FILOSOFIE
GIORGIO AGAMBEN ‘WHAT IS AN APPARATUS’
Foucalt’s term ‘dispositif’ (apparatus) summarized by Agamben: “A. It is a heterogenous set that includes
virtually anything linguistic and non-linguistic, under the same heading: discourses, institutions, buildings,
laws, police measures, philosophical propositions, and so on. The apparatus itself is the network that is
established between these elements. B. The apparatus itself always had a concrete strategic function and
is always located in a power relation. C. As such, it appears at the intersection of power relations and
relations of knowledge.”
Example of an apparatus: The educational system
In tracing the genealogy of the word ‘dispositif’ (apparatus) Agamben refers to the work of Hyppolite:
“While natural religion is concerned with the immediate and general relation of human reason with the
divine, positif or historical religion encompasses the set of beliefs, rules and rites that in a certain society
and at a certain historical moment are externally imposed on individuals.”
- Dispositief: heterogene verzameling die vrijwel alles omvat, linguïstisch en niet-linguïstisch
Agamben on the term ‘apparatus’: “The term refers, in its common Foucauldian use, to a set of practices
and mechanisms … that aim to face an urgent need and obtain an effect that is more or less immediate.”
- Een apparaat creëren we om het leven gemakkelijker te maken
o Alles is een apparaat (ruimtelijk)
o Seksualiteit, gebouwen (psychiatrie, gevangenis), wetten
Ook handelingen waarmee we ons leven organiseren
- Apparaat wordt niet enkel gecreëerd ten dienste van de mens maar stuurt ook
o Auditorium
o Neemt deel van de macht over
“The term designates that in which, and trough which, one realizes a pure activity of governance devoid of
any foundation in being. This is the reason why apparatuses must always imply a process of
subjectification, that is to say, they must produce their subject.”
“Een set van praktijken, kennis, lichamen, maatregelen en instituties die tot doel hebben het managen,
besturen en oriënteren van de gedragingen, gebaren en gedachten van menselijke wezens.”
- Apparatus is bijvoorbeeld een auditorium, maar een auditorium hangt vast aan tal van andere
elementen
o Samen omschreven als het apparatus
“I wish to propose to you nothing less than a general and massive partitioning of beings into two large
groups or classes: on the one hand, living beings (or substances), and, on the other, apparatuses in which
living beings are incessantly captured.”
, - Ons bestaan opdelen in 2 delen
o Levende wezens
Substantie, kan je aanraken
o Apparaten
Alle zaken die wij maken om ons leven op orde te stellen
Huis, stoel, handelingen, wetten, gebruik
“And, between those two, as a third class, subjects. I call a subject that which results from the relation
and, so to speak, from the relentless fight between living beings and apparatuses.”
- Tussen substanties en apparaten een derde klasse: subjecten
o In voortdurende strijd met het apparaat
Strijd is hetgene dat ons tot subject maakt
Eigenheid
Niemand aanvaardt zomaar elk apparaat
Example of subjectification: the meaning of being an employee in the times of Fordism, the movements of
Black Lives Matter and Youth for Climate.
“The same individual, the same substance, can be the place of multiple processes of subjectification …. The
boundless growth of apparatuses in our time corresponds to the equally extreme proliferation in processes
of subjectification.”
- Apparaat bepaalt subjectivering
o school maakt je student/docent
o het laat zijn wie je bent
Agamben on the strategy to combat with the apparatuses: “At the root of each apparatus lies an all-too-
human desire for happiness.”
“… what we are dealing with here is the liberation of that which remains captured and separated by
means of apparatuses, in order to bring it back to a possible common use.”
- Strijd tegen apparatus moet zich richten op het gemeenschappelijk gebruik
- Welke strategie moeten we aannemen in deze strijd
- Apparatus is deel van de humanisering
o Ze ontstaan uit verlangen van menselijk geluk
o We kunnen het niet zomaar achterwege laten
- Gevangenis is modern tegenover lijfstraffen
- Leven zonder apparaat is onmogelijk /ondenkbaar
o Vb taal
o Je kunt het niet weglaten
On profanation, a new term introduced by Agamben: “While ‘to consecrate’ was the term that designated
the exit of things from the sphere of human law, ‘to profane’ signified, on the contrary, to restore the
thing to the free use of men.”
GIORGIO AGAMBEN ‘WHAT IS AN APPARATUS’
Foucalt’s term ‘dispositif’ (apparatus) summarized by Agamben: “A. It is a heterogenous set that includes
virtually anything linguistic and non-linguistic, under the same heading: discourses, institutions, buildings,
laws, police measures, philosophical propositions, and so on. The apparatus itself is the network that is
established between these elements. B. The apparatus itself always had a concrete strategic function and
is always located in a power relation. C. As such, it appears at the intersection of power relations and
relations of knowledge.”
Example of an apparatus: The educational system
In tracing the genealogy of the word ‘dispositif’ (apparatus) Agamben refers to the work of Hyppolite:
“While natural religion is concerned with the immediate and general relation of human reason with the
divine, positif or historical religion encompasses the set of beliefs, rules and rites that in a certain society
and at a certain historical moment are externally imposed on individuals.”
- Dispositief: heterogene verzameling die vrijwel alles omvat, linguïstisch en niet-linguïstisch
Agamben on the term ‘apparatus’: “The term refers, in its common Foucauldian use, to a set of practices
and mechanisms … that aim to face an urgent need and obtain an effect that is more or less immediate.”
- Een apparaat creëren we om het leven gemakkelijker te maken
o Alles is een apparaat (ruimtelijk)
o Seksualiteit, gebouwen (psychiatrie, gevangenis), wetten
Ook handelingen waarmee we ons leven organiseren
- Apparaat wordt niet enkel gecreëerd ten dienste van de mens maar stuurt ook
o Auditorium
o Neemt deel van de macht over
“The term designates that in which, and trough which, one realizes a pure activity of governance devoid of
any foundation in being. This is the reason why apparatuses must always imply a process of
subjectification, that is to say, they must produce their subject.”
“Een set van praktijken, kennis, lichamen, maatregelen en instituties die tot doel hebben het managen,
besturen en oriënteren van de gedragingen, gebaren en gedachten van menselijke wezens.”
- Apparatus is bijvoorbeeld een auditorium, maar een auditorium hangt vast aan tal van andere
elementen
o Samen omschreven als het apparatus
“I wish to propose to you nothing less than a general and massive partitioning of beings into two large
groups or classes: on the one hand, living beings (or substances), and, on the other, apparatuses in which
living beings are incessantly captured.”
, - Ons bestaan opdelen in 2 delen
o Levende wezens
Substantie, kan je aanraken
o Apparaten
Alle zaken die wij maken om ons leven op orde te stellen
Huis, stoel, handelingen, wetten, gebruik
“And, between those two, as a third class, subjects. I call a subject that which results from the relation
and, so to speak, from the relentless fight between living beings and apparatuses.”
- Tussen substanties en apparaten een derde klasse: subjecten
o In voortdurende strijd met het apparaat
Strijd is hetgene dat ons tot subject maakt
Eigenheid
Niemand aanvaardt zomaar elk apparaat
Example of subjectification: the meaning of being an employee in the times of Fordism, the movements of
Black Lives Matter and Youth for Climate.
“The same individual, the same substance, can be the place of multiple processes of subjectification …. The
boundless growth of apparatuses in our time corresponds to the equally extreme proliferation in processes
of subjectification.”
- Apparaat bepaalt subjectivering
o school maakt je student/docent
o het laat zijn wie je bent
Agamben on the strategy to combat with the apparatuses: “At the root of each apparatus lies an all-too-
human desire for happiness.”
“… what we are dealing with here is the liberation of that which remains captured and separated by
means of apparatuses, in order to bring it back to a possible common use.”
- Strijd tegen apparatus moet zich richten op het gemeenschappelijk gebruik
- Welke strategie moeten we aannemen in deze strijd
- Apparatus is deel van de humanisering
o Ze ontstaan uit verlangen van menselijk geluk
o We kunnen het niet zomaar achterwege laten
- Gevangenis is modern tegenover lijfstraffen
- Leven zonder apparaat is onmogelijk /ondenkbaar
o Vb taal
o Je kunt het niet weglaten
On profanation, a new term introduced by Agamben: “While ‘to consecrate’ was the term that designated
the exit of things from the sphere of human law, ‘to profane’ signified, on the contrary, to restore the
thing to the free use of men.”
