A lingering life beyond rationality

Agamben: Philosophy is to be a friend of wisdom, writes Italian Giorgio Agamben. Wisdom is not to pursue knowledge as an object, but to establish a relationship characterized by closeness and resonance with thought itself. Through 17 short, dazzling portraits, he evokes the memory of friends who have left an indelible mark on his life and person.

ETHICS: Is ethical thinking even possible – how can we humans develop moral thinking when the world is as changeable as it is? Erland Kiøsterud's collection of essays, from which MODERN TIMES has chosen two different analyses, contains contemplative texts about art, man and nature.

ECOLOGY: This time, MODERN TIMES looks at a book that, in its breadth and depth, treats our time and future, ecologically as well as culturally – as when culture is naturalized. About India: Here the most meticulous rituals are performed to keep the world in balance. About China: the Chinese emperors who used music to harmonize society. In Europe's stormy history, the dream of harmony and order is projected into the afterlife. Erland Kiøsterud tries to find a cosmology that can create a certain order and meaning in the world, while at the same time demanding total honesty. (See also our film about Kiøsterud here).

PHILOSOPHY: Giorgio Agamben is over eighty years old, but still very productive. In this newly translated essay, we recognize thoughts from the main work Homo Sacer (1998), but instead of discussing biopower and the naked life, he here deals with the voice. A big plus then is that translator Gisle Selnes has written a complementary foreword that contextualises Agamben's thoughts then and now.