SummaryIn this article, I propose a different reading of Foucault’s newly published work than suggested by the publishers and in initial reviews. I question the claim that it represents the fourth volume of the History of Sexuality and rather propose to regard it as an intended second volume. Comparing Foucault’s final plan of publication of the series with the background and stated purpose of Les aveux de la chair, I hold that it is part of a different philosophical project than (...) volumes two and three. Foucault wrote Les aveux de la chair to explore the roots of modern power in the experiences that early Christianity occasioned. This makes the work relevant for current theology and the philosophy of religion. (shrink)

While Henry and Levinas are often juxtaposed, little attention has been given to their shared views on pain and pleasure. Both phenomenologists converge on the argument that an adequate account of pain and pleasure requires a critical confrontation with the theory of intentionality. This raises further questions. What roles do interiority and exteriority play in pain and pleasure? Should they be conceived as different tonalities of one essence or as heterogenous phenomena? Despite their shared critique of intentionality, Henry and Levinas (...) respond differently to these questions. We argue that Henry’s account suffers from an imprisonment in immanence, leading to a homogenous account of pain and pleasure as derivatives of one essence. In our view, Levinas points toward a more fruitful phenomenological account, both in so far as he does not divorce pain and pleasure from exteriority, and also in the way his phenomenology preserves the heterogeneity of pleasure and pain. (shrink)

As a response to the invitation to a form of global thought, this paper asks: what is the relationship between Indian classical music and everyday seasonal life? Indian classical music has been studied in the social sciences as a tradition belonging to a distinctly South-Asian past (Neuman, 1980; Mukherjee, 2006), in which newness has emerged only as a consequence of techno-auratic reconfigurations (Neuman in Asian Music, 40(2), 100–123, 2009), or as a construct of India’s post-colonial modernity (Neuman, 1980; Mukherjee, 2006). (...) This paper departs from this literature to suggest a different route into the study of this form, which grounds it within the aesthetic labors of thinking and feeling, and the ways in which they relate to everyday variations in the earth’s tempos. It argues that a raag is not simply a sequence of notes that represents a culturally specific way of being, but an aesthetic relation that expresses and intervenes in seasonal and diurnal rhythms. By studying raag Malhar within the context of drought-prone rural West Bengal, this paper examines the life of Indian classical music outside the institutional frameworks of concert halls and academies of learning, and begins instead to explore the ways in which it forges and animates everyday life. As such, it works towards a conception of the classical that can be located within the ordinary, and asks, in relation to the concepts of raag and season, what it means for the temporal resonances of everyday life to be musically rendered. (shrink)

Basant (spring) is a season of renewal, growth, and joy, often celebrated as a time of transformation and beauty. In Sikhism, Basant holds a more profound spiritual significance beyond its seasonal attributes. The Guru Granth Sahib presents Basant as a metaphor for spiritual awakening, divine love, and inner bliss. The hymns composed in Raag Basant by five Sikh Gurus and four Bhagatas emphasize the eternal spring experienced by those who are attuned to the Divine. The concept of Basant in (...) Sikh philosophy encourages detachment from materialistic pleasures and fosters devotion to Naam (Divine Name). Historically, the Sikh tradition also embraces Basant as a celebration of resilience and Chardi Kala (eternal optimism). Let us know how Basant, through the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib, serves as a profound spiritual symbol and a call to inner awakening. (shrink)