Abstract

The purpose of this article is to substantiate Agamben’s thesis that the originary experience of language as a performative speech-act, i.e. as an oath that guarantees the veridicality or efficacy of the speech-act, exposes the ethical relation to language as the origination of the human qua human, despite Agamben’s disenchantment rather than re-enchantment of language. This task first requires the elucidation of the seemingly magical and intimate connection between words and things, which will be proposed under the rubric of ”tautegory’. Finally, I will seek to show how Agamben’s analysis of language as performative and anthropogenic is not just ethical, but also opens the space for a profane Messiah. Agamben’s profane messianism will be elucidated through an analysis of the Voice as the witness to the pre-linguistic.