This paper proposes to read Kant’s theory of presentation as hypotyposis as the mode through which the subject indirectly presents itself to itself. The thesis is articulated around the idea that hypotyposis is paradoxical because it presents the condition of possibility for presentation while exceeding the limits of what can be philosophically presented. Although Kant notes this paradox, he does not dwell on it. Taking some distance from the Kantian text, I aim to explain what is at play in suc…
Read moreThis paper proposes to read Kant’s theory of presentation as hypotyposis as the mode through which the subject indirectly presents itself to itself. The thesis is articulated around the idea that hypotyposis is paradoxical because it presents the condition of possibility for presentation while exceeding the limits of what can be philosophically presented. Although Kant notes this paradox, he does not dwell on it. Taking some distance from the Kantian text, I aim to explain what is at play in such a paradox. I proceed in three steps. First, I set out the context through which Kant mobilizes the notion of hypotyposis. Second, I show that this notion of hypotyposis opens a paradox within the task of presentation itself. Finally, I interpret hypotyposis as symbolizing both the rhetorical and the poetical performance of the constitutive act of the subject.
