Vol. 6 No. 1 (2025): Limiares destituintes: política, direito, teologia e linguagem (jan/jun 2025)
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Agamben - (im)potentiality of law and politics

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Vanja Grujic
Federal University of Pernambuco
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Published 2025-05-14

Keywords

  • Homo sacer,
  • potentiality,
  • state of exception,
  • happy life

Copyright (c) 2025 Vanja Grujic

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How to Cite

GRUJIC, Vanja. Agamben - (im)potentiality of law and politics. (Des)troços: revista de pensamento radical, Belo Horizonte, v. 6, n. 1, p. e58353, 2025. DOI: 10.53981/destrocos.v6i1.58353. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/revistadestrocos/article/view/58353. Acesso em: 13 dec. 2025.
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Abstract

Placed between constituent and constituted power, homo sacer reveals the state of exception, which through sovereign ban, is kept both inside and outside the law. Agamben’s latest political and legal philosophy is based upon this concept. As the victim of sovereignty, homo sacer unfolds the paradox of sovereign power, criticizing its fundamentals and showing the emptiness of law. However, for potentiality which is at the centre of Agamben’s argument, we need to look not only outside sovereignty and sovereign power, but also outside homo sacer. This article aims to examine such space, arguing that through absolute potentiality, the fulfilment of law is possible with the content to be focused on reaching conditions of justice and happy life.

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References

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