Witnessing, Recognition, and Response Ethics

Philosophy & Rhetoric Nov 2015

Witnessing, Recognition, and Response Ethics

Kelly Oliver Vanderbilt University

Abstract

ABSTRACTFirst I discuss the limitations of recognition for grounding both politics and ethics, the main problem being that recognition is distributed according to an axis of power that is part and parcel of systems of dominance and oppression. Next, I take up more recent attempts to link recognition to vulnerability rather than to self-consciousness. I challenge the concept of vulnerability on the grounds that it is not exclusive to, or constitutive of, humanity, on the one hand, and criticize it for ignoring differences in levels of vulnerability, on the other. I propose witnessing, grounded in response ethics, as a supplement to recognition models of political and ethical subjectivity. Witnessing takes us beyond recognition to the affective and imaginative dimensions of experience, which must be added to the politics of recognition. It requires a commitment to what Jacques Derrida calls “hyperbolic ethics,” an ethics of impossible responsibilities for what we do not and cannot recognize.

Journal: Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published: 2015-11-23
DOI: 10.5325/philrhet.48.4.0473
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multimodality affect and writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

Poole (2023)

Witnessing the Open Semiosis: A Method for Rhetorical Listening beyond the Human

Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Heard (2020)

Rhetoric and the Rise of Foster Care

Rhetoric Review

Cites in this index (0)

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