge not circumscribed by the order of appropriation. This dialogue will be set in the context of a 19th century haunted by history and shaped by a certain philosophical tradition: Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Benjamin; and a 20th century haunted by the unaccomplishment of this meaning, the unspeakable memory of Shoah--a century which tries to think anew: Adorno, Levinas, Derrida, Deleuze.
