and an incessant “putting-to-work,” that is to say, that it is thought as an ergon
that refers to the effectuation on the part of a subject that will be, in the first and
last instance, identified with the will. This is perfectly evident in Plotinus, who
can write: “For if we were to grant activities [ energeias] to the One, and ascribe his activities to what we might call his will [ hoion boulēsei autou]—for he does
not act without willing [ ou gar aboulōn energei]—and his activities are what
we might call his substance [ ousia], his will and his substance will be the same
thing” ( Enneads 6.8.13).
And it is for this reason that according to Christian theology, the process
of trinitarian autohypostatization as much as the creation of the world are pro-
duced not a necessitate naturae but a voluntate divinae maiestatis (Victorinus, qtd. in Benz, 78): the trinitarian economy and the creation are thought according to the model of putting to work and energeia and not as an impersonal nat-
ural process. Hence also the necessity of identifying the potency of God with his
will: haec semper voluntas a Deo et in Deo est potentia (ibid.).
When the metaphysics of the will finds its extreme expression in modern
thought in Schelling (“In the final and highest judgment, there is no other Being
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HOMO SACER II, 5
than will. Will is primal Being [ Ursein] to which alone all predicates of Being
apply. . . . All of philosophy strives only to find this highest expression” [21]),
one must not forget that the concept of will was introduced into ontology be-
tween the third and fourth centuries because the concept of being was progres-
sively being transformed in an operative sense. Just as duty was introduced into
ethics to give a foundation to command, so also the idea of a will was elaborated
to explain the passage from potency to effectiveness. If being is something that
must be realized, if it necessarily implies a putting-to-work, it will be necessary
to presuppose a will that renders it possible. This demand is already embry-
onically present in Aristotle, in whom the concept of will appears for the first
time in an ontological context precisely to explain the passage from potential
to act: that which has the hexis of a potential can pass to the act “when it wills
[ hoti boulētheis]” ( On the Soul 417a26–27). In the same sense, because human potential, as a rational potential, can produce a thing and its contrary, “it will
be necessary that the sovereign element [ kyrion] be something else, by which I
mean desire or choice [ orexin ē proairesin]” ( Metaphysics 1048a11).
The ontology of command and the ontology of operativity are therefore
closely bound: as a putting-to-work, the command also presupposes a will. Ac-
cording to the formula that expresses the prince’s command ( sic volo, sic iudeo),
“willing” can only mean “commanding,” and “commanding” necessarily implies
a will. Will is the form that being takes in the ontology of command and oper-
ativity. If being does not exist, but must actualize itself, then in its very essence
it is will and command; and vice versa, if being is will, then it does not simply
exist but has to be. The problem of the coming philosophy is that of thinking an
ontology beyond operativity and command and an ethics and a politics entirely
liberated from the concepts of duty and will.
Bibliography
Abbreviations
PG, Jacques-Paul Migne (ed.), Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca.
PL, Jacques-Paul Migne (ed.), Patrologiae cursus completus. Series latina.
Agamben, Giorgio, The Kingdom and the Glory: For a Theological Genealogy of Economy and Government, trans. Lorenzo Chiesa and Matteo Mandarini (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011).
Ambrose, De Cain et Abel libri duo, in PL 16. English translation: Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel, trans. John J. Savage (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1961).
———, De fide ad Gratianum Augustum libri quinque, in PL 16. English translation: Exposition of the Christian Faith, trans. H. de Romestin, E. de Romestin, and H. T. F. Duckworth, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 10, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing, 1896).
———, De officiis, ed. Maurice Tested. (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000). English translation: Ambrose, De officiis, 2 vols., ed. and trans. Ivor J. Davidson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
———, Des Sacrements, Des Mystères, ed. Bernard Botte (Paris: Cerf, 1994). English translation: J. H. Strawley, ed., St. Ambrose “On the Mysteries” and the Treatise “On the Sacraments” by an Unknown Author, trans. T. Thompson (New York: Macmillan, 1919).
———, Epistolae, in PL 16.
———, Exameron libri sex, in PL 14. English translation: Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel, trans. John J. Savage (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1961).
Apostolic Constitutions: Marcel Metzger, ed. Les Constitutions apostoliques, 3 vols. (Paris: Cerf, 1986).
English translation: Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, ed. James Donaldson, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1885).
Arendt, Hannah, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (New York: Penguin, 2006).
Aristea, The Letter of Aristea, trans. Henry St. John Thackeray (London: Macmillan, 1904).
Aristotle, The Eudemian Ethics, in Aristotle (Loeb Classical Library), vol. 20, trans. H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981).
———, Metaphysics (Loeb Classical Library), 2 vols., trans. Hugh Tredennick (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1956).
———, Nicomachean Ethics (Loeb Classical Library), trans. H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934).
———, On the Soul, in Aristotle (Loeb Classical Library), vol. 8, trans. W. W. Hett (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975).
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753
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Augustine, De diversis questionibus liber unus, in PL 40. English translation: Eighty-Three Different Questions, trans. David L. Mosher (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2002).
———, De gratia Christi et de peccato originali contra Pelagium et Coelestinum, in PL 44. English translation: On the Grace of Christ and on Original Sin, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5, ed. Paul Schaff (New York: T&T Clark, 1887).
———, In Evangelium Johannis Tractatus, in PL 35. English translation: Homilies on the Gospel of John, trans. John Gibb, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, ed. Paul Schaff (New York: T&T Clark, 1886).
Baumstark, Anton, Liturgia romana e liturgia dell’Esarcato. Il rito detto in seguito patriarchino e le origini del Canon missae romano (Rome: Pustet, 1904).
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Cabasilas, Nicolaus, Explication de la divine liturgie, ed. Sévérien Salaville (Paris: Cerf, 1967). English translation: A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, trans. J. M. Hussey and P. A. McNulty (Crestwood, NJ: St. Vladimir’s
Seminary Press, 1960).
Calcidius, Platonis Timaeus interprete Chalcidio cum eiusdem commentatio, ed. Johannes Wrobel (Leipzig: in aedibus Teubneri, 1876).
Casel 1: Odo Casel, Das christliche Kultmysterium (Regensburg: Pustet, 1960). English translation: The Mystery of Christian Worship and Other Writings, ed. Burkhard Neunheuser (Westminster, MD: Newman, 1962).
Casel 2: ———, De philosophorum Graecorum silentio mystico (Giessen: Töpelmann, 1919).
Casel 3: ———, “Das Mysteriengedächtnis im Lichte der Tradition,” in Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft 6 (1926).
Casel 4: ———, “Mysteriengegenwart,” in Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft 8 (1928).
Casel 5: ———, “‘Actio’ in liturgischer Verwendung,” in Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft 1 (1921).
Casel 6: ———, “Beiträge zu römischen Orationen,” in Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft 11 (1931).
Cassian: Jean Cassien, Institutions cénobitiques, ed. J.-C. Guy (Paris: Cerf, 2001).
Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum (Loeb Classical Library), trans. Clinton Walter Keys (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994).
———, De officiis (Loeb Classical Library), trans. Walter Miller (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913).
———, Letters to Atticus (Loeb Classical Library), 3 vols., trans. E. O. Winstedt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980).
———, Tusculan Disputations (Loeb Classical Library), trans. J. E. King (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1927).
Clement (pseudo), The Recognitions, trans. Thomas Smith, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1886).
Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks in Clement of Alexandria (Loeb Classical Library), trans. G. W. Butterworth (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1919).
Clement of Rome, “The Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians,” in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations of Their Writings, 2nd ed., ed. and trans. J. B. Lightfoot, J. R.
Harmer, and Michael W. Holmes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1992).
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OPUS DEI
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Crusius, Christian August, Die philosophischen Hauptwerke, I: Anweisung vernünftig zu leben, ed.
Giorgio Tonelli (Hildesheim: Olms, 1969).
Cyprian, Epistolae, in PL 4.
Daniels, A., “Devotio,” in Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft 1 (1921).
Demosthenes, Speeches (Loeb Classical Library), 4 vols., trans. J. H. Vince (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930).
Diezinger, Walter, Effectus in der römischen Liturgie: Eine kultsprachliche Untersuchung (Bonn: Hanstein, 1961).
Digest, in The Civil Law: Including The Twelve Tables, The Institutes of Gaius, The Rules of Ulpian, The Opinions of Paulus, The Enactments of Justinian, and The Constitutions of Leo, trans. S. P.
Scott, 17 vols. (Cincinnati: Central Trust, 1932). www.constitution.org/sps/sps.htm.
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Loeb Classical Library), trans. R. D. Hicks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972).
Domat, Jean, Le droit public: Suite des Lois civiles, 2 vols. (Paris: Coignard, 1697).
Donato, Elio, Ad P. Terentii Andriam in Commentum Terentii, 3 vols., ed. Paul Wessner (Leipzig: in aedibus Teubneri, 1902–5).
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Drecoll, Carsten, Die Liturgien im römischen Kaiserreich des 3. und 4. Jh. n. Chr. Untersuchung über Zugang, Inhalt, und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung der öfeentlichen Zwangsdienste in Ägypten und anderen Provinzen (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1997).
Dunin-Borkowski, Stanislaus von, “Die Kirche als Stiftung Jesu,” in Religion, Christenthum, Kirche 2 (1913).
Durand, William: Guillelmi Duranti, Rationale divinorum officiorum, ed. A. Davril and T. M.
Thibodeau. Corpus Christianorum series, no. 140, vol. 1 (Turnholti: Brepols, 1995).
Dürig, Walter, “Der Begriff ‘pignus’ in der Liturgie,” in Tübinger theologische Quartalschrift 129
(1949).
Epiphanius, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, 2 vols., trans. Frank Williams (Leiden: Brill, 1994).
Festus, De verborum significatu quae supersunt cum Pauli epitome, ed. Wallace M. Lindsay (Stuttgart: in aedibus Teubneri, 1997).
Foucault 1: Michel Foucault, Le Gouvernement de soi et des autres, ed. Frédéric Gros (Paris: Gallimard, 2008).
Foucault 2: ———, Dits et écrits, II: 1970–1977 (Paris: Gallimard, 1994).
Gasparri, Pietro, s.v. “Competenza in materia amministrativa,” in Enciclopedia del diritto, vol. 8
(Milan: Giuffrè, 1961).
Gehlen, Arnold, Urmensch und Spätkultur: Philosophische Ergebnisse und Aussagen (Frankfurt am Main: Athenaion, 1977).
Gellius, Aulus, The Attic Nights (Loeb Classical Library), 3 vols., ed. and trans. J. C. Rolfe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1927).
Goldschmidt, Victor. Le système stoicien et l’idée de temps (Paris: Vrin, 1969).
Grundmann, Herbert, Religiöse Bewegungen im Mittelalter: Untersuchungen über die geschichtlichen Zusammenhänge zwischen der Ketzerei, den Bettelorden, und der religiösen Frauenbewegung im 12.
und 13. Jahrhundert und über die geschichtlichen Grundlagen der deutschen Mystik (Ebering: Berlin, 1935). English translation: Religious Movements in the Middle Ages: The Historical Links Between Heresy, the Mendicant Orders, and the Women’s Religious Movement in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century, with the Historical Foundations of German Mysticism, trans. Steven Rowan (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995).
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Heidegger 1: Martin Heidegger, “Die Metaphysik als Geschichte des Seins,” in Nietzsche, vol. 2
(Pfüllingen: Neske, 1961). English translation: “Metaphysics as History of Being,” in The End of Philosophy, trans. Joan Stambaugh (New York: Harper and Row, 1973).
Heidegger 2: ———, “Ursprung des Kunstwerks,” in Holzwege (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1950). English translation: “The Origin of the Work of Art,” in Off the Beaten Track, trans. Julian Young and Kenneth Haynes (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Heidegger 3: ———, Einführing in die Metaphysik (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1953). English translation: Introduction to Metaphysics, trans. Gregory Fried and Richard Polt (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000).
Heidegger 4: ———, Sein und Zeit (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2006). English translation: Being and Time, trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York: Harper, 1962).
Hellegouarc’h, Joseph, Le vocabulaire latin des relations et des partis politiques sous la République (Paris: Les belles lettres, 1963).
Hilary of Poitiers, In Evangelium Matthaei commentarius, in PL 9.
Hobbes, Thomas, On the Citizen, ed. Richard Tuck and Michael Silverthorne (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Honorius of Autun, Speculum ecclesiae, in PL 172.
Innocent III, De sacro altaris mysterio, in PL 217.
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, trans. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and Cleveland Coxe (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1885); Latin and Greek text: Irenaei Opera, ed. Adolphus Strieren, vol. 1 (Leipzig: Weigel, 1853).
Isocrates, “Areopagiticus,” in Isocrates (Loeb Classical Library), vol. 2, trans. George Norlin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968).
Jeggle-Merz, Birgit, Erneuerung der Kirche aus dem Geist der Liturgie: Der Pastoralliturgiker Athanasius Wintersig—Ludwig A. Winterswyl (Münster:
Aschendorff, 1998).
Kant 1: Immanuel Kant, Die Metaphysik der Sitten (1797), in Kant’s Gessamelte Schriften, ed. the Royal German Academy of Sciences, vol. 6 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1905). English translation: Metaphysics of Morals, in Practical Philosophy, trans. and ed. Mary J. Gregor (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Kant 2: ———, Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (1785), in Kant’s Gessamelte Schriften, ed.
the Royal German Academy of Sciences, vol. 4 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1905). English
translation: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, in Practical Philosophy, trans. and ed.
Mary J. Gregor (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Kant 3: ———, Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (1788), in Kant’s Gessamelte Schriften, ed. the Royal German Academy of Sciences, vol. 5 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1905). English translation: Critique of Practical Reason, in Practical Philosophy, trans. and ed. Mary J. Gregor (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Kelsen 1: Hans Kelsen, Reine Rechtslehre (Vienna: Deuticke, 1960). English translation: Pure Theory of Law, trans. Max Knight (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978).
Kelsen 2: ———, Hauptprobleme der Staatsrechtslehre entwickelt aus der Lehre vom Rechtssatze (Tübingen: Mohr, 1911).
Kilmartin, Edward J., Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice (Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1988).
Lacan, Jacques, “Kant avec Sade,” in Écrits (Paris: Seuil, 1966).
Libera, Alain de, L’Art des généralités: Théories de l’abstraction (Paris: Aubier, 1999).
Magdelain, A., Ius Imperium Auctoritas (École française de Rome: Rome, 1990).
Mediator Dei, Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/docu
ments/hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html.
Meillet, A., Linguistique historique et linguistique générale (Champion: Paris, 1975).
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Nietzsche, Friedrich, Opera, ed. Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, vol. 8.1: Frammenti pos-tumi, 1885–1887 (Milan: Adelphi, 1975).
Origen, Commentaria in Epistolam B. Pauli ad Romanos, trans. Rufinus, in PG 14.
———, Homiliae in Numeros, in PG 12.
Ovid, Ars Amatoria, ed. Anne Mahoney (New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1855).
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