The Non-Sovereign Self, Responsibility, and Otherness: Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, and Stanley Cavell on Moral Philosophy and Political Agency

217 Pages·2016·1.59 MB·English

by  Rosine Kelz (auth.)

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The Non-Sovereign Self,
Responsibility, and
Otherness
Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, and Stanley
Cavell on Moral Philosophy and Political
Agency
Rosine Kelz
AssistantProfessorofSocialTheory,SchoolofVisualArts,NewYork
©RosineKelz2016
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-50896-6
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Kelz,RosineJudith,1981–author.
Thenon-sovereignself,responsibility,andotherness:HannahArendt,JudithButler,
andStanleyCavellonmoralphilosophyandpoliticalagency/RosineKelz.
pages cm.—(Internationalpoliticaltheory)
Summary:“Intimesofglobalization,critiquesofsovereigntyhavebecomea
pervasivefeatureofpoliticaltheory.Thisbookinvestigateshowformsofpolitical
associationandtheresponsibilitieswehaveforotherscouldbeinformedby
non-sovereignconceptsoftheself.Placingthereaderindialoguewith
HannahArendt,JudithButlerandStanleyCavell,itengageswithdebatessurrounding
thekeyconceptsofidentity,becoming,agencyandethicalresponsibility–
specificallyintermsofa‘non-sovereignself’.Non-sovereigntyhighlightshow
thought,language,andultimatelyone’sverysurvivaldependonsocialrelationships.
Whilenon-sovereignaccountsofhumansociallifehavebecomewidely
accepted,thereisanongoingdebateaboutdefinitionsandrolesofkeytermssuch
as‘finitude’or‘relationality’andtheconsequencestheyhaveforpolitical
thought.DrawingonHannahArendt,JudithButlerandStanleyCavell,thisbook
addressescontemporarytheoreticalandpoliticaldebatesinabroadercomparative
perspectiveandrearticulatestherelationshipbetweenethicsandpoliticsby
highlightingthosewhoarecurrentlyexcludedfromournotionsofpolitical
community”—Providedbypublisher.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Self(Philosophy) 2. Agent(Philosophy) 3. Ethics. 4. Arendt,Hannah,
1906–1975. 5. Butler,Judith,1956– 6. Cavell,Stanley,1926– I. Title.
BD438.5.K452015
170—dc23 2015023266
For my brother, Lois Kelz
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Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 ArendtontheActing,ThinkingandMoralSelf 20
3 TheSituatedandEmbodiedSelf:ButlerandCavellon
Subjectivity,Language,andFinitude 46
4 OthernessandanEthicsofResponsibility 78
5 ResponsibilitybeyondtheHuman? 108
6 Re-ImaginingthePolitical 136
Notes 168
Bibliography 200
Index 207
vii
1
Introduction
Recent debates about cultural, economic, and political globalisation
havepopularisedthenotionofnon-sovereignty.Agrowingunderstand-
ing of social interconnections in all areas of life has allowed for the
insightthatnon-sovereignty,eventhoughitisoftenperceivedasthreat-
ening,isaconditionpoliticalcommunitiesandsingularindividualscan-
notovercome.Inthiscontext,non-sovereignconceptsoftheselfstress
thewaysinwhichthinking,language,andultimatelyone’sverysurvival
depend on social relationships. The relational nature of human exis-
tencehasbeenemphasisedbymanyofthemajordirectionsofwestern
thoughtsuchashermeneutics,phenomenology,post-structuralism,and
post-analytic philosophy. Together with the critique of humanism in
the last half of the 20th century, this has led to the reformulation
of philosophical anthropologies, where the psychic and bodily aspects
of human existence are accentuated. While non-sovereign accounts of
human social life have become widely accepted, there is an ongoing
debateaboutdefinitionsandrolesofkeytermssuchas‘finitude’,‘rela-
tionality’, or ‘difference’ and the consequences they have for political
thought.Inparticular,therelationshipbetweenmoralresponsibilityfor
othersandpoliticalactionandjudgementremainsdisputed.Thisbook
therefore investigates how the non-sovereign self can be understood,
and how this concept can influence notions of political association
and responsibility for others. I argue that, if formulated in a specific
way,anon-sovereignnotionoftheselfcanhelpustodevelopconcep-
tions of political agency and connectivity that are closely intertwined
withanethicsofresponsibilitytowardsthose‘others’whoarecurrently
under-representedinourpoliticalcommunities.
This argument is based on the philosophical anthropologies – or
notions of the self – formulated by Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, and
1
2 TheNon-SovereignSelf,Responsibility,andOtherness
Stanley Cavell. While their writings have been highly influential, they
have so far not been considered in a comparative manner. Reading
them together and against each other, I seek to establish the impor-
tance of non-sovereignty for our political and moral thinking. Their
approaches highlight a productive tension between assertions regard-
ingthe‘communal’characterofsubjectformationandtheuniqueness
or separateness of each human existence. While many notions of rela-
tionalityimplythatwecannotdefineourethicalandpoliticalpositions
independentlyfromtheformativeinfluenceofsociety,anemancipatory
andcriticalstancetowardsoursocialenvironmentmakesitnecessaryto
distance ourselves from our communities, to rely on our unique selves
and develop independent judgements. The notion of non-sovereignty
thisbookproposesthereforenotonlyretainsthepossibilityforcritique
but defines a critical stance towards any formulation of community
as the precondition for emancipatory political action and a moral
relationshiptoothers.
Each of the three authors this book concentrates on makes a dis-
tinctive contribution to the notion of the non-sovereign self. Hannah
Arendt’s work provides a unique understanding of political action that
highlightsthesingularityandnon-sovereigntyofpoliticalagents.More-
over, she enables us to redefine the notion of freedom as decoupled
from sovereignty. Judith Butler explores the depth of the vulnerability
and opaqueness of the self and the connection between our embod-
iedexistenceandourlivesinlanguage.StanleyCavellstressesthatthe
stance we take towards our politicalcommunities andour understand-
ingofmoralsubjectivityareinterconnected.Heallowsustounderstand
that ethics, rather than being merely a concern with the self, relies on
acknowledgingthedifferenceofanotherperson.Furthermore,heargues
thateventhoughourknowledgeaboutourselvesandothersislimited,
moralrelationshipsstilldependonautonomouschoices.
As my usage of the term ‘philosophical anthropology’ implies, this
work rests on the assumption that our political convictions and moral
values are based on broader ontological notions. Asserting ontologi-
cal grounds that direct ethical and political judgements, however, has
become controversial. Previously the nature of our common existence
couldbeexplainedandjustifiedbyreferencetoabeliefinan omnipo-
tentGodorthecognitivepowersoftherationalhumansubject.Atleast
from the 19th century onwards, however, critical voices against the
idea of an ‘ultimate foundation’ have become abundant. Any onto-
logical project, it has been argued, is not only historically contingent
butitalsooftenfunctionsasajustificationfortheformofsocietyand