Review-essay of Giorgio Agamben, What Is Philosophy?

Alberto Parisi

doi:10.1353/mln.2018.0094

Research

Review-essay of Giorgio Agamben, What Is Philosophy?

Review-essay · MLN 133.5 · 2018

A review of Agamben’s account of philosophy, language, and the place where things appear.

Journal: MLN 133.5 (2018), 1439–1442
DOI: 10.1353/mln.2018.0094
On: Giorgio Agamben, What Is Philosophy? (Stanford University Press, 2018)

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Research

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Dictionary entry · Wörterbuch ästhetischer Kraftbegriffe · acceptedSpannung and TonusHow tension and tone became attention, intention, and will—and how their musical and bodily meanings return in modern ideas of atmosphere.

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Doctoral dissertation · Comparative Literature, Harvard University · 2023The Intention of the Spirit: Air, Breath, and Voice in European Poetry and PhilosophyThe doctoral dissertation from which my research on intention, breath, and atmosphere developed.

Monograph · Routledge Critical Perspectives on Breath and Breathing · under contractThe Intention of the Breath: From Breath to Spirit, from Intention to AtmosphereA history of intention, from material breath to immaterial spirit and modern ideas of atmosphere.

Co-edited volume · Bloomsbury Academic · 2027Philosophy of Breath: A Critical AnthologyA forthcoming anthology on the philosophy of breath, co-edited with Lenart Škof.

Article · Sophia 65.2 · 2026 · open access“Seneca’s Natural Questions, Book II: The Oldest Extant Account of the Stoic Conception of the Intention of the Air.”How Seneca’s account of air preserves the Stoic meaning of intentio.

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Section introduction · Handbook of Critical Respiratory Studies · Springer · online first, 25 June 2026Alberto Parisi and Kalpana Subramanian, “Introduction: Respiratory Thought and Practice in Literature and the Arts.”An introduction to breath in literature and the arts, co-written with Kalpana Subramanian.

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Conference paper · Aesthetics of qi/ki and Atmosphere. Steps towards East Asian Possibilities, Kobe University · 27 – 28 September 2025Haiku and Kireji: There Where Atmospheres AppearHow the exclamatory character of cutting words changes the way we understand atmosphere in haiku.

Invited talk · Society for Applied and Contemporary Philosophy 2025 Annual Symposium, Kobe University · 13 October 2025Caesura and Kireji: The Place of AtmospheresA philosophical comparison of the Japanese cutting word and the European caesura.

Invited lecture · Ciclo di Conferenze di Letteratura Giapponese, AllJapan, Università degli Studi di Firenze · 20 February 2026 · ITHaiku and Its ParadoxesL’haiku e i suoi paradossiA lecture on the history and paradoxes of haiku, from linked verse to Shiki’s reforms.

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Conference paper · Elemental Pathways through Nature, ZRS Koper · 15 – 16 June 2026Cultivating Beauty: Sakura and the Metamorphosis of CultureA paper on cherry blossoms and cultivation, questioning the separation between nature and culture.

Research programme · Seal of Excellence, scored 95% at the MSCA · Kobe and Florence · 2025 —KI-reji: Kireji (切れ字) and Caesura as Atmospheric Markers — Towards an Intercultural and Ecocritical Understanding of PoetryA research project comparing cutting words and caesuras as ways poetry opens onto breath and atmosphere.

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Article · Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities · accepted for a special issue, subject to peer reviewVoice as Khôra: Agamben, Nishitani, and the Taking-Place of ThingsAn article on voice as the place where things come into language, through Agamben and Nishitani.

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5th KOIAS–Shimadzu Lecture · Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto · 10 September 2025From Harvard to Kobe University: The Value of Atmospheric Studies and the Humanities in the Contemporary WorldA talk for Shimadzu on Atmospheric Studies and the relationship between the humanities and the sciences.

Conference paper · Ecocriticisms in the 21st Century, University of Cappadocia · 20 – 22 May 2024The Value of Atmospheric and Respiratory Studies for Today’s Ecocriticism: Verlaine’s “Ariettes oubliées”A reading of Verlaine exploring what studies of breath and atmosphere contribute to ecocriticism.

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Roundtable paper · Junior Network Roundtable, HIAS Hamburg · 8 February 2024Nicht Geist, sondern Atem: The Re-Materialization of the Spirit by Modern European PoetryA paper on how modern European poetry brings spirit back into contact with material breath.

Invited lecture · German Literature in Koper, ZRS Koper · 16 January 2024“Ein Hauch um nichts”: Breath and Wind in Modern German PoetryA lecture on breath and wind in German poetry, from Goethe to Celan.

Conference talk · Atmospheres of the Spiritual, Florida Atlantic University · 4 – 5 December 2025Poetry, Breath, and Atmosphere: The Case of Paul VerlaineA reading of Verlaine in which feeling emerges through the air, sounds, and movement of the poem.

Warwick · Harvard · European Commission · JSPS · 2017 — 2026Prizes and fundingResearch grants, fellowships, and awards from Japan, Europe, and the United States.

Research project · JSPS KAKENHI 25K22981 · Principal investigator · 2025 — 2026The Re-Materialization of the Spirit: An Atmospheric Ecocritical History of Modern European PoetryA JSPS-funded project on breath, spirit, and atmosphere in modern European poetry.