Katoikizein: appunti per una cosmesi dell'abisso

In conclusion to the IX book of the Republic, Socrates invites men of good will to realize a complete identity of theory and practice, inhabiting the intelligible world which they first measured with their gaze. The last two centuries, however, have sanctioned the failure of the Platonic project: the “real world” has finally turned out to be a fairy tale. An infinite ocean has taken its place, as a conflictual hermeneutic space and a perturbing sentinel that accompanies each of our dwellings. This contribution establishes a comparison with Heidegger’s work, reinterpreted as a constant attempt to “make a home” in the abysmal enigma that we have become to ourselves. Then, it tries to show an internal aporia to the German philosopher’s speech, except to articulate some consideration on the theological antinomy that stands out against the world-abyss. Ultimately cosmology passes into cosmopolitics. Still, the above-mentioned identity is broken: now it is the practice that casts shadows in the pre-cosmic regions of one’s constitutive ignorance. Its attempt to give a face to the unknown is thus constantly exposed to the risk of denial.