The Absence of Myth is also a Myth: Acéphale and the modern(ist) division between life and thought. (original) (raw)

2021, Acéphale and Autobiographical Philosophy in the 21st Century

Modernity is based on a specific configuration of the relation between life and thought. Propelled by the Enlightenment conception of reason and the ascent of science, modern thought strictly separates the subjectivity of lived experience from the objectivity of rational thought, myth from fact, passion from truth. Yet, the history of modern philosophy is equally characterised by the constant calling into question of this separation: Nietzsche’s notion that objectivity is always conditioned by an underlying value choice, Freud’s insistence on the mind’s constitutive misrecognition of reality, and Heidegger’s analysis of the metaphysical foundations of science are but a few examples for this radical questioning of “the myth of the neutral justificatory framework.” For several contemporary philosophers, our self-understanding as a culture freed from the illusions of myth is merely another myth: “the mythological conditioning of our experience hides itself behind the mythology of de-mythologization.” Acéphale is arguably one of the most radical, albeit problematic manifestations of the wider attempt within modern literature and philosophy to overcome the separation between life (experience, sensuality, passion) and thought (reason, rationality, order), and to thereby attain what Georges Bataille described as the “totality of being.” Taking its cue from Nietzsche’s attack on science and rationalism, Acéphale wanted to reach this totality by creating a new myth for society, based on sacrifice, secrecy, and silence. This chapter will discuss Acéphale’s aesthetico-critical attack on what it considers to be modernity’s overreliance on instrumental reason at the expense of lived experience, and its concurrent attempt to re-mythologise a seemingly disenchanted world. Using Bataille’s later reflections on the relationship between existence and reason, myth and science, the chapter will further draw out the inherent problems (and dangers) of the desire to furnish society with a new myth, beyond the limits separating life from thought. In conclusion, I briefly outline how Bataille’s work on myth has been taken up and developed by the contemporary German philosopher Markus Gabriel, indicating Acéphale’s ongoing relevance for thinking the relationship between myth and science in the contemporary world.