tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31783628.post5744665572397459021..comments2024-02-21T06:57:22.256-05:00Comments on Unemployed Negativity: Naturally Historical: On Paolo Virno's When the Word Becomes Flesh and Déjà Vu and the End of Historyunemployed negativityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01251742512967070290noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31783628.post-56635259189649874942015-06-23T05:02:53.191-04:002015-06-23T05:02:53.191-04:00Virno's primary reference for his philosophica...Virno's primary reference for his philosophical anthropology is Arnold Gehlen. However, as you point out, the theme of humanity of having an essentially mutable essence, a lack of instincts, extends much further back. Virno does not mention Vico. unemployed negativityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01251742512967070290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31783628.post-21434015407382231672015-06-15T13:30:12.485-04:002015-06-15T13:30:12.485-04:00This account of Virno & human nature reminds m...This account of Virno & human nature reminds me strongly of another Italian theorist, Giambattista Vico. There's a similar (if I'm understanding things right) insistence on the universality of human nature but also its historical mutability. This is historicism, of course, but also universalism. I know Vico gets taken up in various ways at various times, but I don't know enough about more recent Italian philosophy to know where he fits in terms of Virno's milieu. Would be very interested to know if Virno mentions him. Eric Brandomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16248409387730547907noreply@blogger.com