HUMAN CONDITION IN THE PANDEMIC SITUATION THE PERSPECTIVE OF AGAMBEN'S THOUGHT ON THE EXERCISE OF BIOPOWER
HUMAN CONDITION IN THE PANDEMIC SITUATION THE PERSPECTIVE OF AGAMBEN'S THOUGHT ON THE EXERCISE OF BIOPOWER

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents Giorgio Agamben's philosophical-social stance in analyzing the particular situation of the pandemic. The latter is considered in terms of the power associated with biomedical expertise (biopower). The predisposition of the disciplines of knowledge to transcend their epistemic limitations, along with the interest of power in preserving life at all costs in the conditions of a perennial state of emergency, presents the human being as stripped of sociality and emotionality. Agamben's skepticism of measures and medical expertise during the pandemic is founded on a philosophical postulate: Human life cannot be protected at all costs, without stripping it of its very essence. As a consequence, the social inscribed in the condition of a perennial state of emergency, transcend the ethical and human limits of the human condition. Most of these scenarios are examined using gestures, figures, and social practices such as extreme social isolation, quarantine, and the prohibition of funeral ceremonies. Many of these social practices lost their meaning and function during the pandemic, suspending the individual and paralyzing the social body. Agamben's critical theory, from this perspective, preserves the dimensions of sociality, affection, dignity, and individuality as inviolable and defining elements of a human being.

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