The monastic rules and form-of-life Agamben, Giorgio 1942- creator author. Kotsko, Adam translator. text bibliography Electronic books. cau Stanford, Calif Stanford University Press 2013 monographic eng

electronic resource

1 online resource (xiii, 157 p.) What is a rule, if it appears to become confused with life? And what is a human life, if, in every one of its gestures, of its words, and of its silences, it cannot be distinguished from the rule? It is to these questions that Agamben's new book turns by means of an impassioned reading of the fascinating and massive phenomenon of Western monasticism from Pachomius to St. Francis. The book reconstructs in detail the life of the monks with their obsessive attention to temporal articulation and to the Rule, to ascetic techniques and to liturgy. But Agamben's thesis is that the true novelty of monasticism lies not in the confusion between life and norm, but in the discovery of a new dimension, in which "life" as such, perhaps for the first time, is affirmed in its autonomy, and in which the claim of the "highest poverty" and "use" challenges the law in ways that we must still grapple with today. Rule and life. Birth of the rule -- Rule and law -- Flight from the world and constitution -- Threshold -- Liturgy and rule. Regula vitae -- Orality and writing -- The rule as a liturgical text -- Threshold -- Form-of-life. The discovery of life -- Renouncing law -- Highest poverty and use -- Threshold. Giorgio Agamben ; translated by Adam Kotsko. "Originally published in Italian under the title Altissima povertà : Regole monastiche e forma di vita." Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-157). Monasticism and religious orders Rules Monastic and religious life History Middle Ages, 600-1500 RELIGION / Institutions & Organizations BX2436.A3313 2013 206.57 255 Agamben, Giorgio, 1942- Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2013 (DLC) 2012041964 (OCoLC)814301933 9780804786744 (electronic bk.) 0804786747 (electronic bk.) http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=1155234 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=713567 http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=1155234 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=713567 EBLCP 130323 20200709060106.0 ocn831116705 eng