The Other Heading and Europe By Francesco Tampoia

PhilPapers Nov 2013

Abstract In Politics of Friendship, the aporias of friendship transposed to democracy indicate that if democracy is a promise of the universal inclusiveness of each singular one counting equally, and if its fraternal or national limitation naturalizes the ineluctable decision of inclusion and exclusion, then true friendship requires dis-proportion For !errida it demands a certain rupture in reciprocity and equality, as "ell as the interruption of all fusion bet"een the you and the me In this "ay democracy remains an un-fulfillable promise In "hat follo"s, an imaginary voyage to #urope inspired by the so-called $yracuseparadigm, by means of a close reading of !errida%s The Other Heading: Reflections on Today's Europe, a sort of &untimely meditation& a la 'ietzsche, I critically argue that !errida&s idea of #uropean identity, begotten by the irruption of the other, involves the radical other as a force that sho"s the limits of identity and of the self (e-vie"ed, revisited and re-thought in the optic of the deconstructive standpoint, The Other Heading acquires a ne" light focusing on the possible)impossible relation bet"een the political and the ethical *the +ther ,eading, i e democracy to come, #urope to come- The deconstructive standpoint I use here falls "ithin the "ell .no"n !errida&s binary conception that undergird his "ay of thin.ing/ presence)absence, speech)"riting, and so forth

0ey "ords/ The philosopher and the tyrant1 the metaphor of navigation1 The +ther ,eading and #uropean identity/ +dysseus and ,amlet1 #urope and democracy to come The +ther ,eading and #uropean identity/ +dysseus and ,amlet 2 3"hat remains irreducible to any deconstruction, "hat remains as undeconstructable as the possibility itself of deconstruction, is, perhaps, a certain experience of the emancipatory promise1 it is perhaps even the formality of a structural messianism, a messianism "ithout religion, even a messianic "ithout messianism, an idea of 4ustice--"hich "e distinguish from la" or right and even from human rights--and an idea of democracy --"hich "e distinguish from its current concept and from its determined predicates today 5 !errida, Specters of Marx. 1 !For de"ocracy re"ains to co"e# this is its essence in so far as it re"ains: not only $ill it re"ain indefinitely perfecti%le, hence al$ays insufficient and future, %ut, %elonging to the ti"e of the pro"ise, it $ill al$ays re"ain, in each of its future ti"es, to "e: e&en $hen there is de"ocracy, it ne&er exist, it is ne&er present, it re"ains the the"e of a non'presenta%le concept(!! !errida, Politics of Friendship

Proemium The second thought quoted in exergue is the "istful statement, li.e the leit"oti& of Politics of Friendship6, !errida&s only boo. "ith the "ord 7politics7 in the title ,e begins by commenting on a quotation from 8ontaigne 5& O "es a"is, il n'y a nul ami (O my friends, there is no friend&-5 and then veers off into a rambling

discussion of the quotation&s possible sources and meanings, "hich leads him to deconstruct concepts such as friendship, hospitality, 4ustice, responsibility and democracy Aristotle conceived politics as the business of friends and regarded the 9ree. polis as an arena of li.e-minded men related in citizenship by bonds of friendship In their social and political behaviors, in their %eing'in'co""on, 9ree. citizens usually first agreed about their interests, second adopted the same policy, and then enacted their common resolves In Aristotle&s footsteps, !errida reminds us that the goods internal to friendship bring, "ith them, their o"n challenges, and turn :estern civilization and
philosophy hierarchical into a binary conception involving a pair of terms in "hich one member *the first- is assumed as primary and the other as secondary These hierarchical oppositions privilege unity, identity, and immediacy, "hile they are opposite, independent and equal entities I n

such a "ay, the entire :estern tradition of thin.ing about politics, has been distorted by the %metaphysical concept of identity&, by the metaphysic of presence, in "hich some forms of identity remain difficult to grasp, in "hich traces of otherness that refuse to be totally mastered persist !errida believes that the only "ay to extend the democratic values that he himself holds is to decompose or deconstruct the language by "hich the :est has al"ays conceived of them ,e believes that the mista.e, dra"n up in the language and not in the reality, has .ept our democracies imperfect ,e believes, too, that only by dismantling the vocabulary of :estern political thought can "e hope for a ne" concept of politics +ur metaphysical tradition thin.s of man as identical to himself, a coherent personality free from difference that "e have been encouraged to see. through membership in undifferentiated, homogenizing groups such as families, friendships, community, culture, nation, and borders, groups dependent on the language, and eo ipso conventions The problem "ith such conventions is not only that they cover up differences "ithin the presumably identical entities, but above all that they establish hierarchies 3bet"een brothers and sisters, citizens and foreigners, friends and enemies&
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+n <anuary 6=, 6==> in $yracuse *$icily-, on the occasion of receiving the honorary citizenship of the city and the $yracuse a"ard, !errida reaffirmed his never abandoned political engagement Facing the critique that he "as someho" disengaged "ith the question of the political *(orty, among the others-, he spo.e of the $yracuse paradigm as his political temptation ?uite different from the )ure of Syracuse, the $yracuse paradigm is the experience of the philosopher "ho believes to be qualified to enlighten the statesman "ith his advices or by serving as a substitute for him !errida, "ho surely cannot be included into a disputable list of philotyrannical philosophers, remembered that @lato "ent to $yracuse to instruct the tyrant !ionysius so that he "ould became a "ise ruler of the city For this temptation @lato, of noble origins, .ne" the very gloomy experience of slavery For this temptation, in modern and contemporary ages, many philosophers paid a dear prize, sometimes "ith their lives +n the role of the philosopher in politics, it is enough to remember the famous @latonic testimony, 3$o in my praise of the right philosophy I "as compelled to declare that by it one is enabled to discern all forms of 4ustice both political and individual :herefore the classes of man.ind *I said- "ill have no cessation from evils until either the class of those "ho are right and true philosophers attains political supremacy, or else the class of those "ho hold po"er in the $tates becomes, by some dispensation of ,eaven, really philosophic5 A :hen and "hy did !errida begin to "rite and spea. of politicsB As far as "e are concerned in this paper, "e can ta.e as a reference-point the falling of Berlin&s "all in >CDC, the re-unification of 9ermany, or the bicentennial of French (evolution These "ere the years in "hich !errida too. part in conferences and symposia, and developed valuable and profound contributions to the issue of politics These "ere the years in "hich !errida tried to deconstruct the political implications of moral, social and ethical issues and the questions of la" and 4ustice, democracy, friendship, hospitality, forgiveness, promise and death penalty And also, these "ere the years of divergence from ,abermasEs #urope *0antian ethics of identity, the reading of modernity- and the ne" pro4ect of #nlightenment By the "ay many, including

,abermas, accused !errida of having repudiated the legacy of the #nlightenment Against these charges !errida repeatedly countered that he never abandoned political engagement and claimed to be still a true heir of the #nlightenment, albeit ta.en in its full historical dimension, and cleared up of its internal contradictions +thers thoughtand still thin.- that deconstruction as a textual and academic pro4ect is inherently political for !errida, not because the deconstruction leads to direct political action through prescriptions, but because deconstruction leads to the possibility of action, in "ays political, responsible or not In other "ords, !erridean deconstruction of :estern metaphysics, of ontology and onto-theology, turns out to be intrinsically and primarily ethico-political in both motive and intention *no democracy "ithout deconstruction, no deconstruction "ithout democracy- +f course, both critiques underestimated the complexity of !errida&s promise of democracy since they failed to consider ho" the promise of democracy transforms the terms of political thin.ing In Politics of Friendship, !errida argues that to be capable of friendship "e must be able to honour in the friend the enemy he can become This means precisely the modern motto of democratic republicanism *Fiberty, #quality and Fraternity-, to be able to honour in the friend, or in the fello"-citizen, the enemy he can become as a sign of freedom, the same freedom that, 'ietzsche tells us, tyrants and slaves cannot .no", since they are neither %equal& nor %free& enough for either friendship or enmity !errida maintains that "e cannot guarantee the durability of friendship, and, at the same time, that friendship cannot be coerced Friendship cannot have a particular purpose as an instrument of sub4ective desire The friends must engage either purposefully either "ithout purpose, in the same "ay the artists do in producing art"or.s In friendship as in politics, "e must recognize and respect the separation from the other This is "hat helps us to understand our diversity from our friend and honour in our friend the enemy she or he could become 'o" "e as., $hat are the roles of the geographical and temporal metaphors in the battle of "ords and ideas that are used to describe #urope and its alleged identityB

@art I The deconstruction of European identity In modernity, 'ietzsche is the thin.er "ho more consciously used the name #urope ,e did not spare his o"n compatriots of critical "ords for the hybrid foundation of Bismarc.&s (eich In ,Glderlin&s footsteps and disappointed by Bismarc., 'ietzsche "as in search of a 9erman !elos as the central point of the spirit (eturning to the origins, he paid much attention to the youthful #urope 4ust born in 9reece, impelled by the need %to feel at home, "hich every"here is the 9ree. "orld& :ithin the frame"or. of his philosophy and his nihilism, "hich is #uropean nihilism, 'ietzsche as.s not "hat #urope is, but rather, "hat does #urope "ean, not only for himself as a >Cth century acculturated nomad 9erman, or as a French, Italian, or 9ree., but for all #uropeans $till today, the #uropeans are called to give ans"ers to the 'ietzschean query/ :hat does #urope mean for usB For all of us "ho need to examine "ith 'ietzsche "ithin and "ithout our traditions and historical conflicts, for all of us "ho need to as. "hat is at sta.e after a century of incomplete and exterior nihilism, "hat does #urope meanB In the past #urope has been presented as the ideal example of all that is pure, authentic, and spiritual, either as particular instantiation or teleological model for everyone else or as a specific place, the %universal heading& for all nations and peoples in the "orld H According to !errida, the idea of #urope as exemplarity is one of %navigation& or %heading&, one of the recurrent metaphors used by intellectuals to evo.e the movement of transfer symbolized by the mythical-figure of +dysseus The determinant role of ,omer in the ancient 9ree. and Fatin culture and in modern and contemporary #uropean culture, that many intellectuals are inspired by, and the topos of +dysseus-Ilysses, the 8an of 8any :ays, are "ell .no"n The +dyssey has become %an ancestral text& for historians, philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, occult magicians, novelists, science-fiction "riters, biographers, auto-biographers, movie directors and composers of operas To allude to +dyssey

means to invo.e an archetype, an authority of talismanic psychological po"er Fet me remind, in passing, that Jatherine 8alabou in the boo. *ounterpath: Tra&eling $ith +ac,ues -errida develops an interpretation of !errida&s thought as a movement constantly arri&ing $ithout deri&ing But, there is something else #urope-as-a-heading is not only the metaphoric #uropean figure par excellence #urope is a figure beyond the simple metaphor1 it means movement to"ards the radical %other heading. The boo. The Other Heading is perhaps understandable as an untimely meditation& a la 'ietzsche. .n it, Derrida %egins $ith a #urope that has been defined as the capital of culture and the headland of thought, in "hose name and for "hose benefit the exploration of other lands, other peoples, and other "ays of thin.ing has been carried out, 3a #urope "here the metaphor of navigation has al"ays presented itself as a mere metaphor, "here language and tropes have been ventured in the expectation that they "ould return "ith an even greater value attached5 *OH, xlv-viK

Today, !errida "arns, the question of #urope must be as.ed in a ne" and heretical "ay Above all, the question must be as.ed by recalling that %the other headingE is not a mere metaphor sub4ect to capitalization (ather, it is the very condition of our metaphors, our language, and our thought It implies an elementary, even if impossible, transfer bet"een singularity and universality- an antinomy even in !errida&s opinion- bet"een the particularity of the place and the universality of the idea of place, of the geographic continent called #urope and of the #urope to come, the #urope of ,ope The Other Heading is neither the analysis of particular discourses about Europe, nor the proposal to broach the intricate, troubled current problems the nion and the establishment of a transnational European state posits. !t is a te"t in #hich Derrida denounces the ne" liberal consensus, "hich he sees as having ruled the :est since >CDC, and lashes out hysterically at the %'e" International& of global capitalism, the financial "orld and media conglomerates that have established a sort

of hegemony !errida is less critical of 8arxism- see Specters of Marx, a boo. that continues the reflections on the t"o genders)genres of la/le capital treated in Other Heading' ,e believes that communism became totalitarian "hen it began by realizing the eschatological program outlined by 8arx In !errida& vie", 8arx&s problem "as that he did not fully for"ard his o"n critique of ideology and that he remained inside the ontological tradition This explains the 9ulag and genocide, and the terror committed in his name by $oviet Inion :hat particularly interests us here, ho"ever, is that !errida thro"s doubts on every political principle of :estern philosophical tradition/ propriety, intentionality, "ill, liberty, conscience, self-consciousness, the sub4ect, the self, the person, and community ,e as.s himself, are 4udgments about political matters still possibleB Jan one still distinguish right from "rong, 4ustice from in4usticeB Are these terms so infected "ith ontologism that they must be abandonedB Jan it really be that deconstruction condemns us to silence on political mattersB Jan "e find a linguistic escape from the trap of languageB In The Other Heading, !errida starts "ith on an autobiographical note/ 3To begin, I "ill confide in you a feeling- Already on the sub4ect of headings LcapsM and of the shores on "hich I intend to remain It is the some"hat "eary feeling of an old #uropean 8ore precisely, of someone "ho, not quite #uropean by birth, since I come from the southern coast of the 8editerranean, considers himself, and more and more so "ith age, some"hat over-acculturated, over-colonized #uropean hybrid 5 *OH, K-N- A personal feeling, indeed, a self-portrait of one "ho, as early as grade school in French Algeria, tried to capitalize on the old age of #urope, .eeping a little of the indifferent and impassive youth of the other shore 3:e are younger than ever, "e #uropeans,&& !errida adds, %&since a certain #urope does not yet exist ,as it ever existedB And yet "e are li.e these young people "ho get up, at da"n, already old and tired :e are already exhausted5*OH, N-D- ,e suggests another direction in the

offing, the urgency of changing destination, maybe a .ind of re-4ourneying follo"ing t"o fundamental principles First, he presents the axiom of finitude 3This axio" of finitude is a s"arm or storm of questions From "hat state of exhaustion must the young old-#uropeans "ho "e are set out again, re-embar. Lre'partir]B 8ust they re-beginB +r must they depart from #urope1 separate themselves from an old #uropeB +r else depart again, set out to"ard a #urope that does not yet existB +r else re-embar. in order to return to a #urope of origins that "ould then need to be restored, rediscovered, or reconstituted, during a great celebration of 7reunion7 Lretrou&ailles]B5 *OH, D- And, second, 3I "ill venture a second axio" I believe it to be preliminary to the very possibility of giving a meaning to such assertions *for example, that of a 7reunion7and such questions , a very dry necessity "hose consequences could affect our entire problematic/ $hat is proper to a culture is not to %e identical to itself Lmy italics] 'ot to not have an identity, but not to be able to identify itself, to be able to say 7me7 or 7"e71 to be able to ta.e the form of a sub4ect only in the non-identity to itself or, if you prefer, only in the difference $ith itself La&ec soi] There is no culture or cultural identity "ithout this difference $ith itself( A strange and slightly violent syntax/ %%"ith itself&& La&ec soi ] also means %&at home *"ith itself-&& Lche0 soi ] *"ith, a&ec, is %&che0!!, apud hoc-&& *OH, C->=- $hortly after, bac. to the autobiographical, !errida "rites that the suggestion of The Other Heading as the title for his reflections struc. him suddenly "hile he "as thin.ing of air or sea navigation on board a plane #ither by sea or by air there is a problem of direction, and, 3it is necessary to recall ourselves not only to the other heading, and especially to the heading of the other, but also perhaps to the other of the heading, that is to say, to a relation of identity "ith the other that no longer obeys the form, the sign, or the logic of the heading, nor even of the anti' headingOof beheading, of decapitation *OH, >HThe heading of the other is the first condition for non-egocentric identity *contrary to the metaphysic of identity mentioned at the beginning- +penness to the other is the

second condition It deals "ith the irruption of otherness that occurred in ancient 9reece, !errida confesses that he has discovered by reading 9ree. "ords As ( 9aschP comments in his Europe, or the infinite tas1' 2 study of a philosophical concept'5if this other in all its forms irrupts into the 9ree. from the beginning *thus foreclosing any possibility of a 9ree. self-identity or self-immanence-, the 9ree., as the source of #urope, is precisely the figure of non-closure upon itself, allo"ing it to "elcome alterity into the logos5
N

From its origin #urope "as opened up not only to

conceive of that "hich comes from outside, but also being merely in opposition to it, to ta.e it as an element of its o"n essence Odysseus( -e'closing the Hori0on/European "e"ories( The old #urope seems to have exhausted all possibilities of discourse and counter-discourse about its o"n identity Today the topic of #uropean identity is predictably tired and obsolete %&From ,egel to QalPry, from ,usserl to ,eidegger, in spite of all the differences that distinguish these great examples each other,&& !errida tells us %&-I tried to mar. them else"here, in Of Spirit for example- this traditional discourse is already a discourse of the "odern :estern "orld&&*OH, 6N- It is dated1 it is dated in the sense that spea.s of #urope from the perspective of its end As far as the issue of #urope is concerned "ithin the context of the history of ideas, as interpreted by the mentioned intellectuals, it smac.s of rhetoric, it is faulty of essentialism and traditionalism1 namely it is "ithin the traditional vision of modernity 'o" is the time for attempting a dis-continuist approach, for ma.ing a leap to leave behind the ideas of #urope of the first half of 6= th century, for forgetting the issue of crisis, of the end of #urope, influenced by ,egelian philosophy of the absolute spirit of #urope In any case, #urope does not have a fixed identity #urope is bearer of difference, and the concept of head, so dear to !errida, means less a geographical standpoint and more a philosophical standpoint It falls "ithin the "ell .no"n binarysm of oppositions that undergird our "ays of thin.ing/ presence)absence, speech)"riting, and so forth

%To be& means to inherit human responsibility, and difference is the very site of the possibility of any :e #uropeans are called to fulfil the paradoxical responsibility for and to a specific tradition of responsibility -from Fatin Erespondere!- that has been bequeathed to us, one "hich even 'ietzsche "as appealing to, a contradictory 9ree.(oman responsibility/ 3To ma.e ourselves the guardians of an idea of #urope, of a difference of #urope, %ut of a #urope that consists precisely in not closing itself off in its o"n identity and in advancing itself in an exemplary "ay to"ard "hat it is not, to"ard the other heading or the heading of the other, indeedOand this is perhaps something else altogetherOto"ard the other of the heading, "hich "ould be the beyond of this modern tradition, another border structure, another shore&& *OH, 6C- And %&To be faithfully responsible for this memory, and thus to respond rigorously to this double in4unction/ "ill this have to consist in repeating or in brea.ing "ith, in continuing or in opposingB +r indeed in attempting to in&ent another gesture, an epic gesture in truth, that presupposes memory precisely in order to assign identity from alterity, from the other heading and the other of the heading, from a completely other shoreB 5*OH, 6C-;=- Assuming or re-assuming, at the same time, the classical concept of responsibility, that is the reference to the genealogy of #uropean responsibility :hat "e #uropeans find difficult to thin. about today and to produce for a #urope, torn a"ay from self-identification as repetition of itself, is precisely something ne" and radically unforeseen that requires a brea. "ith the present, recognition of the uniqueness of today, the singular event, the singular advent of #urope, and the potentiality of a future in the urgency of here and no" !errida believes 3that this is ta1ing place no$ I believe, rather, that this event ta.es place as that "hich comes, as that "hich see.s or promises itself today, in #urope, the today of a #urope "hose borders are not givenOno more than its name #urope being

here only a paleony"ic appellation I believe that if there is any event today, it is ta.ing place here5 *OH, ;=->The *apital !errida goes on to comment on the .ey"ord %capital&, "hich capitalizes on a double significance and t"o genres of questions It can be understood as the fe"inine, as the question of la capital1 and second, to the "asculine, as the question of le capital, "hich leads to the theme of the #uropean cultural identity The ineluctable question of la capital must be translated and displaced "ithin a debate on the current techno-scientific means of communication +n the one hand, it is impossible to accept la capital as a centralizing authority, as a po"er that, by means of trans-#uropean culture and technology, "ould control and standardize the artistic discourses and practices to the grid of intelligibility, of philosophical or aesthetic norms in order to pursue ratings and commercial profitability +n the other, at issue is the principle that #uropean cultural identity cannot be dispersed into a myriad of provinces, a multiplicity of self-enclosed idioms or petty little nationalisms, each one 4ealous and untranslatable (e4ecting both the fragmentation and the traditional idea of the unification of #urope, i e the modern concept of union of #urope, !errida calls for a rene"al of the #nlightenment-values and liberal democracy, neither of "hich by itself could overcome the #urocentric biases and chauvinism In deconstructing concepts such as public opinion, freedom of press, responsibility and identity, !errida&s aims to open up to"ard ne" language*s- for contemplating #uropeEs destiny ,e "ill even venture, %&to say that ethics, politics, and responsibility, if there are any, "ill only ever have begun "ith the experience and experiment of the aporia The condition of possibility of this thing called responsibility is a certain experience and experi"ent of the possi%ility of the i"possi%le/ the testing of the aporia from "hich one may invent the only possi%le in&ention, the i"possi%le in&ention&& 3OH, A>- And, to be sure, such an aporia has the logical form of contradiction

:ith the contemporary tele-technologies, the geo-political boundaries and territorial mar.ers are sub4ect to displacement and permanent dislocation :hether demands are made to establish or to protect the national borders and state sovereignty and "hether claims are advanced for the citizenship and the democratic rights, these demands all together find a measure of their historical, legal, and discursive formation inscribed into the geo-political mar.ers and topographical-spatial boundaries In short, "hat the accelerated development of tele-technologies, of cyberspace, of ne" topology and of %the virtual& is producing, !errida argues, is a deconstruction at "or. of the traditional, dominant concepts of state and citizenship In a "orld ruled by the mono-perspectivism of global mar.et economics, "hen and "herever a television is s"itched on, "hen and "herever a phone-call is made, "hen and "herever an Internet connection is established, the question of critical culture, of democracy, of political, and of de-territorialisation erupts Television, radio and internet create %ghostly duplications& in transmitting and declaring something present that instead is a spectral imagine of something occurring in a different place Allo" me, in passing, to remind that the occasional and explicit motive of The Other Heading is the media
D

,ere as else"here, the in4unction seems double and

contradictory for "hoever is concerned "ith #uropean cultural identity If it is necessary to ma.e sure that a centralizing hegemony is not reconstituted, accordingly it is necessary to prevent borders, movements, and margins from multiplying, and to not cultivate for its o"n sa.e the minority differences, the untranslatable idiolects, the national antagonisms, or the chauvinisms of idiom The #uropean responsibility consists exactly in renouncing neither of these t"o contradictory imperatives Follo"ing the optic of deconstructive standpoint and the concept of difference, it "ould seem that #uropean cultural identity, li.e identity or identification in general, "ust belong to the experi"ent of the i"possi%le if it must be equal to itself and to the otherOup to the measure of its o"n immeasurable difference "ith itself !errida "rites, 3'evertheless, one "ill al"ays be able de 4ure to as. "hat an ethics or a politics that measures responsibility only by the rule of the impossible can be/ as if

doing only "hat "ere possible amounted to abandoning the ethical and political realms, or as if, inversely, in order to ta.e an authentic responsibility it "ere necessary to limit oneself to impossible, impractical, and inapplicable decisions5*OH, AH-KThe national affirmation, as an essentially modern

phenomenon, remains al"ays a philosopheme 'ational hegemony aims to 4ustify itself in name of a privilege in responsibility and in memory of the universal ,o"ever, the bac.bone of this national self-affirmation- similar to ,eideggerian Sel%st%ehauptung and the nuclear statement of the national 7ego7 or 7sub4ect7remains quite dry !errida argues 7I am *"e are- all the more national for being #uropean, all the more #uropean for being trans-#uropean and international1 no one is more cosmopolitan and authentically universal than the one, than this E"e,E "ho is spea.ing to you7*OH, AD- In the logic of this sound cosmopolitan discourse, "hat is proper to a particular nation or idiom, and "hat is proper to #urope, analogically, is to advance itself as a heading for the universal essence of humanity ,ere, I am tal.ing about the human rights, the freedom of thought, and consequently the freedom to publish, and the freedom to teach From the issue of the head to the issue of the geopolitical frontiers, "hich seems to !errida less uncertain than geographical ones, "e rediscover the spiritual frontiers There is great uncertainty regarding the borders of #urope, but not regarding its spiritual borders *around the ideas of philosophy, reason, monotheism, <e"ish, 9ree., Jhristian Jatholic, @rotestant, +rthodox, and Islamic memories, around <erusalem, a <erusalem itself divided, torn apart, around Athens, (ome, 8osco", @aris, and it is necessary to add etc In The Freedo" of Spirit, published in >C;C, 4ust in a moment of critic imminence "hose sta.e is the destiny of #uropean culture, QalPry ma.es an appeal 3to the $ord capital, precisely in order to define culture5and the 8editerranean That is ho" all that "ealth incarnates into being, to "hich our culture o"es practically everything, at least in its origins1 I may say that the 8editerranean has been a veritable "achine for "a1ing ci&ili0ation In addition, in creating trade, it necessarily created freedo" of the spirit +n the shores of the 8editerranean, then,

spirit, culture, and trade are round together *LHistory and Politics, p >CKM-5 *OH, K;-A, Italics added(e-echoing Qalery and pointing out another heading, !errida notes that if it is impossible to name #urope "ithout spea.ing in Fatin, "ithout ac.no"ledging a 9raeco-(omano-Jhristian heritage, allied to the imperial pursuit of capital, it is possible, then, to dream of another heading, not far from (ome, but no longer (ome !errida "rites, %%this 8editerranean shore also interests me- coming as I do from the other shore if not from the other heading *from a shore that is principally neither French, nor #uropean, nor Fatin, nor Jhristian&& *OH, ;H-;K- +n the other side of the 8editerranean, !errida can imagine a #urope that "ould find place not 4ust for Athens and (ome but also for <erusalem and Byzantium

@art II *The Radical Other HeadingFro" the 2poria of Present to -e"ocracy to *o"e( The infinite tas1(

To"ard the end of the boo., !errida claims that #urope must recover its best feature, that "hich is neither yet, nor has ever been, nor "ill ever be #urope, a tas. for the future inspired by the ,usserlian *risis ,usserl tells us that "e #uropeans are liable %&to respond to the call of #uropean memory, to recall "hat has been promised under the name #urope *OH, NK- For example, in reference to the issue of hospitality, that today divides our #uropean and national consciences, #uropean responsibility dictates the opening-up of #urope, %&"elcoming foreigners in order not only to integrate them but also to recognize and accept their alterity * OH, NN- Assuming the #uropean heritage, this duty refers to a different %&idea of democracyR something that remains to be thought and to co"e La venirMR, a democracy that must have the structure of a promise- and thus the "e"ory of that $hich carries the future, the to' co"e, 3opposite to6 here and no$!! *OH, ND- $uch #uropean idea of democracy

%&dictates respecting differences, idioms, minorities, singularities, but also the universality of formal la", the desire for translation, agreement, and univocity, the la" of ma4ority, opposition to racism, nationalism, and xenophobia&&* OH, ND- It demands, moreover %&tolerating and respecting all that is not placed under the authority of reason It may have to do "ith faith, "ith different forms of faith It may also have to do "ith certain thoughts, "hether questioning thoughts or notR For these thoughts #urope may also try to remain faithful to the ideal of #nlightenment *2uf1larung, .llu"inis"6, ac.no"ledging its limits in order to "or. on the #nlightenment of our time, the time that is oursOtoday * OH, ND-NC- 'o doubt, such duties call for a special responsibility, effective and- $ith experience, through experi"ent- interminable At the end of the pamphlet, !errida concludes thus/ 3I am #uropean, I am no doubt a #uropean intellectual, and I li.e to recall this, I li.e to recall this to myself, and "hy "ould I deny itB But, I am not, nor do I feel, #uropean in e&ery part, that is, #uropean through and through By "hich I mean, by "hich I "ish to say, or "ust say/ I do not "ant to be and must not be #uropean through and through, #uropean in e&ery part 8y cultural identity, that in the name of "hich I spea., is not only #uropean, it is not identical to itself, and I am not 7cultural7 through and through, 7cultural7 in every part5*OH, D6- 'either #urocentrist, nor anti-#urocentrist, "hat comes through !errida&s critical and continual interrogation of #uropean identity, in "hich #urope imposes both as a conception and as a tas. of universality, is the ac.no"ledgment of a public and political space, and of an infinite tas. Before his death, in the short article 3A #urope of ,ope5 delivered in 8ay 6==A, !errida launched his final prayer and hope for the future #urope, for an +ther ,eading -e"ocracy and responsi%ility: -errida and 7ant( In commenting on the mentioned duties, one "ould thin. of appealing once more to ,usserl ,o"ever, the most recent scholarly debate leads to "riting further on the

relationship bet"een 0ant and !errida and the intersection and interaction bet"een ethics and politics !errida has frequently said %I am ultra-0antian I am 0antian, but I am more than 0antian% To"ards the end of the *riti,ue of Pure Reason, at Janon of @ure (eason, 0ant reformulates the three central preoccupations of his philosophy/ :hat can I .no"B :hat should I doB :hat can I hope forB ,ere, "hat interest us are particularly the second and the third questions 0ant "rites/ 3The second question is merely practical As such, to be sure, it can belong to pure reason, but in that case is not transcendental, but moral, and thus cannot be in itself an ob4ect of critique The third question %If I do "hat I should, "hat may I then hopeB& is simultaneously practical and theoretical, so that the practical leads li.e clue to a reply to the theoretical question and, in its highest form, the speculative question For all hope concerns happiness, and "ith respect to the practical and the moral la" it is the very same as "hat .no"ledge and the natural la" is "ith regard to theoretical cognition of things&& C :hat shall I doB :hat shall the #uropeans doB 0ant&s ethics is based on the possible1 !errida&s ethics is guided by the impossible 0antian hospitality depends on a "ide range of criteria concerning identity and length of stay, namely, it is conditional !erridean hospitality is part of ethical sphere, and is of unconditional demand Fet us pause, for a moment, at this "ell-.no"n case of deconstructive practice, an example of un-conditionality "ithout sovereignty as < Japuto calls it In 2dieu to E""anuel )e&inas, !errida "rites/ 3"e must be reminded of this implacable la" of hospitality/ the h8te "ho receives *the host-, the one "ho "elcomes the invited or received h8te *the guest-, the "elcoming h8te "ho considers himself the o"ner of the place Lpropri9taire des lieuxM, is in truth a h8te received in his home5 >= But, the question remains/ could unlimited hospitality in some form ever become the policy of the $tateB Jould an ethics of hospitality ever be translated into a politics of totally open borders and "elcoming democratic treatment of all immigrants and refugeesB In

other "ords, could politics ever become ethicalB The sensible, 3realistic5 ans"er is not, at least not completely For asylum see.ers, one of the topics !errida has frequently been concerned "ith, !errida concedes that states and their la"s generally rule the political criteria !errida concedes, too, that the conditions of hospitality may be necessary, but he retorts the argument saying that the difficulties must be addressed in a different "ay ,ospitality, he argues, is %an art and a poetics& and, despite its political and ethical aspects, it should be reinvented every time The .ind of hospitality that can be reshaped for each situation is very significant in its limitlessness In short, !errida thin.s that the true political invention lies in experiencing and negotiating the limits of the aporias of universality and particularity)singularity, all the "hile remaining a"are of the i"possi%ility of such a tas. @olitics must be conceived in a "ay that ma.es negotiating "ith ethics a more promising affair 'o doubt, an unconditional hospitality is practically impossible to live1 yet, "ithout at least the thought of this pure and unconditional hospitality, of hospitality itself, "e "ould have no concept of hospitality in general and "ould not even be able to determine any rules for conditional hospitality :e must therefore %%re-inscribe the unconditional into certain conditions&&

Europe and the scene of inheritance( The Prince Ha"let( !emocracy is born in 9reece, and by extension in #urope I quote at some length from Thucydides&Peloponnesian $ars the famous speech of @ericles :e read/ 3+ur constitution does not copy the la"s of neighbouring states1 "e are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves Its administration favours the many instead of the fe"1 this is "hy it is called a democracy If "e loo. to the la"s, they afford equal 4ustice to all in their private differences1 if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allo"ed to interfere "ith merit1 nor again does poverty bar the "ay, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition The freedom "hich "e en4oy in our

government extends also to our ordinary life There, far from exercising a 4ealous surveillance over each other, "e do not feel called upon to be angry "ith our neighbor for doing "hat he li.es, or even to indulge in those in4urious loo.s "hich cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty But all this ease in our private relations does not ma.e us la"less as citizens Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the la"s, particularly such as regard the protection of the in4ured, "hether they are actually on the statute boo., or belong to that code "hich, although un"ritten, yet cannot be bro.en "ithout ac.no"ledged disgrace5 >> The early democracy of Athens names itself isono"ia, literally, equality before the la" In practice, this means citizens equally possessing the same freedom to spea. publicly of the common affairs in the polis, and the ability to resolve differences through discourses and argumentations rather than violence In the margin of @ericles& democratic and)or demagogic speech, !errida certainly "ould say %%"e are still 9ree.s, certainly, but perhaps other 9ree.s, "e "ere not born from 4ust that 9ree. send-off1 $e are certainly still other 9ree.s, "ith the memory of events that are irreducible to the 9ree. genealogy, but other enough to have not only, also, altered the 9ree. in us, but to bear "ithin us something "holly other than the 9ree.&&
>6

9reece, or "hatever deserves the name 9ree., is that "hich actually

ma.es it possible to envision another #urope, but also that "e, "ho are 9ree.s, are 9ree.s of another .ind, are +ther 9ree.s If democracy remains the horizon of our time, the only constitutional paradigm, in "hich, in principle, one finds the right and the responsibility to criticize publicly everything, including the idea of democracy, its concept, its history and its name, for !errida %democracy to come& remains the horizon beyond "hich is possible)impossible to thin. Today "e are no longer at the 9ree. polis, at the traditional concept of politeia 'either @ericles&s democracy, nor the current %liberal democracy& are the !erridean %democracy to come& The principle of equality-cited many times in Politics of Friendship tends to introduce measure and calculation *and thus conditionality-, compromises 4ustice 8arx "ould say it is constantly stigmatized by a %ourgeois limitation The democracy to come "ants to go

beyond the principle of equality1 it is grounded on transgression1 it is unconditional and critical of the tyranny of number, re4ects the rational calculation, and may be at "orst envisioned as a challenge to the authority and sovereignty of the state, and of course, also to a desirable, future #uropean state +n the international scale, a democracy to come may emerge in ne" institutions such as the International Jriminal Jourt :hat .ind of democracy for #uropeB In Politics of Friendship, !errida transposes the aporias of political friendship to democracy !emocracy is a promise of universal inclusiveness of each singular one counting equally1 it remains a promise, infinitely deferred, al"ays Eto comeE and EspectralE, hovering bet"een absence and presence Its fraternal or national limitation of members naturalizes the ineluctable decision of inclusion and exclusion, and begets an inevitable self-delimitation !errida spea.s diffusely of the dis4unctive la"s of democracy that dictate, simultaneously and impossibly, the requirement of %calculable ma4orities& of %stabilizable, representable sub4ects, all equal& on the one hand +n the other, an absolute %respect for irreducible singularity or alterity& a dis4unction that issues in a demand for a %democracy to come& that remains unrealizable in any given %present&
>;

:e have on the one hand,

the absolute respect for irreducible singularity1 on the other, as Aristotle tells us *:ico"achean Ethics-, living in company "ith the others The ethical and the political, !errida ac.no"ledges, are structurally beset by aporias, and require any responsible decision to pass through the ordeal of undecidability In Specters of Marx, "e read 7The EundecidableE has never been, for me, the opposite of decision/ it is the condition of decision "herever decision cannot be deduced from an existing body of .no"ledge as it "ould be by a calculating machine7
>A

To privilege oneEs

Eo"nE language is inescapable1 to ta.e a decision for the sub4ect by Ethe otherE yet remains violent, forgetful of the other language and idiom The quasi-concept of Edemocracy to comeE and the strategies of thought informing this concept ma.e clear that !erridaEs thought turns around the determination of the la", and the necessary excess of the la" "ithin that determination @hilosophy, in order to be critical, must

be concerned "ith both the determination of 4ustice and the excess of 4ustice over its determination This double strategy unties the philosophical deconstruction from politics at the very moment it ties deconstruction to it The aporia of Edemocracy to comeE has limited purchase upon "orld actuality and the formation of universal la"s This the criticism of some post-!erridean philosophers, ill disposed to accept the impotent messianism of democracy to come, as SiTe. "ho "rites/ %!errida&s notion of %deconstruction as ethics& seems to rely on a utopian hope "hich sustains the spectre of %infinite 4ustice&, forever postponed, al"ays to come&>H The question remains1 politics is not a matter of passive expectation1 it envisages action And, if the idea of 4ustice cannot be articulated, it cannot provide any aim for political action According to !errida all that remains to guide us is decision, pure and simple/ a decision for 4ustice or democracy, and for a particular understanding of both SiTe. continues thus %!errida&s later %political& "ritings as too beholden to the impossible ob4ect of desire, too %utopian& in their commitment to the promise of democracy, hospitality, 4ustice, friendship, the gift, and so on/ %!errida&s notion of %deconstruction as ethics& seems to rely on a utopian hope "hich sustains the spectre of %infinite 4ustice&, forever postponed, al"ays to come, but nonetheless here as the ultimate horizon of our activity& *ib Again, ho" may the philosophical community respond in the living presentB There is no pre'deter"ined path leading from philosophy to politics, from thought to action, from politics to ethics If the %to-come& that mar.s the dis'ad4usted and dis4ointed time of present is al"ays already haunting the %actual& in political interventions, "e can never rest assured "ith the good conscience of having made the right decision :e are al"ays hanging over the indecision of decision and the hyperbolic responsibility for the other, responsibility fraught "ith ris.s, existential ris.s and dangers To %e means to inherit (esponsibility consists 3in responding, hence in ans"ering to the other, before the other and before the la", and if possible publicly,

ans"ering for itself, its intentions, its aims, and for the name of the agent deemed responsible5 >K 8aybe, the very idea of responsibility is an impossible idea In the volume )a *rise de l!esprit( :ote in essays ,uasi politi,ues,>N Qalery presents an imaginary #uropean ,amlet leaning from a terrace that overloo.s the "hole of #urope and loo.ing at million of ghosts ,e is an intellectual "ho reflects on life and death, is oppressed by the "eight of his discoveries and his .no"ledge, and at the same time is incapable of any action ,e is someone "hose troubles appear both to live in the moment and to have a past ,e reflects on the boredom of the past that needs to be rediscovered, at the folly of continual innovation *+dysseus- ,e is torn bet"een t"o crevasses, since t"o are the dangers confronting the "orld/ order and disorder !escending from the terrace, the #uropean ,amlet pic.s up a s.ull and recognizes it for the trace of the development of #uropean history/ 3:hose "as itB This one "as )ionardo genuit themU And this other s.ull is that of Feibniz "ho dreamed of universal peace And this one "as 0ant qui genuit ,egel, qui genuit 8arx, qui ,amlet does not .no" "hat to do "ith all these s.ulls But if he abandons :ill he cease to be himselfB
>N

:hat "ould the #uropean intellectual

becomeB It is time to say goodbye to ghosts since it has no need for them any longerB Jlearly, for ,amlet the image-figure of the s.ull represents the manner for connecting the past and the present, essentially the mind)spirit that leads to another identification of the other *autre cap- There is a lin. "ith spectrality and #uropean legacy, that of the figure of revenant and)or arrivant The specters are important for #uropean memory ,amlet&s confrontation "ith the ghost of his father precipitates the 4udgment that %the time is out of 4oint&, and becomes his *of ,amlet- responsibility, as his father&s heir, to set things right <ust as the @rince ,amlet must address the issues of inheritance, responsibility, and promise for the future in response to the ghost of his father *the other-, all of us #uropeans living no"Oin this dis-4ointed or dis-ad4usted timeOmust address the question of inheritance, of responsibility and of promise The un-conditionality and infinite responsibility does not mean "e should simply ma.e better policies, but that in doing so *ma.ing politics- the entire apparatus of :estern

political culture must be removed and re-thought in an unpredictable and emerging future #thics does not involve the mere application of "ell-"orn maxims1 ethics becomes reacquainted only "ith fear and trembling that accompanies any decision by means of the %ethicality of ethics& #thics involves the exigency of decisions, since decisions, ta.en in a non-metaphysical sense, are unavoidable, and a decision is al"ays particular, confined to a singular and unique situation, responding to a unique call from the other Epilogue ,as !errida sufficiently entertained the idea of democracy to comeB Is it so distant to be effectively meaninglessB The !erridean advice consists in .eeping the force of rethin.ing democracy beyond the borders of the political, of rethin.ing the political beyond the political, of rethin.ing the democratic beyond democracy Fet me emphasize that for !errida, or his specter, remains that %democracy to come& gives movement to democracy, that democracy to come and democracy are implicated in the play bet"een identity and difference, are the condition of the production of meaning At the same time, for !errida subsists the search for a path to"ards a real, concrete democracy beyond democracy, something that can be accomplished only by "ay of approximation that may give a plus of democracy to the present and future of #urope As a 8editerranean intellectual !errida "ould say/ Europeans de tous les pays, encore un effort( I "ould li.e to "ind do"n, in closing, "ith the continuation of the second thought in the exergue/ 3.t is possi%le to open up to the co"e! of a certain de"ocracy $hich is no longer an insult to the friendship $e ha&e stri&en to thin1 %eyond the ho"o fraternal and phallogocentric sche"e; <hen $ill $e %e ready for an experience that friendship, $hich $ould at last, %e 4ust, 4ust %eyond the la$, and "easured up against its "easurelessness; O "y de"ocratic friends(((= @olitics of Friendship >D

#ndnotes >- <acques !errida, Spectres of Marx: the State of the -e%t, the :or. of 8ourning, and the 'e" International, @ 0amuf trans 'e" Vor./ (outledge >CCA, p NA 6- < !errida, Politics of Friendship, trans 9eorge Jollins *Fondon/ Qerso Fondon 'e" Vor., 6==H, p KA Agamben %re4ects the friend)enemy relation as the decisive categorical pair of :estern politics&, as one can deduce in Politics of Friendship, and delegitimates the motto %+h friends, there are no friends& "hich provides the leitmotiv for !errida&s boo. $- 8ar. Filla, The Politics of +ac,ues -errida, 6> <une >CCD $ource/ ,ardcopy, The 'e" Vor. (evie" of Boo.s, <une 6H, >CCD, pp ;K-A> A- 9reat Boo.s and Jlassic-@lato, Epistle >.., ;6K-trans By < ,arvard, see also (ep AN;1 (ep H=># H- Actos QII Jongreso 3Jultura #uropea5 @amplona 6==H W (iedel, 8 3

Heideggers europaische <endung, ?ander, Europa und die Philosopie, p( @A'BB , Fran.furt)8ain 0loster mann, >CC; In reference to #urope as the ideal example of everything that is pure, authentic, spiritual, and at once a particular instantiation and a teleological model for everybody else, see the Introduction by 8ichael B 'aas to < !errida, The Other Heading' Reflections on Today!s Europe , Indiana Iniversity @ress, >CC6 7Fi.e ,usserl&s example of #urope, li.e ,eidegger&s example of 9ermany and the 9erman language, Qalery&s example of the 8editerranean, of #urope, of France, and even of @arisRturns out to have a privileged relationship to the very essence of humanity&&*OH, xxxiiiK- < !errida, The Other Heading' Reflections on Today!s Europe , Indiana Iniversity @ress, >CC6 Introduction, p xlv-vi ,ereafter referred to parenthetically in the text as OH( As mentioned in the abstract, the red thread of the present essay lies

do"n along the line Other Heading' -e"ocracy to co"e, a lin. absent from the ma4ority of discussions of !errida&s "or. or under recognized in previous readings of the pamphlet N- ( 9aschP, Europe, or the infinite tas1' 2 study of a philosophical concept $tanford Iniversity @ress, Jalifornia 6==C, p 6CN D- < !errida, Echographies of Tele&ision/ Filmed Intervie"s, trans <ennifer Ba4ore. Jambridge, I0/ @olity @ress and 8alden, 8ass/ Blac."ell @ublishers 6==6, p KH C- Immanuel 0ant, 7riti,ue of Pure Reason, translated and edited by @aul 9uyer and Allen : :ood, Jambridge Iniversity @ress, >CCD >=- < !errida, 2dieu to E""anuel )e&inas, trans @ascal Anne Brault and 8ichel 'aas-$tandard Jalifornia- $tandard Iniversity @ress - >CCC- p A> >>- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian <ar, translated by (ichard Jra"ley- Boo. II- Jhapter QI- !over @ublications, Inc ;> #ast 6 nd $treet, 8ineola, ' V >>H=> >6- ,ere, I refer to the essay/ < !errida, <e Other ?ree1s, translated by @ascaleAnne Brault and 8ichael 'aas in -errida and 2nti,uity, +xford Iniversity @ress 6=>=, p 6N-6D >;- < !errida, Politics of Friendship, p 66 >A- <acques !errida, Spectres of Marx: the State of the -e%t, the :or. of 8ourning, and the 'e" International, @ 0amuf trans 'e" Vor./ (outledge >CCA, p 6A= >H- SiTe., $lavo4, .n -efense of )ost *auses Fondon/ Qerso6==D, p 66H

>K- < !errida, The 9ift of !eath, Trans ! :ills Jhicago/ Iniversity of Jhicago @ress, >CC6, p 6K-6N >N- @ Qalery, Fa Jrise de l&esprit 'ote in Essays ,uasi politi,ues, +euvres, @aris/ 9allimard, la @lPiade, >CHN-translated by !enise Folliot and <ac.son 8athe"s as 3The #uropean5 in ,istory and @olitics, 'e" Vor./ Bollingen, >CK6, p >CK and follo"ing >D- < !errida, Politics of Friendship, trans 9eorge Jollins *Fondon/ Qerso Fondon 'e" Vor., 6==H, p ;=K