Original scientific paper
Opus Dei – the mystery of office. About philosophical investigation of liturgy in Giorgio Agamben
Ivica Žižić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8307-7403
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split
Abstract
The article deals with the philosophy of office of the Italian
philosopher and theorist of culture Giorgio Agamben and starts
from his work Opus Dei – An Archaeology of Duty,2012, in which
the author reconstructs the complex processes that have led to
the concept of office/duty (officium) and officials. Agamben finds
the roots of office in liturgy and liturgical practice, i.e. in classical
theological thought of sacramental efficiency. Throwing light on
the mechanisms of ontological transformation, found in liturgical
forms of office, Agamben turns his thoughts to two categories –
opus operantis and opus operatum – supporting the thesis that
the sacramental ontology of operativity replaced the substance
ontology of being and thus created a modern structure of office,
which will get its final confirmation in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. In the final part of the article, the author takes a critical approach to Agamben’s theses drawing attention to their
positive challenges but also to the risks.
Keywords
Giorgio Agamben; liturgy; office (officium); operativity
Hrčak ID:
141404
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2015.
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