Logic of the subject

Summary

Dominique Pagani contrasts the logic of the subject with the logic of objects, which he reduces to the form of the function (y = f(x)). He defines it as a logic that can exist only for, through and in a subject, immanent to every subject as a subject. He prefers to speak of what pertains to the subject rather than of "values", and links this dimension to modernity, which comes after the philosophy of knowledge1. In his view, what is properly philosophical belongs to this logic: the question "what ought I to do?", which only a subject can ask2. Against scientism as well as irrationalism, he refuses to reduce everything to a logic of objects and sees Marx and Freud as the two advances in this field3. He gives the example of subjects who signify and value the high, the dawn and elevation4. In a session on Thomas Mann, he also notes that the Nazi delusion of "Judeo-Bolshevism" has its own logic, which is neither "and" nor "or", but fusion.

1. 1#5.9 Kafka, “An Imperial Message”29 Jul 2019 · 3:30
2. 2#5.9 Kafka, “An Imperial Message”29 Jul 2019 · 25:13
3. 3Pagani without detours21 Sept 2019 · 1:03:15
4. 4#9.12 How can sciences of history be real?14 Jan 2021 · 38:14

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.