Hermeneutics, Practice, Event. An Attempt at Re-Conceptualizing Human Agency

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of a re-conceptualization of the basic modes of human agency. This task is prompted by a consideration, according to which our traditional conceptuality (going back to the Greek distinction between poiesis and praxis) cannot account for the very emergence of true praxis that in turn can be explained by a certain oblivion institutionalized in our culture, namely, already on the level of grammar. Such oblivion is revealed by pointing out that the voice systems of the primordial Indo-European languages, as opposed to those of the major occidental languages, were still able to capture the all-encompassing notion of “pure event” and of “medial (event-related) agency.” This yields a tripartite typology of agency, which can account for the kind of human activity that mediates between poiesis and praxis and may, therefore, prepare for the latter.

Keywords

• hermeneutics
• practice
• agency
• grammar
• middle voice
• event