Tělo jako sarx

• Authors: Michael Hauser

Title variants

EN

The body as sarx

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The article attempts to revive the conception of the body in Ludwig Feuerbach and the young Marx. The aim is to show that Feuerbach produced a concept of embodiment which is to be distinguished from its conception in psychoanalysis and in political thought (the body as the object of bio-power) which prevail in contemporary post-Marxist theory. The difference between these two conceptions can be expressed thus: the Feuerbachian and young-Marxian understanding corresponds to the concept sarx (the natural body), while its conception in post-Marxist thought corresponds to the concept sóma (the body symbolised). Post-Marxist authors generally assume the correctness of Althusser’s rejection of this conception. It is for this reason that I examine Althusser’s critique of Feuerbach’s philosophy in its relation to the question of embodiment and I attempt to show that Althusser’s theory cannot comprehend Feuerbach’s most important discovery. In the final part I deal with Feuerbach as the first thinker of non-identity (Adorno’s term) and I look at his reflections on death as the hidden background of his living and real body. The conclusion is that Feuerbach introduces a conception of embodiment which cannot be completely incorporated into cultural and bio-political practices.

Keywords

EN

sarx; soma; death; Feuerbach; postmarxism

Discipline

• PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Filosofický časopis (Philosophical Journal)
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 59
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 113-129
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Michael Hauser

• Filosofický časopis, redakce, Filosofický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Jilská 1, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic