Thinking the (Ecstatic) Essential: Heidegger after Bataille

Thesis Eleven 52 (1):35-52 (1998)
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Abstract

The thought of Heidegger and Bataille has rarely been placed in proximity. However, the notion of the `ecstatic' unconsciously draws them together. Its fundamental ramifications in each thinker's oeuvre should prompt serious reflection, particularly in the age of calculation and cybernetics. The non-utilitarian aspects of the gift, exchange, sacrifice and the sacred also bring the two thinkers closer to each other in a challenge to the dominance of what Bataille calls the `restricted economy' of balanced accounts and equilibrium at all costs. To allow the thought of Heidegger and Bataille to communicate is to demarcate a point of resistance to an uncritical acceptance of the postmodern age. However, this must be tempered by the recognition that the situation is immensely complex, and that there is always a risk of political regression in every essentialist orientation - as the example of Heidegger shows

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Citations of this work

Heterology, Transcendence and the Sacred: On Bataille and Levinas.John Lechte - 2018 - Theory, Culture and Society 35 (4-5):93-113.

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References found in this work

Writing and difference.Jacques Derrida - 1978 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Poetry, Language, Thought.Martin Heidegger - 1971 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 31 (1):117-123.
Being and Time.Ronald W. Hepburn - 1964 - Philosophical Quarterly 14 (56):276.

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