ICI Berlin: One Divides Into Two: Dialectics, Negativity & Clinamen
'One splits into two, two doesn't merge into one'. The slogan made quite a stir in its day, combining the air of a purely mathematical axiom with a political mandate. Under the cloak of a universal truth there lies a political dagger. The formula combines under the same heading a mathematical adage, an ontological statement, and a political stance. So why does one split into two, necessarily, in mathematics, in ontology, and in politics? And why, once we arrive at Two, at a foundational split, can we never return to the supposed unity of One? The different lectures will explore this problem from Hegel to Lacan, from sexuality to politics.
'One splits into two, two doesn't merge into one'. The slogan made quite a stir in its day, combining the air of a purely mathematical axiom with a political mandate. Under the cloak of a universal truth there lies a political dagger. The formula combines under the same heading a mathematical adage, an ontological statement, and a political stance. So why does one split into two, necessarily, in mathematics, in ontology, and in politics? And why, once we arrive at Two, at a foundational split, can we never return to the supposed unity of One? The different lectures will explore this problem from Hegel to Lacan, from sexuality to politics.