Laurin Mackowitz

The political significance of metaphors has so far only rarely been made the subject of practical philosophy or, more specifically, of political philosophy. Although there are investigations of individual metaphors as political symbols and of the metaphorical dimension of particular aspects of politics, the politicity of metaphors as such and the political value and relevance of metaphorical language have not been much discussed. This special issue seeks to contribute to this understudied field by bringing together different approaches to a political metaphorology, focusing on the function, effect, and criticism of metaphors. This introduction sets the scene. We will begin by examining in what sense metaphors are political and why it is important to develop a concept of politics that is aware of its metaphoricity. Second, and using the plethora of nautical metaphors as an example, we will show the extent to which even practical philosophy is permeated by metaphors. Finally, we will outline three different perspectives on the politicity of metaphors. A synopsis of the articles that follow rounds things off.

Political metaphors condition social reality and mediate authority. One repeatedly used metaphor in discourses about migration and refuge is the misconception that ‘the state is a house.’ Far from only defining the modalities of inclusion and exclusion, metaphors of houses and housing evoke patriarchal political relationships between guests and hosts, homeless and homeowners, the household’s head and his subjects, and the man and his women. Houses present themselves to us in ambiguous, even contradictory ways in that they both shelter and imprison. Furthermore, in spite of a general need for accommodation the state fails to provide material housing, only feigning the imagination of security. Therefore, ‘housing’ appears to be a key paradox of nationalist and chauvinist discourse. Figurative language is, however, unfinished, which is why our images of houses, charged with the theology, anthropology, politics, and language of foundations, buildings, and walls, may be challenged by critique and interpretation. Developing a critical metaphorology, committed to analyzing the framed arguments and underlying contexts of said discourses justifying patriarchy and nationalism, we describe the choice between inhabiting and abandoning ‘the house.’ Ultimately, we present counter-narratives about decaying structures of power and propose ways to take ‘housing’ issues to the streets.

Contrary to arguments that criticize Nietzsche for preparing the ideological ground for fascism, Bataille maintained that Nazism and Nietzscheanism are mutually exclusive: like a life in endless servitude versus breathing the air of freedom. Following Bataille’s re-appropriation of Nietzsche for antiauthoritarian thought, this paper argues that Bataille’s concept of inner sovereignty together with his criticism of fetishizing the death of god offer inspiring counter-images for grasping the existential ambiguities and discomforts of modernity. His spiritual reading of Nietzsche’s patriarchal notions of virility, courage, and militarism, however, motivate an occult understanding of nihilism as a fatalistic struggle between the extreme positions of ascension and decline. The analysis in this paper suggests that Bataille’s reading of Nietzsche rescues the latter from his antisemitic and nationalist followers only to sacrifice him to a universe free from leadership.

Animal stereotypes are used to describe, circumscribe and label people. They also serve to negotiate what counts as familiar and what is expelled as foreign. This article explores the composition of animal stereotypes and examines why they continue to influence the way humans understand themselves. Referring to dehumanising language in contemporary political discourse, anthropological theories of mimicry and representation as well as ethnological observations of human–animal relations, this article argues that if animals are regarded as intelligent and compassionate rather than irrational or violent, the debasing intent of animal stereotypes fails. While a deeper understanding of the mutual dependence of humans, non-humans and their environment is of academic and social interest alike, the projection of images of oneself onto animal others only highlights certain features, whilst leaving others in the dark.

Widerstand gegen Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung wird durch physische Abscheu, theoretischen Widerspruch und in einem großen Maß durch Mythen über eine machbare Befreiung animiert. Aus diesem Grund inspiriert die Erzählung des Exodus der Israeliten aus Ägypten auch heute noch dazu, für soziale Gerechtigkeit zu kämpfen. Laurin Mackowitz' Vergleich von Sigmund Freuds, Thomas Manns, Michael Walzers und Paolo Virnos Auseinandersetzungen mit dem Exodus zeigt allerdings, dass dieser Mythos nicht nur zur narrativen Verankerung von Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit, sondern ebenso zur Konstruktion nationaler Identitäten und Legitimierung despotischer Politiken benutzt werden kann.

Zusammenfassung: Die politische Grenze, die in der Erzählung vom Goldenen Kalb schematisch gesetzt wird, ähnelt zeitgenössischen autoritären wie auch demokratischen Strategien, Macht durch gesellschaftliche Spaltungen auszuüben. In Bezug auf die Überlagerung politischer Differenzen mit moralischen und religiösen Werturteilen, die Verabsolutierung von Privilegien und die Verschleierung des Gesetzes scheint die in der Episode vom Goldenen Kalb erzählte Spaltung systematische Parallelen zu gegenwärtigen Praktiken innergesellschaftlicher Grenzziehung aufzuweisen. Die Aktualität der Berufung auf religiöse Erzählungen, rhetorische Polarisierungen oder antagonistische Symboliken macht die Kritik und Analyse der politisch-theologischen Sakralisierung politischer Differenzen zu einem wesentlichen Gegenstand der Aufklärung über die religiösen Grundlagen politischer Gewalt. Der Artikel interpretiert mit Verweis auf textkritische Analysen der Erzählung die Abspaltung der Leviten vom restlichen Volk als kultisch inszenierte militärische Aktion zur Herstellung und Befestigung von Privilegien durch Grausamkeit, den Tanz um das Goldene Kalb als Strategie der Konsolidierung einer durch die Abwesenheit von Gesetz und Führung verunsicherten Gemeinschaft und die Konstruktion gesellschaftlicher Antagonismen als Kompensation für die Verschleierung des Gesetzes. Abschließend wird diskutiert, inwiefern diese Strategien auch in Demokratien zentrale Merkmale der Konstituierung kollektiver Identitäten, Privilegien und Gewaltbeziehungen sind und ob es in Demokratien auch Raum für die Neuverhandlung innergesellschaftlicher Grenzen gibt.