Modern totalitarianism can be defined as the establishment, by means of the state of exception, of a legal civil war that allows for the physical elimination not only of political adversaries but of entire categories of citizens who for some reason cannot be integrated into the political system
Interpretation
The quote discusses how modern totalitarianism creates a legal framework to justify the suppression and elimination of dissenting individuals and groups.
In this quote, Giorgio Agamben reflects on the nature of modern totalitarianism by asserting that it uses a state of exception—a legal condition that suspends normal laws—to enable a form of civil war. This radical political framework allows for not only the repression of political opposition but also the removal of entire groups of people deemed incompatible with the prevailing political order, thus highlighting the dangers of a legal system that can justify extreme measures against perceived threats.
In practice
In a speech addressing the dangers of authoritarianism, one might reference this quote to emphasize the need for vigilance against the erosion of civil rights.
To believe that will has power over potentiality, that the passage to actuality is the result of a decision that puts an end to the ambiguity of potentiality (which is always potentiality to do and not to do) — this is the perpetual illusion of morality.
Remembrance restores possibility to the past, making what happened incomplete and completing what never was. Remembrance is neither what happened nor what did not happen but, rather, their potentialization, their becoming possible once again.
One day humanity will play with law just as children play with disused objects, not in order to restore them to their canonical use but to free them from it for good.
If wild my breast and sore my pride, I bask in dreams of suicide, If cool my heart and high my head I think 'How lucky are the dead.
The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself.
What sort of world might it have been if Eve had refused the servants offer and had said to him instead, “let me not be like God. Let me be what I was made to be - let me be a woman'?
I tend to identify with my roles to such an extent that I appear to be totally convinced about certain statements that, in real life, I would never believe in.
Poverty, Poetry, and new Titles of Honor, make Men ridiculous
There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.