Abstract

Considered from a certain distance, the French word jetable—throwable—connotes a susceptibility to movement by greater forces in which we may detect the sign of our vulnerability. This vulnerability is not only a defining feature of our spiritual being but is also felt in our relation to economic and ecological conditions that strike us in our physical being. Since our being is inseparably spiritual and physical, it is necessary to remain vigilant not only against a physicalism that would forget spiritual hunger, but also against a spiritualism that is too little concerned with physical suffering.