Abstract

When speaking of the posthistorical, one is also speaking of posthumanism, so that the question becomes “On what basis can one speak in these terms? And what are their main characteristics?” I begin with statements that include these questions, and answer by exploring the theme of negativity put forth by Giorgio Agamben, Emmanuel Levinas, Vladimir Jankélévitch, and Jean-Luc Nancy. Negativity generates negative phenomena and contexts that lead to negative feelings and states of mind. It also includes such phenomena as boredom, solitude, loneliness, and isolation, which I consider in this order to show the similarities and differences among these phenomena and pose the question whether they can influence one another. I conclude by examining whether these phenomena are symptoms of a posthumanist nihilism or if they can bring forth changes in our human, insurmountable finitude. If so, a different ethics arises that sets aside the humanism of the past and puts in its place a posthuman way of being-in-common based on co-existence.