For Ethics without Guilt: Agamben as reader of Pasolini

Abstract

This essay presents some possible connections that can be found between the philosophy of Giorgio Agamben and the thought of Pier Paolo Pasolini. From the Pasolini’s short movie The paper flower sequence, it proposes an analysis of the idea of guilty innocence presented by the director. It comprehends how from this notion something like an ethics accrues in Pasolini’s thought. Further, by means of references and direct and indirect links, it establishes how this dimension is also present in Agamben. Therefore, according to the recent reading of Kafka presented by the philosopher in Nudità, it verifies how Agamben’s propose of self-calumny, referred to the personage Joseph K., comes near to the idea presented by Pasolini in The paper flower sequence. Finally, it finds how Pasolini’s ethical dimension (the ab joy, happiness and pain together) is in close relation with the ethical comprehensions proposed by Agamben in his several formulations.

Palabras clave: Inocencia culpable, ética, auto-calumnia, Agamben, Pasolini.