Well, this sure is apposite to some of my earlier posts. I'm surfing bit by random bit through bookforum's new interface that's sending me in all directions. Not all are good: some libertarian edited one of the pages on intellectual life, and that started to get pretty damn depressing - like the world really had been entirely taken over by crazies like I fear it has. But then I came across this interview with Bruno Latour. I read a little bit of him in grad school, and should maybe have paid more attention, because this is really smart in lots of ways.
The etymology of the word demon carries two meanings: to cut and to share. Though we understand why, it is interesting to note that this term is equally articulated in two opposing meanings. We see that the demon of the political cannot be simple. It is necessarily a monster. Political philosophy is a teratology, the apprenticeship of monstrosity. Those who are dangerous in political philosophy are those exactly those who think that it is not about monstrosity. Historically, in the political realm, monsters have emerged from reason, rather than through monstrosity itself.
Comments