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AGAMBEN AND SCHELLING ON POTENTIALITY

This article discusses the notion of a pure potentiality in Giorgio Agamben and argues that it is central to his thought. It is unavoidable if we wish to understand his general project of establishing a philosophical thought which can adequately conceptualize political freedom. That project is ultimately a defence of the concept of a ‘form-of-life’, a neologism that is to denominate a form of life where the crude fact of living is inseparable from its particular form. I suggest that we seek aid in our attempt to understand die concept of a pure potentiality in the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, to whom Agamben implicitly (but only implicitly) refers in the text ‘On Potentiality’, where we find some of his most illuminating remarks on potentiality. This suggestion ends up necessitating a critique of Agamben, as the comparison with Schelling demonstrates that Agamben operates with an insufficient concept of the human will; a concept which we find a compelling discussion of in the so-called ‘Weltalter’ phase of Schelling's intellectual development. I conclude by discussing the significance of the concept of potentiality for political theory and the idea of a political act in particular.