Ricardo Mendoza-Canales

Praxis-CFUL, University of Lisbon

Contours of Absence: Between Materiality and Imagination

16 November 2021, 17h00 (Lisbon Time — GMT+0)

Sala Mattos Romão (Departamento de Filosofia)* | School of Arts and Humanities – University of Lisbon

Abstract

Among the multiple points of coincidence shared by the domains of Aesthetics and Politics, there are at least three central notions that are common to both. I refer to the notions of representation, authenticity, and visibility. The ontological foundation that underlies all of them consists in the primordial character of Presence, against which the Absence occupies a subordinate role. This primordiality of Presence lies in the evidence as adequacy between essence and existence: what is given in presence is evident as Truth. Under this view, Absence was conceived either as Nothing, emptiness, or as the reverse of Presence: a negative, a lack or the suppression of something “no-longer-present”. In my paper, I will address the question regarding the reality of Absence by focusing mainly on examining the three notions mentioned above. My contention is that what is absent is not the diminished force or the exhausted power of a being-present nor a being-there. If one can claim that an absent somehow manifests, then it is licit to argue that Absence should have its own modalities of appearing: i) in relation to representation, as presentification; ii) with respect to authenticity, as original; and iii) vis-à-vis visibility, as chiasm: a halfway between materiality and imagination. Thus, my conclusion will be twofold: on the one hand, that Absence is actual; on the other, that what is absent endures.

* The event will also be available via Zoom for those unable to attend in person. Pre-registration required at: praxis.cful [at] gmail.com until a day before the event. Those registered will receive the Zoom link by e-mail the same day of the Seminar.