When the word becomes flesh : language and human nature

Record details

General Note:	Translation of: Quando il verbo si fa carne. "Originally published in Italian in 2002, 'When the word becomes flesh' provides a compelling contribution to the understanding of language and its relation to human nature and social relationships. Adopting Aristotle's definition of the human being as a linguistic and political animal, Paolo Virno frames the act of speech as a foundational philosophical issue - an act that in its purely performative essence ultimately determines our ability to pass from the state of possibility to one of actuality: that is, from the power to act to action itself." -- from page 4 of cover.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references.
Formatted Contents Note:	Part one: the act of speaking -- The speaker as performing artist -- The absolute performative -- The repetition of anthropogenesis -- Part two: toward a critic of interiority -- Second-degree sensualism: a physiognomic project -- In praise of reification -- Part three: from the beginning and right now -- Natural history -- The multitude and the principle of individuation -- Appendix: Wittgenstein and the question of atheism.