Whose End? Postology in Deconstruction

誰的終局？解構中的「後論」

Héctor G. CASTANO(高長空)

Jacques Derrida ； posthumous condition ； humanism ； postmodernity ； apocalypse ； 德希達 ； 死後狀態 ； 人道主義 ； 後現代 ； 世界末日

輔仁外語學報

21期（2023 / 07 / 31）

1 - 24

英文;繁體中文

This paper considers contemporary attitudes of "the end" from a deconstructive approach. Contrasting Derrida's various writings on the "end" and its role in philosophical discourse with what Marina Garcés has called the "posthumous condition," I reflect on the difficulty of conceptualizing "never-ending endings" and, more broadly, on the inherent paradox of any "meta-eschatology": that is, of any attempt to historize, differentiate, and produce typologies of endings. However, I also claim that this difficulty does not relieve us of the task of thinking critically about the anguish and the desires that the proclamation of endings produces. Quite the opposite: in the context of an increasingly "postological" intellectual environment, thinking about the meaning of the endings, the intertwinement of "pre" and "post," and the possibility of an actual apocalypse must remain the task of enlightened critique, capable of turning the focus from the end in general to the subject of each end.

本論文從解構的角度考察當代對於「終局」和「終結」的態度。透過對比德希達的「終結」概念及其在哲學論述中的作用與哲學家Marina Garcés所謂的「死後狀態」，筆者反思將概念化「永無止境的結局」的困難，並且，廣泛地說，任何「元末世論」－任何試圖將終局或終結歷史化、區分和生產相關的類型學－的內在悖論。然而，筆者也主張，這種困難並沒有阻止我們批判性地思考終結之宣告所產生的焦慮及慾望。恰恰相反；在越來越「後論」的知識環境中，思考結局的意義、「前」和「後」之間的交織以及實際世界末日的可能性仍然是啟蒙批判的必要任務，因為只有這種批判才能將焦點從一般的終局轉移到每個終結的主體上。