APHELIS - An iconographic and text archive related to communication, technology and art.

More Annotations

Favourite Annotations

Text

“A CULT OF IGNORANCE” BY ISAAC ASIMOV, 1980 It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?” None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that “REALITY OF OUR CENTURY IS TECHNOLOGY” (LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY Reality is the measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orient ourselves in the Universe. The actuality of time ―the reality of this century― determines what we can grasp and what we cannot yet understand. And this reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction, and maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of this century. WHEN PAUL CELAN MET WITH MARTIN HEIDEGGER Allow me after what I have to say next to leave you, as a means to emphasize that Heidegger’s irreparable fault lies in his silence concerning the Final Solution. This silence, or his refusal, when confronted by Paul Celan, to ask forgiveness for the unforgivable, was a denial that plunged Celan into despair and made him ill, for Celan knew that the Shoah was the revelation of the essence of MALCOLM GLADWELL, MEDIA AND REVOLUTION Malcolm Gladwell, media and revolution. When Mao famously said that power springs from the barrel of a gun, it was assumed that he was talking about guns. There wasn’t much interest at the time in how he chose to communicate that sentiment: whether he said it in a speech, say, or whispered it to a friend, or wrote it in his diary or

published

MICHEL FOUCAULT AND “THE PROBLEM OF WAR”, 1981 Michel Foucault and “the problem of war”, 1981. Therefore, if you like, I never stop getting into the issue of law and rights without taking it as a particular object. And if God grant me life, after madness, illness, crime, sexuality, the last thing I would like to study would be the problem of war and the institution of war in what

one

spoon

DENNIS HOPPER, JOHN FORD AND JOHN HUSTON IN BED TOGETHER The ad Hopper is referring to is most likely a version of the “Generarion Gap” campaign for Jim Beam whisky. A version depicting the young Dennis Hooper alongside the veteran John Huston (both enjoying the same brand of whisky) ran in 1972 in various magazines and billboards. I found four different variations of the same ad using

the two

DESTRUCTION AS THE CAUSE OF COMING INTO BEING Title: Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being Created Date: 11/28/2003 9:35:28 PM “A CULT OF IGNORANCE” BY ISAAC ASIMOV, 1980 It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?” None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that “REALITY OF OUR CENTURY IS TECHNOLOGY” (LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY Reality is the measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orient ourselves in the Universe. The actuality of time ―the reality of this century― determines what we can grasp and what we cannot yet understand. And this reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction, and maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of this century. WHEN PAUL CELAN MET WITH MARTIN HEIDEGGER Allow me after what I have to say next to leave you, as a means to emphasize that Heidegger’s irreparable fault lies in his silence concerning the Final Solution. This silence, or his refusal, when confronted by Paul Celan, to ask forgiveness for the unforgivable, was a denial that plunged Celan into despair and made him ill, for Celan knew that the Shoah was the revelation of the essence of MALCOLM GLADWELL, MEDIA AND REVOLUTION Malcolm Gladwell, media and revolution. When Mao famously said that power springs from the barrel of a gun, it was assumed that he was talking about guns. There wasn’t much interest at the time in how he chose to communicate that sentiment: whether he said it in a speech, say, or whispered it to a friend, or wrote it in his diary or

published

one

spoon

the two

DESTRUCTION AS THE CAUSE OF COMING INTO BEING Title: Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being Created Date: 11/28/2003 9:35:28 PM MICHEL FOUCAULT AND “THE PROBLEM OF WAR”, 1981 Michel Foucault and “the problem of war”, 1981. Therefore, if you like, I never stop getting into the issue of law and rights without taking it as a particular object. And if God grant me life, after madness, illness, crime, sexuality, the last thing I would like to study would be the problem of war and the institution of war in what

one

APHELIS - AN ICONOGRAPHIC AND TEXT ARCHIVE RELATED TO An iconographic and text archive related to communication, technology

and art.

LIVING TOGETHER: "BORED COUPLES" BY MARTIN PARR, 1993 This newsletter serves one purpose only: it sends a single email notification whenever a new post is published on aphelis.net, never more than once a day. WES ANDERSON AND JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE ☛ “Self-portrait with hydroglider” by Jacques Henri Lartigue, Paris, 1904. This photo illustrates the cover of the book Jacques-Henri Lartigue. Boy With A Camera by John Cech, New York: Four Winds Press, 1994. Cech adds the following details about the way this self-portrait was made:Lartigue placed the camera on a floating board in the tube, set the exposure and focus, and had

THE RADICAL LOSER

One thing is certain: the way humanity has organized itself - 'capitalism,' 'competition,' 'empire,' 'globalization' - not only does the number of losers increase every day, but as in any large group, fragmentation soon sets in. In a chaotic, unfathomable process, the cohorts of the inferior, the defeated, the victims separate out. The loser may accept his fate and resign himself; the victim HEIDEGGER AND THE CASE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS Heidegger and the case of domestic animals. ☛ Museo Nacional del Prado: “ Perro semihundido ” (“The Half-Submerged Dog” also known as “The Dog”), mural painting by Fransisco Goya, 131 cm x 79 cm, between 1819 and 1823. In a piece he wrote for The Guardian in 2003, art critic Robert Hughes (1938-2012) commented Goya’s painting “GENEALOGY OF FANATICISM” BY EMIL CIORAN, 1949 It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say ‘we’ with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke ‘others’ and regard himself as their interpreter ―for me to consider him my enemy. ☛ A Short History of Decay: “Genealogy of Fanaticism”, by Emil EGGLESTON : THE LOS ALAMOS PROJECT The body of work takes its title from the Los Alamos laboratory for the development of atomic weapons, which Hopps is said to have pointed out to Eggleston while driving through New Mexico. Eggleston was intrigued by the site, and so he dubbed the series The Los Alamos Project. In its original concept, the Los Alamos images would be shown

only

BLIZ-AARD BALL SALE BY DAVID HAMMONS, 1983 ☛ Radical Presence: David Hammons performing Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, Cooper Square, New York. Photo by Dawoud Bey, courtesy of Tilton Gallery, New York. Max Lakin wrote a piece about David Hammons and Dawoud Bey for The New York Times that links back here: see “When Dawoud Bey Met David Hammons” May 1st, 2019. In the winter of 1983, American photograph Dawoud Bey took a “RISE UP!” BY TOM GAULD, MARCH 2012 This newsletter serves one purpose only: it sends a single email notification whenever a new post is published on aphelis.net, never more than once a day. “A CULT OF IGNORANCE” BY ISAAC ASIMOV, 1980 It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?” None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that “REALITY OF OUR CENTURY IS TECHNOLOGY” (LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY Reality is the measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orient ourselves in the Universe. The actuality of time ―the reality of this century― determines what we can grasp and what we cannot yet understand. And this reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction, and maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of this century. BORGES AND THE SIMURGH: WE ARE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR The faraway king of all the birds, the Simurgh, lets fall a magnificent feather in the center of China: tired of their age-old anarchy, the birds resolve to go in search of him. They know that their king's name means thirty birds; they know his palace is located on the Kaf, the circular mountain that surrounds the earth. They embark upon the nearly infinite adventure. MALCOLM GLADWELL, MEDIA AND REVOLUTION Malcolm Gladwell, media and revolution. When Mao famously said that power springs from the barrel of a gun, it was assumed that he was talking about guns. There wasn’t much interest at the time in how he chose to communicate that sentiment: whether he said it in a speech, say, or whispered it to a friend, or wrote it in his diary or

published

one

HEIDEGGER AND THE CASE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS Heidegger and the case of domestic animals. ☛ Museo Nacional del Prado: “ Perro semihundido ” (“The Half-Submerged Dog” also known as “The Dog”), mural painting by Fransisco Goya, 131 cm x 79 cm, between 1819 and 1823. In a piece he wrote for The Guardian in 2003, art critic Robert Hughes (1938-2012) commented Goya’s painting WHEN PAUL CELAN MET WITH MARTIN HEIDEGGER Allow me after what I have to say next to leave you, as a means to emphasize that Heidegger’s irreparable fault lies in his silence concerning the Final Solution. This silence, or his refusal, when confronted by Paul Celan, to ask forgiveness for the unforgivable, was a denial that plunged Celan into despair and made him ill, for Celan knew that the Shoah was the revelation of the essence of “GENEALOGY OF FANATICISM” BY EMIL CIORAN, 1949 It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say ‘we’ with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke ‘others’ and regard himself as their interpreter ―for me to consider him my enemy. ☛ A Short History of Decay: “Genealogy of Fanaticism”, by Emil GEORGES BATAILLE: "L'INFORME" ("FORMLESS") 1929 A dictionary begins when it no longer gives the meaning of words, but their tasks. Thus formless is not only an adjective having a given meaning, but a term that serves to bring things down in the world, generally requiring that each thing have its form. What it designates has no rights in any sense and gets itself squashed everywhere, like a spider or an earthworm. In fact, for academic men DESTRUCTION AS THE CAUSE OF COMING INTO BEING Title: Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being Created Date: 11/28/2003 9:35:28 PM “A CULT OF IGNORANCE” BY ISAAC ASIMOV, 1980 It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?” None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that “REALITY OF OUR CENTURY IS TECHNOLOGY” (LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY Reality is the measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orient ourselves in the Universe. The actuality of time ―the reality of this century― determines what we can grasp and what we cannot yet understand. And this reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction, and maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of this century. BORGES AND THE SIMURGH: WE ARE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR The faraway king of all the birds, the Simurgh, lets fall a magnificent feather in the center of China: tired of their age-old anarchy, the birds resolve to go in search of him. They know that their king's name means thirty birds; they know his palace is located on the Kaf, the circular mountain that surrounds the earth. They embark upon the nearly infinite adventure. MALCOLM GLADWELL, MEDIA AND REVOLUTION Malcolm Gladwell, media and revolution. When Mao famously said that power springs from the barrel of a gun, it was assumed that he was talking about guns. There wasn’t much interest at the time in how he chose to communicate that sentiment: whether he said it in a speech, say, or whispered it to a friend, or wrote it in his diary or

published

one

and art.

WES ANDERSON AND JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE ☛ “Self-portrait with hydroglider” by Jacques Henri Lartigue, Paris, 1904. This photo illustrates the cover of the book Jacques-Henri Lartigue. Boy With A Camera by John Cech, New York: Four Winds Press, 1994. Cech adds the following details about the way this self-portrait was made:Lartigue placed the camera on a floating board in the tube, set the exposure and focus, and had LIVING TOGETHER: "BORED COUPLES" BY MARTIN PARR, 1993 This newsletter serves one purpose only: it sends a single email notification whenever a new post is published on aphelis.net, never more than once a day.

THE RADICAL LOSER

One thing is certain: the way humanity has organized itself - 'capitalism,' 'competition,' 'empire,' 'globalization' - not only does the number of losers increase every day, but as in any large group, fragmentation soon sets in. In a chaotic, unfathomable process, the cohorts of the inferior, the defeated, the victims separate out. The loser may accept his fate and resign himself; the victim HEIDEGGER AND THE CASE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS Heidegger and the case of domestic animals. ☛ Museo Nacional del Prado: “ Perro semihundido ” (“The Half-Submerged Dog” also known as “The Dog”), mural painting by Fransisco Goya, 131 cm x 79 cm, between 1819 and 1823. In a piece he wrote for The Guardian in 2003, art critic Robert Hughes (1938-2012) commented Goya’s painting EGGLESTON : THE LOS ALAMOS PROJECT The body of work takes its title from the Los Alamos laboratory for the development of atomic weapons, which Hopps is said to have pointed out to Eggleston while driving through New Mexico. Eggleston was intrigued by the site, and so he dubbed the series The Los Alamos Project. In its original concept, the Los Alamos images would be shown

only

“GENEALOGY OF FANATICISM” BY EMIL CIORAN, 1949 It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say ‘we’ with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke ‘others’ and regard himself as their interpreter ―for me to consider him my enemy. ☛ A Short History of Decay: “Genealogy of Fanaticism”, by Emil BLIZ-AARD BALL SALE BY DAVID HAMMONS, 1983 ☛ Radical Presence: David Hammons performing Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, Cooper Square, New York. Photo by Dawoud Bey, courtesy of Tilton Gallery, New York. Max Lakin wrote a piece about David Hammons and Dawoud Bey for The New York Times that links back here: see “When Dawoud Bey Met David Hammons” May 1st, 2019. In the winter of 1983, American photograph Dawoud Bey took a GEORGES BATAILLE: "L'INFORME" ("FORMLESS") 1929 A dictionary begins when it no longer gives the meaning of words, but their tasks. Thus formless is not only an adjective having a given meaning, but a term that serves to bring things down in the world, generally requiring that each thing have its form. What it designates has no rights in any sense and gets itself squashed everywhere, like a spider or an earthworm. “RISE UP!” BY TOM GAULD, MARCH 2012 This newsletter serves one purpose only: it sends a single email notification whenever a new post is published on aphelis.net, never more than once a day. APHELIS - AN ICONOGRAPHIC AND TEXT ARCHIVE RELATED TOABOUTRSSARCHIVESRANDOMIZE POSTSLÉVI-STRAUSS AND THE EXECUTION OF

FATHER CHRISTMAS

At the end of the 19th century, the Sudelbücher were rediscovered by Albert Leitzmann (1867-1950), who published them separately, thus bringing additional fame and attention to Lichtenberg’s work 3. Specifically, the aphorism discussed here comes from Notebook ‘D’ (written between 1773-1775). “A CULT OF IGNORANCE” BY ISAAC ASIMOV, 1980 It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?” None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that “REALITY OF OUR CENTURY IS TECHNOLOGY” (LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY Reality is the measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orient ourselves in the Universe. The actuality of time ―the reality of this century― determines what we can grasp and what we cannot yet understand. And this reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction, and maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of this century. WES ANDERSON AND JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE ☛ “Self-portrait with hydroglider” by Jacques Henri Lartigue, Paris, 1904. This photo illustrates the cover of the book Jacques-Henri Lartigue. Boy With A Camera by John Cech, New York: Four Winds Press, 1994. Cech adds the following details about the way this self-portrait was made:Lartigue placed the camera on a floating board in the tube, set the exposure and focus, and had APHELIS - AN ICONOGRAPHIC AND TEXT ARCHIVE RELATED TO The events described above 1 are mentioned in an essay published by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss titled “ Le Père Noël Supplicié ”. This essay was first published in 1952, in the monthly journal Les Temps Modernes. It was later republished in Nous sommes tous des cannibales (2013). In 2016, it was published as a standalone BORGES AND THE SIMURGH: WE ARE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR The faraway king of all the birds, the Simurgh, lets fall a magnificent feather in the center of China: tired of their age-old anarchy, the birds resolve to go in search of him. They know that their king's name means thirty birds; they know his palace is located on the Kaf, the circular mountain that surrounds the earth. They embark upon the nearly infinite adventure. ALPHONSE MUCHA: "JOB", 1898 Alphonse (Alfons) Mucha (1860-1939) was a prolific Moravian painter of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries and a key figure in the Art Nouveau movement. His style of painting influenced an entire generation of painters, graphic artists, draughtsmen and designers and in the minds of many, his work epitomizes the Art Nouveau. MICHEL FOUCAULT AND “THE PROBLEM OF WAR”, 1981 Michel Foucault and “the problem of war”, 1981. Therefore, if you like, I never stop getting into the issue of law and rights without taking it as a particular object. And if God grant me life, after madness, illness, crime, sexuality, the last thing I would like to study would be the problem of war and the institution of war in what

one

MALCOLM GLADWELL, MEDIA AND REVOLUTION Malcolm Gladwell, media and revolution. When Mao famously said that power springs from the barrel of a gun, it was assumed that he was talking about guns. There wasn’t much interest at the time in how he chose to communicate that sentiment: whether he said it in a speech, say, or whispered it to a friend, or wrote it in his diary or

published

FATHER CHRISTMAS

one

published

and art.

WHEN PAUL CELAN MET WITH MARTIN HEIDEGGER Allow me after what I have to say next to leave you, as a means to emphasize that Heidegger’s irreparable fault lies in his silence concerning the Final Solution. This silence, or his refusal, when confronted by Paul Celan, to ask forgiveness for the unforgivable, was a denial that plunged Celan into despair and made him ill, for Celan knew that the Shoah was the revelation of the essence of TRUE PARADISES ARE PARADISES WE HAVE LOST Yes, if a memory, thanks to forgetfulness, has been unable to contract any tie, to forge any link between itself and the present, if it has remained in its own place, of its own date, if it has kept its distance, its isolation in the hollow of a valley or on the peak of a mountain, it makes us suddenly breathe an air new to us just because it is an air we have formerly breathed, an air purer DENNIS HOPPER, JOHN FORD AND JOHN HUSTON IN BED TOGETHER The ad Hopper is referring to is most likely a version of the “Generarion Gap” campaign for Jim Beam whisky. A version depicting the young Dennis Hooper alongside the veteran John Huston (both enjoying the same brand of whisky) ran in 1972 in various magazines and billboards. I found four different variations of the same ad using

the two

JEAN-LUC NANCY ON THE RISK AND VALUE OF LOVE Jean-Luc Nancy on the risk and value of love. Love opens onto a very great risk, but this risk is the measure of the incredible value we place on another person. We make him or her this valuable because we need to do so, because we receive something in return. Love tells us that things are never quite right with us when we’re alone. LÉVI-STRAUSS AND THE EXECUTION OF FATHER CHRISTMAS Lévi-Strauss and the Execution of Father Christmas. Father Christmas was hanged yesterday afternoon from the railings of Dijon Cathedral and burnt publicly in the precinct. This spectacular execution took place in the presence of several hundred Sunday school children. It was a decision made with the agreement of the clergy who had condemned THREE TAKES ON THE 2011 ENGLAND RIOTS: ZYGMUNT BAUMAN These are not hunger or bread riots. These are riots of defective and disqualified consumers. We are all consumers now, consumers first and foremost, consumers by right and by duty. The day after the 11/9 outrage George W. Bush, when calling Americans to get over the trauma and go back to normal, found no better words than “go back shopping”. It is the level of our shopping activity UNABOMBER'S TYPEWRITER (TO BE AUCTIONED) Unabomber's Typewriter (to be auctioned, June 2011) ☛ US Marshals Public Affairs photostream on Flickr: Item Unabomb001 “This is the L3 Smith-Corona portable manual typewriter that Kaczynski used to type most of his UNABOM documents, including the “UNABOM Manifesto.”. This typewriter was seized by the FBI during the search of his cabin

APHELIS

An iconographic and text archive related to communication, technology

and art.

Results

★ Randomize

* About

* Contact

*

-------------------------

* Newsletter

* RSS

__ Menu

* About

* Contact

*

-------------------------

* Newsletter

* RSS

POSTS NAVIGATION

__Decadenza by Giorgio Agamben, 1964

2008 - 2021

Facebook

Twitter

","toggleOpenedIcon":"","closeIcon":"","backIcon":"__","dropdownIcon":"__","dropdownOpenedIcon":"__","useBreadcrumb":true,"breadcrumbIcon":"__","toggleText":"","toggleLoader":true,"backText":"","itemIconVisible":"true","itemBadgeVisible":"true","itemDescVisible":"false","loaderColor":"#3a3a3a","subTrigger":"item","subOpenLayout":"slide-in","closeAfterNavigate":false}" class="jet-mobile-menu jet-mobile-menu-widget">

APHELIS

A PROPHECY ABOUT GHOSTS BY LICHTENBERG AND JACOBI > Our world will grow so refined, that it will be as ludicrous to > believe in God, as it is today in ghosts.

>

> _Unsere Welt wird noch so fein werden, daß es so lächerlich sein > wird einen Gott zu glauben als heutzutage Gespenster._ ☛ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, _Vermischte Schriften_, Volume 1, ed. Ludwig Christian Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries, Göttingen: Dieterich, 1800, p. 166

.

English translation by Bas Geerts

.

• • •

This entry documents a “prophecy” attributed to Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799), as it was recently quoted (without comments nor references) by Giorgio Agamben on the website of Italian publisher _Quodlibet_ (see _“Una profezia di Lichtenberg”_

from January

20, 2021). Agamben has commented more than once on the art of citation, which he borrows to a significant extent from Benjamin’s own “art of citing without quotation marks”1. Since the whole substance of the “prophecy” being documented below is about faith (_Glaube_, in German) and its disappearance, it is worth remembering how Agamben also loves to invoke Warburg’s motto, to the effect that “God is in the detail.”2 I am grateful to Bas Geerts for some of the key translations provided in this research, as well as for useful insights and comments. Bas Geerts runs ‘Una voce di Giorgio Agamben’ in het Nederlands , where he provides Dutch translations of Agamben’s interventions on the pandemic.

• • •

In January 20, 2021, Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben published a

short entry on

the website _Una voce di Giorgio Agamben_ (hosted by the editor _Quodlibet_), which he has been using since 2017, but most notably since the start of the COVID pandemic. The entry, titled _“Una profezia di Lichtenberg”_ (“A Prophecy by Lichtenberg”) is atypical as it is not a comment by Agamben himself, but a single quote provided without context, aside from the title. The entry reads as follow (quotation marks in the original): > _«Il nostro mondo diventerà così civile che sarà allora ridicolo > credere in Dio, come è oggi credere nei fantasmi. Poi, dopo un > certo tempo, il mondo diventerà ancora più civile. E continuer� > sempre più in fretta il processo che lo porterà al vertice supremo > della civiltà. Toccando il culmine, il giudizio degli esperti > ancora una volta si capovolgerà e la conoscenza raggiungerà la sua > estrema trasformazione. Allora – e questa sarà davvero la fine > – crederemo soltanto nei fantasmi»_ > “Our world will grow so refined, that it will be as ludicrous to > believe in God, as it is today in ghosts. And then, after a while, > the world will grow even more refined. And this will continue with > haste until the highest height of refinement is reached. At the > summit, the judgment of the wise will tilt once more, and insight > will finally turn. Then – and this will be the end – then we > will only believe in ghosts.” (trans. Bas Geerts) This quote is actually a hybrid quote: it is made of two different quotes, from two different sources. Only the first sentence is from Lichtenberg. The rest of the quote and the idea to call it a “prophecy” are from German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819). The idea to bring the two quotes together does not originate in Agamben either, as one can already find instances of such juxtaposition in the 19th century. In what follows, I first locate and identify Lichtenberg’s aphorism in the various editions of his work, including the original, handwritten manuscripts. Second, I locate and identify the remaining of the quote, as well as the reason why the two different quotes are –and have been for a while– juxtaposed (and possibly confused)

together.

The

background of this title image is a “Lichtenberg figure,”

the image of an

electrical charge as it discharges through insulated material, a phenomena first documented by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. The first sentence of the quote used by Agamben is an aphorism by Lichtenberg, first published posthumously in 1800, as part of the first edition of his _Vermischte Schriften_ (_Miscellaneous Writings_), collected and edited by his brother Ludwig Christian Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries. It was subsequently republished in later editions of the same _Vermischte Schriften_, in 1844 (bottom of

p. 58

)

and 1853 (p. 58

again). The screenshot below is how the aphorism appears in the first edition (1800), on page 166:

Georg

Christoph Lichtenberg, Vermischte Schriften, Volume 01, page 166

.

The aphorism originates from Lichtenberg famous _Sudelbücher_ (“Scrap Books” or “Waste Books”), a series of notebooks in which he recorded reflections, quotes, and various observations, from to the time he was a student to his death (see previously here

).

At the end of the 19th century, the _Sudelbücher_ were rediscovered by Albert Leitzmann (1867-1950), who published them separately, thus bringing additional fame and attention to Lichtenberg’s work3. Specifically, the aphorism discussed here comes from Notebook ‘D’ (written between 1773-1775). In Leitzmann’s edition of the _Aphorismen_, it appears in the second volume, on page 148 (_Zweites Heft: 1772-1775_, Berlin: B. Behr, 1904)4. Leitzmann is most likely the first editor who introduced the numbering system (which is not used in the _Vermischte Schriften_, nor in Lichtenberg’s manuscripts, where he instead used a red marker to distinguish between entries). In Leitzmann’s edition, the aphorism is identified as “D

326”:

Lichtenberg’s

aphorism D 326, as it appears in the second volume of Albert Leitzmann’s edition ‘Aphorismen,’ (_Zweites Heft: 1772-1775_), Berlin: B. Behr, 1904, page 148

.

In 1967, Wolfgang Promies (1935-2002) started working on a complete edition of Lichtenberg’s work, _Schriften und Briefe_, which was completed in 1992. Wolfgang Promies later co-founded the _Lichtenberg Society_ (_Lichtenberg-Gesellschaft_ ), which he chaired for two decades5. In the _Schriften und Briefe_, Notebook ‘D’ appears in Volume 1. The aphorism can be found on page 282

,

with the number 329 (so with a slight difference from Leitzmann’s

numbering system):

Lichtenberg’s

aphorism D 329, as it appears in the first volume of Wolfgang Promies’s edition ‘_Schriften und Briefe_ 1994, page 282

.The

same aphorism is also reproduced in a more recent edition of the _Sudelbücher_ released by the publisher Marix (Marix Verlag) under the title _Sudelbücher. Ausgesucht feine Texte mit Biss_. In this edition from 2011, the aphorism is identified “D 326” (hence, using Leitzmann’s numbering system).

Georg

Christoph Lichtenberg, _Sudelbücher Ausgesucht feine Texte mit Biss_, Marix Verlag, 2011, aphorism D 326, p. 75. Image courtesy of Bas

Geerts.

Although the same aphorism is not reproduced in the short selection translated into English by R.J. Hollingdale (_The Waste Books_

,

New York: New York Review Books, 1990), it can be found in a French edition published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert in 1966 (translation by Marthe Robert, with a preface by André Breton), where it appears without numerotation:

Lichtenberg’s

aphorism as it appears in Jean-Jacques Pauvert’s 1966 French edtion of _Aphorismes_, translated by Marthe Robert, page 69. The aphorism can also be found in _Zibaldone segreto_, an Italian edition of a selection from the _Sudelbücher_ edited and translated by Francesco Franco Farina (Milan: Edizioni Virgilio, 2014) where it is identified “D 329” (Promies’s numbering system). It is worth noting this Italian translation differs from the one used by Agamben:

Lichtenberg’s

aphorism “D 329”, in the Italian edition ‘Zibaldone segreto’ (edited and translated by Francesco Franco Farina, Milan: Edizioni Virgilio, 2014, p. 76) Consulting these different editions is useful to eliminate the possibility that Agamben somehow had access to a longer version of the quote. This can be further (and definitely) confirmed by examining Lichtenberg’s handwritten manuscripts of the _Sudelbücher_, all of which have been digitized, and made available online at the _Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum_ (except for Notebook ‘G’ and ‘H’, destroyed sometime during the 19th century). The title page for Notebook ‘D’ can been seen

here

.

Lichtenberg’s handwriting is not easy to decipher, but the aphorism can nonetheless be identified on page 152 of the physical notebook (page 38 of the actual Notebook ‘D,’ following Lichtenberg’s own pagination: see a scan of the whole page). Lichtenberg arranged his notes on each page in two columns. The aphorism was inscribed in the second column of the left page, and runs on three lines, highlighted below:

Scan

of Lichtenberg’s handwritten aphorism in Sudelbücher ‘D’ page

152

(physical) 38 (logical), 1773-1775. Highlights added. Examining the manuscript shows how Lichtenberg’s used a red marker to distinguish between the various entries. Also worth noting, the pencil note that reads “I 166” in the right margin, most certainly added by an editor after Lichtenberg’s death. It is a reference to page 166 of the first volume of Lichtenberg’s _Vermischte Schriften_, first published in 1800, where the same aphorism can be found (as shown earlier). The next step consists in identifying the source for the last part of the quote used by Agamben. An important indication is provided in the massive, 1,500-page volume of annotations produced by Wolfgang Promies for his edition of Lichtenberg’s _Schriften und Briefe_: _Kommentar zu Band I und Band II_ (Carl Hanser Publisher, 1992). On page 251

,

for the aphorism D 329, Promies notes: “This remark prompted Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi to write his essay “_Ueber eine Weissagung Lichtenbergs_” (“About a Prophecy by Lichtenberg”).” Promies also provides a reference to the first publication of Jacobi’s essay (in 1802) and to his location in Jacobi’s complete _Werke_ published in 1816. Below is a screenshot of Promies’s remark:

Wolfgang

Promies, _Kommentar zu Band I und Band II_, Carl Hanser Publisher,

1992, p. 251

.

Jacobi’s essay “_Uber eine Weissagung Lichtenbergs_” first appeared in _Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1802_6. Various digital copies (scans) of the publication are available online, including one, in colour, hosted at the _Bayerische Staatsbibliothek_

. Jacobi’s essay

starts on page 33

of the physical document (or page 3, according to the document own pagination). The first page is reproduced below:

First

page of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi’s essay “Uber eine Weissagung Lichtenbergs” as it appears in _Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1802_, published in 1802, page 33 (physical) / page 3 (logical). A couple of things are worthy of attention. First, after the opening title “_Ueber eine Weissagung Lichtenbergs_,” the essay begins immediately with Lichtenberg’s aphorism. Second, the aphorism is clearly identified with quotations marks on the left side of each line where it is printed, a practice introduced in the early 16th century7. Third, the publisher added extra spacing between the letters to further emphasize the quote: a practice known in German as _sperrsatz_, _sperrschrift_, or _sperren_, with which Agamben is familiar8. Fourth, Jacobi actually provides the precise reference for the origin of the quote: Lichtenberg’s _Vermischte Schriften_, volume 1, page 166 (which corresponds to the reference at the top of the present entry). Fifth, after the aphorism, the quotation marks disappear and normal spacing between the letters resume, indicating that the quote is over and the author (Jacobi) resumes his argument. Moving on the second page of Jacobi’s essay (p. 4

),

one can see that Jacobi seems to be opening a second quote.

First

page of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi’s essay “Uber eine Weissagung Lichtenbergs” as it appears in _Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1802_, published in 1802, page 34 (physical) / page 4 (logical). This time however, while the _sperren_ method is used to mark emphasis, quotations marks alongside each line are missing (only an opening and a closing marks are present). No reference are provided either. This is not a quote Jacobi is borrowing from another source: it is his take on how Lichtenberg’s aphorism could be continued. This is confirmed by the text immediately following Lichtenberg’s aphorism (from the beginning of page 3 of the publication to the end

of page 4)9:

> “Our world will grow so refined, that it will be as ludicrous to > believe in God, as it is today in ghosts.”

>

> This is the prophecy of the departed. From the graves this voice > rang out in all our ears.

>

> Did you say only this? Didn’t you say the next thing too? – > Didn’t you say, or didn’t you want to announce that what comes > next, the completion?

>

> So this is the next part of the prophecy.

>

>> “And then, after a while, the world will grow even more refined. >> And this will continue with haste until the highest height of >> refinement is reached. At the summit, the judgment of the wise >> will tilt once more, and insight will finally turn. Then – and >> this will be the end – then we will only believe in ghosts; we >> ourselves will be like God; we shall understand that when his >> being and essence is everywhere, he can only be a ghost. About >> that time, the sour sweat of seriousness will be wiped from every >> brow, alike the tears of longing from every eye; there will be >> loud laughter among men, for then reason has completed its work; >> humanity has achieved its goal; the same crown adorns every >> glorified head.” (trans. Bas Geerts) The same essay by Jacobi was later included in his _Von den göttlichen Dingen und Ihrer Offenbarung_, first published in 1811, where the same typographic settings discussed above were used (see p.

3 ).

It is also the case with the version reproduced in Volume 3 of Jacobi’s _Werke_ published in 1816 (p. 199

).

This ultimately, is what Agamben quoted under the title “_Una profezia di Lichtenberg_”: Lichtenberg’s aphorism (D 326 or D 329, depending on the editions) augmented by a selection from the “next part of the prophecy” created by Jacobi for the purpose of his argument. It is a selection because Agamben did not use all of Jacobi’s new part, but cut short at “… then we will only believe in ghosts,” while leaving aside ”we ourselves will be like God…,” and the rest of the Jacobi’s “extension” of the

prophecy.

I was able to locate at least one instance where Lichtenberg’s aphorism and Jacobi’s reply to it were compounded together, stiched as if it was a single quote (i.e., without Jacobi’s comment separating the two, where his announces the “next part” of the prophecy). It appears in a lecture by Swiss theologian Karl Rudolf Hagenbach about the history of Protestantism, collected in the second volume of his _History of the Church in the 18th & 19th centuries_ (_Die Kirchengeschichte des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Standpunkte des evangelischen Protestantismus betrachtet_), published in 1848. While commenting on the relationship between Christianity and modern culture (how it has become common to assert that the latter outlived the former), Hagenbach evokes “Lichtenberg’s old prophecy” and produce what is actually a compounded quote, made of Lichtenberg’s short aphorism and Jacobi’s reply to it:

Karl

Rudolf Hagenbach, _Die Kirchengeschichte des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts_, Volume 02, 1948, page 541 (physical) / page 6 (logical). Hagenbach’s _History of the Church_ has been translated into English by Rev. John F. Hurst. The second volume was published in 1870 (London: Hodder & Stoughton). There, in the first lecture of this

volume, on page 6

,

the compounded quote can also be located. Below is a transcription (quotation marks in the original): > “Our time are destined to come to such a state of advancement that > it will be as ridiculous to believe in God as it now is to believe > in ghosts; and then the age will progress to the highest point of > refinement. Having reached the pinacle, the opinion of the wise will > once more undergo a change, and knowledge will pass through its last > transformation. Then will come the end, when we will believe in > ghosts alone; we shall become as God, knowing that all material > being not only is, but can be, nothing else than a ghost. Then, for > the first time, will the sweat of seriousness be dried upon every > forehead, and the tears of earnest anticipation will be washed away > for all time. Then there will be loud laughing among men; for reason > will have perfected its work, humanity will have reached its goal, > and a crown will adorn every brow.” In yet another instance, part of Jacobi’s reply (specifically “_Wir selbst werden sein wie Gott_”) was simply appended to Lichtenberg’s aphorism in order to create yet another hybrid quote. This hybrid quote was used as a motto for the religious newspaper _Allgemeine Kirchen-Zeitung_. Below is a screenshot from the edition of Thursday, May 13, 1847 (collected in Volume 26 of _Allgemeine Kirchen-Zeitung. Ein Archiv_, on pages 625-626

):

Front

page of the May 13, 1847 issue of the newspaper Allgemeine Kirchen Zeitung, as it appears in Volume 26 of its complete _Archiv_, pp.

625-626 .

None of all of the above provides an indication of the source where Agamben found his version of the compounded quote. Since his Italian translation of Lichtenberg’s part differs from the translation provided in the _Zibaldone segreto_ (the Italian edition of a selection of Lichtenberg’s _Sudelbücher_) it is possible he worked from a German source and produced his own translation. Among many things, Jacobi is often credited to have reinstated Spinoza’s thoughts in philosophical circles, at the turn of the 19th century. In 2009 _Quodlibet_ (which was founded by a group of Agamben’s students, in 1983) published _L’abisso dell’unica sostanza. L’immagine di Spinoza nella prima metà dell’Ottocento tedesco_ , a collection of essays mapping the Spinozist renaissance in Germany in the first half of the

19th century.

• • •

1. Here are some useful references on the topic of citation in Agamben

and Benjamin:

* Agamben, Giorgio. _The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans_, trans. Patricia Dailey, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp 138-145. * Méchoulan, Éric. “Érudition et fétichisme.” In _La littérature en puissance : Autour de Giorgio Agamben_, edited by Guillaume Asselin and Jean-François Bourgeault, Montréal: VLB Editeur, 2006, pp 55–64. * De la Durantaye, Leland. _Giorgio Agamben: A Critical Introduction_, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009, pp. 145-147. * Dickinson, Colby. “Citing ‘Whatever’ Authority: The Ethics of Quotation in the Work of Giorgio Agamben.” _Educational Philosophy and Theory_ 46, no. 4 (March 21, 2014), pp. 406–420. * Martel, James R. “Walter Benjamin’s Black Flashlight: Promoting Misreading over Persuasion to Decenter Textual and Political Authority,” _Political Theory_ 43, no. 5 (October 1, 2015), pp. 575–599. * Kotsko, Adam, and Carlo Salzani. “Introduction: Agamben as a Reader.” In _Agamben’s Philosophical Lineage_, edited by Adam Kotsko and Carlo Salzani, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017,

pp. 7-9. ↩︎︎

2. See notably Agamben’s _Potentialities. Collected Essays in Philosophy_ (trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 199, pp. 32, 90, 97-98). For more about Warburg’s motto, see Davide Stimilli’s essay “Aby Warburg’s Impresa”

(2013), as well as

Giovanni Mastroianni’s essay “Il Buon Dio di Aby Warburg”

(2000). ↩︎︎

3. For a contextual history of the _Sudelbücher_, see R.J. Hollingdale introduction to _The Waste Books_, which offers a limited selection in English translation (available online at the time of writing). See also Werner J. Milch. “Georg Christoph Lichtenberg: On the Occasion of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of His Birth, 9 July 1942.” , _The Modern Language Review_, vol. 37, no. 3, 1942, pp. 335–355. The German entry on Wikipedia for the _Sudelbücher_

also offers useful

information and additional references. ↩︎︎ 4. Leitzmann’s edition appeared in the massive collection _Deutsche Literaturdenkmale des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts_ (_German Literary Monuments of the 18th and 19th Centuries_). The collection, printed between 1881-1924 (first by Gebr. Henninger and subsequently by B. Behr) counts 151 issues and 85 volumes. Lichtenberg’s aphorism discussed here appears in Volume 131 of the collection. See Wikisource (German) for more information. ↩︎︎ 5. For more about Wolfgang Promies, see the obituaries available at the _Lichtenberg Society_ (in German), as well this short Wikipedia

entry (also in

German)↩︎︎

6. For more contextual information of this publication, see _F.H. Jacobi’s “On divine things and their revelation.” A study and

translation_

, by Paolo

Livieri, thesis, McGill Univesity, 2019, pp. 15-16.↩︎︎ 7. See previously on this blog for more details and additional examples: “The origin and development of the quotation mark”

↩︎︎

8. Agamben discuss the typographical method of _sperren_ in _The Time That Remains_, specifically in relation to the way Benjamin used it in the _Handexamplar_ of his _Theses on the Philosophy of History_. Agamben even provides a visual example, reproduced below (trans. Patricia Dailey, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 138-145). Benjamin himself mentions the method in his essay “What is Epic Theatre?” (_Selected Writings, Volume 4, 1938–1940_, ed. Howard Eiland and Michael W. Jennings, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 305). For more about the _sperren_ method, see this Wikipedia entry (in German)

and this entry

in English on various emphasis methods in typography. ↩︎︎

Walter

Benjamin’s _Handexemplar_ of the _Theses on the Philosophy of History_, second thesis. As reproduced in Agamben’s _The Time that Remains_, 2005, p. 140

. Highlights

added.

9.See also George di Giovanni’s comment in his introduction to Jacobi’s _Main Philosophical Writings and the Novel Allwill_ (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, p. 153, note 4): > The other was Jacobi’s reaction to an essay by Lichtenberg > (published in Part I of his _Vermischte Schriften_ ), in which it is said, according to Jacobi, that some day > “our world will become so fine, that it will be just as laughable > to believe in God as it is now to believe in ghosts” (_Concerning > a Prophecy_, p. 3 of the 1811 ed.). Jacobi replied with a prophecy > of his own–namely, that “after a little while yet the world will > become finer _still_. And the supreme height in refinement will then > _swiftly_ come about. At its peak, the sages’ judgment will > reverse itself; fr one final time knowledge will undergo change. > Then–and that will be the end–then shall we believe in nothing > but ghosts. We shall ourselves be like God. We shall know that being > and substance everywhere are, and can only be, ghosts.” The piece > was reproduced in the first forty pages of _Of Divine Things and > Their Revelation_ (1811), obviously as a pardoy of Schelling, whom > Jacobi was accusing of deriving reality from “Nothing.””

> ↩︎︎

* By Philippe Theophanidis * on February 25, 2021 * ― Published in Communication * Tagged: Agamben , faith

, ghost

, Jacobi

, Lichtenberg

, religion

__ Share on facebook

__ Share on twitter

6 Shares

February 25, 2021

A prophecy about ghosts by Lichtenberg and Jacobi

December 16, 2020

Decadenza by Giorgio Agamben, 1964

October 10, 2020

Sua Cuique Persona: The Ambivalent Politics of Masks

May 10, 2020

Diogenes washing vegetables: a parabole about philosophy and politics

May 3, 2020

Giorgio Agamben and the coronavirus pandemic: interventions

Load more articles

Details

Image Url

HTML Url

Moderation By

More Annotations

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 06:53:58

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 06:54:20

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 06:54:40

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 06:54:54

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 06:55:11

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:00:25

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:00:38

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:00:58

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:01:15

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:01:30

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:01:48

Elaine Sutton

2019-08-24 07:02:04

Favourite Annotations

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:22:58

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:23:26

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:23:27

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:23:41

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:24:14

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:24:16

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:24:48

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:24:48

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:25:34

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:25:34

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:26:05

Elaine Sutton

2019-11-06 01:26:05

Text

published

one

spoon

the two

published

one

spoon

the two

one

and art.

THE RADICAL LOSER

only

published

one

published

one

and art.

THE RADICAL LOSER

only

FATHER CHRISTMAS

one

published

FATHER CHRISTMAS

one

published

and art.

the two

APHELIS

and art.