Giorgio Agamben

Simon Morgan-Wortham (Kingston University)
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A student of Martin Heidegger, an acknowledged Walter Benjamin expert, and trained in classical and medieval philology, linguistics and philosophy, the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben draws upon a vast body of scholarship and erudition (which also includes Enlightenment thought, scientific taxonomy and anthropology from the eighteenth century onwards, juridical and legal discourse in the Western tradition, right up to twentieth century continental philosophy), in order to throw light on a variety of contemporary questions of the most pressing kind. One feature of Agamben’s work is the way that he reanimates – as an historical legacy – the dynamic force-field of a network of ancient words, concepts and problems, bringing this understanding to bear on a variety of contemporary…

2604 words

Citation: Morgan-Wortham, Simon. "Giorgio Agamben". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 March 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11699, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11699 Giorgio Agamben 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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