Concept

Worked through in 6 videos · 8 passages.

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Summary

Dominique Pagani links the concept to Hegel: truth exists only in the element of the concept, as water is the element of the fish. He thus sets it against intuition, ecstasy and the irrational, which Romanticism deified1 2. He draws on etymology: Begriff comes from begreifen, to grasp, and refers to the existing concept, not an abstraction in the head. Concept comes from capere. In the 2024 sessions on the Grail, he draws an image from this: the concept is sharp and combative like a spear, it goes back to the knapped flint of the hunter-gatherer and is opposed to the vessel. It seizes like a bird of prey, and knowledge hurts3 4. In his view, philosophy seeks to raise everyday representations to the rigour of the concept, using natural language. It is this demand that has made philosophy look towards mathematics since its founding5. Finally, he sees the concept as something acquired through history, the tool that allows us to recognise our determinations6.

Summary produced automatically from 8 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Cycle 12 · 30 May 2024From fidelity to grace: from substance to subject

45:52The spear is the concept; concept comes from capere, Begriff from greifen, to seize like a bird of prey: knowledge hurts.

Cycle 12 · 1 Apr 2024The quest for the Grail, sanctimony or sacrilege?

1:11:30The concept, from capere, is pointed and combative like a spear; it goes back to the flint tool of the hunter-gatherer. It is the opposite of the vessel.

Cycle 11 · 14 Oct 2022Clouscard and the problem of Socrates

19:20The necessity of the concept has made philosophy look toward mathematics since its founding.
1:53:18The concept, an achievement of history, is the tool for recognizing our determinations.

Cycle 9.1 · 10 Dec 2020#8 Benefits and harms of amnesia…

57:13Truth finds in the concept alone the element of its existence, as water is the element of the fish; he opposes it to intuition and to the irrational.

Cycle 5.2 · 4 Feb 2019#5.4 Nature or landscape?

14:36Begriff comes from begreifen, to grasp: the concept exists, it is not an abstraction in the head.
35:11Philosophy seeks to raise everyday representations to the rigor of the concept, along with natural language.

Cycle 3 · 1 Aug 2017#3.4 From Ulysses to Daedalus

1:18:33According to Hegel, truth exists only in the element of the concept, against intuition and ecstasy divinized by romanticism.