Border Theory and American Philosophy

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Soto-Crespo finalism and antipositivism derived from a very specific geopolitical location in the Americas. 'sfhereas finalism posits a final causality that motivates its forward-looking evolutionary movement, vitalism believes in life's vital force as that which propels life forward. At the border, finalist thought affirmed vital life and critiqued positivism as an instrumentalization of living experience. Fundamentally antipositivist, finalist philosophy positioned itself as a counterforce to the philosophical positivism dominating Latin American politics. \Weinstein's work represents one of the first intervetltions into finalism-a foundational philosophy that would inform border thinking in the twentieth century. Border thinking uses finalist insights in its politico-philosophical stance against the biopolitical management of iife in modern societies. According to cultural theorist \Talter Mignolo, border thinking results fron-r the combination of two ir-rterrelated discourses: one described by Foucault as "subjugated knowledge" and another described by Darcy Ribeiro as " subaltern knowled ge " l" cctn ct cimi ent o sub alt er n o" l ( P ow er / Knctw le dg e 82 Las Americas 68). Border thinking emerges at the meeting place of "subjugated knowledges"-those knowledges that are disqualified as illegitimate, bastard, or low ranking-and "subaltern knowledges"-the local knowledges that stem from the margins of global Modernity (Local Histories 19). Something akin to a Foucaultian critique of biopower from belou'. border thinking bases its approach on three main components: antipositivist politics (the critique of the instrumentalization of life by the modern state and global corporate power); the vitalist affirmation of life (the critique of postcivilized modernity as an illusion of individual freedom while techniques for the diminishing of life's experience are institutionalized); and the finality of our life experience (the critique of the vestiges of immortalitr that remain masked under a biopolitics of the management of human life in modern technocracies ). Building on these antipositivist philosophical currents) \Weinstein addresses the coloniality of power by introducing a critique of biopower that is framed in terms of border thinking. Consider, for instance, his description of a tr,rrning point in the history of 'Western imperialism, where the colonial impetus reverses course from the margins to the center: \While Western irnperialisrl was expanding, positivistic methods of con- trol could be imposed on external colonies' giving the citizens of the metropole the luxury of relatively liberal institutions . . . Thrown on the defensive, imperialism turns inward, replacing politics with administration aimed at manipulating markets and preserving internal security. (Polarity 10t Positivism, having moved from the imperial margins to the center of diminishing empires, acquired new impetus as "a system of instrumental politics. adaptable by any power group that seeks to maintain control in a threatening '-:. situation" (Polarity 10). \\ c:::.: the margins of the Ameri.-r : - mentalization of modernirr, :rpread of global design' in r , that its main effect is the in: '. p,rlitical philosopher hed .'. systematic devaluing of hu::,. r-or of \fleinstein. In work .rr.: r1994), we encounter a line , : : ever-greater instrumentaliz.rr: in detecting and deterritorial:2 . that devalue existence wor1.i,,,. . oromised ro Weinsteirr a Ln: . ro provide its viral opporirr,'and Guattari called, in Noiir.;,: schoiar C6sar Herndndez-Ce -.:. ,\merican thinking "offerls] -::: rhought of the more 'advance :' If on the way to the boric:. iramed \Teinstein's thinkins. philosophy had become for \\ rhat is fundamentally inforn:-: his time in Mexico, "l felt m. .. \ot surprisingly. his rerunl : r.uck with " braceros" :'.. -thc nomadic existence s?turSts> .- ineaning "human armsr" is ::of the instrumentalization , : los," the closest to a "bar- .. .rre key to understanding rh. rhe wire" and become noln.:* . protections. FROM POSITIVISM TO BOR Border thinking is fundamcn:-.. 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Soto-Crespo means for collective action, such as wealth, power, influence, and loyalty" (Polarity 3). Epitomized by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, in Mexico. from 1876 to 1.911, positivism became a primary target of finalist philosophy. Antipositivism contested the scientific rationalization of culture, especially the modernization of society that was at the heart of pro-\festern civilization and its dictatorships in the Americas. Accordingly, Latin American finalism rebelled against "a civilization that mechanizes human activitl' through instrumentally rational hierarchical organizations and behavioristic ideologies" (Polarity 15). Antipositivists opposed the perfection of society via scientific methods, the socialization of production, and economic development via industrialization. They were concerned that "the public situation in the twentieth century was not evolving in the directions of love, justice, and peace, but was marked by the emergence of more refined techniques of dominatio n" (P olarity 5) . In their view, these technologies of the state "seemed to result in the appropriation of human beings-as-instruments by elites rather than in the liberation of humanity, the proletariar, or the individual" (Polarity 5). Thus, finalism represented an "attempt to redeem and rescue intrinsic value from the threats posed by instrumentalist institutions and ideologies" (Polarity 4). They condemned the treatment of human beings either as "natural resources" or as functionaries serving ulterior organizational ends (Polarity 8). Their treatises represented a "way of encountering the problems of an instrumentalist civilization" (Polarity 6). For \Teinstein, these philosophers of the Americas had "eschewed liberalism, Marxism, and traditionalism in their search for a 'new humanism,' attempting to forge visions of an authentic community grounded first in vitalism and later in existentialism" (Polarity "Preface"). They had absorbed Bergsonian vitalism in their thinking and, as a result, their philosophy defended the vital impetus at the heart of being, the 6lan uital, against positivist (modernists/utilitarian/capitalist) and idealist (communist/fascists) philosophies. In the words of political scientist John Hart, Weinstein's work elucidates how these thinkers challenged "authoritarianism and hierarchy" ("rWeinstein" 1395). Likewise, political theorist Howard \Tiarda refers to \Weinstein's work as "innovative" precisely because he makes perfectly clear that "Mexican political philosophers had initiated a revolt against positivism and instrumentalism long before their North American counrerparts and that they had developed an original response to nineteenth century evolutionism rooted in vitalism and personalism" ("P olarity" 25 6). Latin American philosophy provided'Weinstein with a kindred reaffirmation of his antipositivist viewpoint, given that these life-philosophers had developed philosophical positions that were "strikingly similar to my own" (Tragic 12). Jos6 Vasconcelos, Octavio Paz, Carlos Vaz Ferreira, Alejandro de Vista, Alejandro Korn, and Antonio Caso ali presented in their philosophical meditations unexpected ways of encountering the world. Looking for a way out of the trappings of modern civilization and its sprawling Border Tl: global logic of instrumenralization. rheir philosophical inspecrion. \enr rvhere demons and masked sa\-age! lands. This strategy is of grear impo at the heart of positivism a srraris Latin American philosophy preterr examination of the heart" (Polaril, an organic logic, that is ro sar; a rhe, coordinating wholes" (Polari4. 13 argues, "all the fragments [are] joine in Polarity 23). Although Weinstein is critical of r points of finalist philosophr', he ne. major contribution to Mexican thrru odology for thinking" (Polarih, I) . Latin American cultural theorisr>. is tivist thought but also to the inrelle Vasconcelos's philosophy left an r,':'r; American cultural treatises such as C Gloria Anzaldia's Borderland-</L; Histories/Global Designs. These arc newly constituted canon of border rl Building on Paz's reading of \as Mignolo point out that \''asconce r.r: not only a new mythos but also a ::, a confluence of many streams ol r--..ferent way of encountering rhe u-ori. . . was better apprehended as a coni!^lLr: As the father of a borderland consci, sophical counterlogic to nvenrier:when the world found itself dominar, Vasconcelos prioritized cultural ani Paz's later on, those despised as raci border mongrels, as wanderers, nom the center of an antipositivisr polinc. Marias, a Latin American finalisr ; reconceptualizing consciousness fron "a state of crisis in human exisrcn;e of a certain form of life and confronr stein explains that by developing rhis "Latin American thinkers provided r (Polarity 14). At the geographical ix the border subject, these thinkers pro vitalism of the Americas. "So I harr r Weinstein (Tragic 25). His earh-n'orl rrror{dsruaq p ot rapeer aql uodsuert s>lro^a dlrea sr11 '$7 t13ot1) urotsure/N ssssJJuoJ ,,'seuolsrq uae,^ueq poJapup/\\ e^eq I os,, 'sefrraruv 3qr Jo rusrlElr^ e 1{trsualur ,^aeu E r{lr,{\ uralsure/N popr,rord sro>lunp asaql 'lcalgns raproq oql Jo spuelraprog rauur ar{t olur pue reproq lecrqdefoaS eqt tV '$1 [.\ttu1o7) ((uoIlIpEJl Ierluolsrxa aql olur drlua aur papr,lord s.relurqr uerrJaurv urtel,, 'ursr,rrlcads.rad leorpe.r Jo puels roproq srqt Surdola,Lap .{q ruqr sureldxa urets -ule,4N '(/ K1tw1otr) ((sorusol luoerlJ E luoryuoJ pue e1ll Jo ruJot ureuaf, e to sJerluory eqr qJeeJ aldoad uaql\ sJnf,f,o af,uelsrxa ueunq ur srsrJJ Jo aluls e,, :a;rl ueunq ur a8els IErf,nJf, E sE 1(olag uroJt ssousnorJsuol Surzrlenldaruocar Jo luaruoru srqt pa;nldec laqdosolrqd rs4eug uetrreruv urle-I E 'ser.rey4 ugllnf legl san8re uretsuralN 'tra[o.rd lerrrrlod ]srlrtrsoduue uE Jo retuef oql le se^losruaql punot-sprrg,(q pue 'speurou 'slarapuervr se 'sler8uoru repJoq se 'sp.retseq se-stgsrtu Iernllnt pue IErtrEr se pasrdsap asoql 'uo retel s(zed ur se 1{qdosollrld s1{ uI 'ernlxru IETJET pue lerntlnt pezrlrrorrd sole3uolsen Arr.rnd yo sarSoloepr;o urnrlrods e ,{q pateuruop lastr punoJ plro.^ ar{r uar.l^\ eLLrIl € ]Y 'susrlodsap lurrfrlod d-rntuar-qtarlue.{\t ol rrSol.ralunoc lerrqdos -o1rqd e pesodo.rd solofuof,se1 'sseusnorJsuol puelraprog E Jo JeqrEJ aqr sV '(91 o1ou8r14) spuel;ep;oq erlt Jo sseusnorf,suor E sE papuaqa.rdde rauaq se,u sro>lurql uef,rraruv urte-I Jot leqt euo 'plrozrt eql Suuelunotue to .,(e.la, lue.ra; -JIp E parntlnls per1 solef,uof,se1 'rq8noqr Jo sruEeJts dueru;o of,uenltuoJ E q8no.rqr Suryurqr dg 'ssausnorfsuor ,4.au e osle lnq soqrdtu E .{1uo rou ^\eu ot roop aqr pauado peq ,{qdosolqd s,soleruotse1 rerp lno turod olou8ry,g puv vnplezuy 'acer f,rrusof s.soleluofse1 yo Surpea; s.zpd uo Surplrng ,'8ur>1urql raproq to uoueJ patntrtsuor d1,tau aqr or adugs a,rr8 leql stxat da1 oerr{t ore asaql 'szz8zsae pqolg/sauo$tH lwoj s<olou8rlag .rar1er16 puy 'un1uo,tl o'I/spuoqaprcg s.EnplEZuV erJolD 'apwtlog Jo qruuf4a1 aqI s(zed or Etf,O sp q:lns sesueerl lerntlnl uEJrrJruV urlel drntuaJ-qlartue.^al .rolBtu uo tuudtur uE rlel dqdosolrqd s<solef,uotse^ 'Suqurqr roprog Jo tueudolo^op lentlallelu oqt ot osle tnq lq8noql tsr,r.rr -tsodtlue s(urolsura/N or dluo lou IEJluaf sr 'slsrroaql IEJnllnr uElrJeurv urlel lueuodurr lsoru erll Jo auo 'solaluocsen '(71 Kl!,wloril ,,8ur1urqt .ro; dSolopo -qleur p se rusr,trlrsod e8e8ua ol se,Aa rq8noqt uef,rxa1l{ ol uortnqrrluor .ro[eu (solaf,uorsen,, se8palnou>lre ssalaqua^au eq ',(qdosopqd tsrleu5 ;o slurod -pue rrdotn pup sououepun lerrls,,(ru aqt Jo IElnrrJ sr uralsurerN q8noqlly 'Q7 K11n1o7 u1 'ptb) .,uoueurprooJ q8no.rqr.ragtaSot pauro[ [a.re] sruaur8e{ aql 11e,, 'san3.re soleJuof,sp1 'ssausnor3suof, uerunq uI '(€Z [.4n1o7) ((saloq,ta Surleurp-rooc ;o ssaco.rd E,r se ef,uelsrxa uerunq;o droaqr e !,{es ol sr ter{l'cr3o1 crue8ro ue sdo1a.,r.ep solaf,uof,se1 'lrega srqt oI '(gI Kll,tploJ) ((uEOLI oqt Jo uoueururexa aroluls,, aqr :poq]eu lertuetsrxa ue par.rayo.rd dqdosolrqd uef,rreuv urle-J 'lseJtuof, dg ',,br.ror-ralur ;o uorle8au rr8ale.rls e rusr,rrlrsod Jo uear{ aqr rE slfelop aq esneloq 'uralsurarl ro; acuuuodrur lear8 10 sr ,,(Satens srrll 'spuel -reproq leuos.red un o rrellt petrqequr sa8e,res pelspru pue suouap arer.l^\ 's.raprog rrqodsd Jrar{t ol pre,laur 8ur-rnluea 'uorlladsur lecrqdosolrqd rraql ;o adocs eqr papuedxo srolurqt esoql 'uorlBzrlelueunrlsur ;o cr3o1 1eqo13 nI f.qdosopq1 uo)uauv pua Sut4urql Dp,tog 8ur1.u,e,rds slr puu uortezrlr.\rr .- -Ioo.1 'plro.&\ eqt Surratuntr:.. -o1rqd .rraqr ur patuasa-rd 11i. : o.rpuetely'erraueg zEA sol--.'\ ,,u.uo dtu ot JEIrulrs i13ur1i::s." peq s.raqdosoyrqd-a;r1 esrL{t :'.. -eluJytBer ParPurI P qtr.\\ ur:-!. -uosrad pue rusrlslil ur prra,,- j leur8r.ro ue padolarap peq i:-: eroJag 3uo1 usrieluelunlts--. : s.raqdosolrqd lecrrrlod uprr\: ;',; -eld {Jo.\\ i.'(_c5tI ..- : ,,a,Ltle,LouuI,, se 1ecr1r10d 'asr,ra,aT1 pa8ualleqr srelurqt esaL{t \', -trs lecrtrlod Jo spro.\\ rul Li :: (tsrlelrdeeTuurrEtrlrln/slsru-:: ueeq eqt te sntadur IPrr.\ ;''-: : -lulr.ll JlJql ul ulsllell \ u1'r- :l (.rusrlBrluolsrxa ur Jolel pur '-"! . uE Jo suorsr,t a3.ro1 ol 8ur:;, rusrl€uorlrpeJt pu€'rusrr:r11 s,raqdosoyqd esagt 'urJlsur: 1., uP to sruelqo;d aqt Sur:::":'(g ,{Lttu1o4) spua IEuo.l'.: ((sef,Jnosal IEJnIEU ,, sP i: -: . : Iaql '(t Kytap4 slEorql aql ulo{ -do.r rusrleug ) ..srr: :: enlE.\ -ars-:-: 'snqI 'rc ,i;;..:'. _ to uorlEragrl aql ur UELIr rr*'r':'- : -errdordde eql ur tlnsrr ol r:*; u1'$ [,p.ta1o7) ,,uor]eurtuo: palJeru se,/\\ - tnq 'alead put' ': I .. ,{.rnluac qlerlue.r\l aql ur uou'.:: -Ezrlerrlsnpul Ell tuarudole \:: : 'spoLlrJLu rUlluerfs er.r .i-l:,: - lrtsrlol^EqJq puB suol-iEZr ul':,{lr,trlce ueurnq sezIuEqJOLu :ir -- -rrJr.uV urtul',{lSu rproJJy s i': uratsarl6-ord Jo ueeq ar{l lL sr 'arnllnr to uorlpzrlEuoir. -osolrqd lsrlEuU 1o ta8,rer i.rr.'oJrxJlAI ul 'zElc olrSrL)d lo - -adsa ,,dl1e-,(o1 pue'acuangur'ra.toc 112 Border T Ram6n E. Soto-Crespo geography of shifting landscapes, to a border consciousness' and to polyvalent cartographies of thought. BECOMING A BORDER SAVAGE At the heart of 'Weinstein's critical antipositivist and vitalist views, we find life, the "6lan uital or vital impetus at the heart of being" (Structwre ix). This is a vitalism that repudiates, like Vasconcelos and Nietzsche, "symbolic substitutes" for life's complexity (Strwctwre x). If these symbolic substitutes replace "life with meaning" in the form of symbolic harmonies, then critical vitalism would provide a "life grasped without symbolic completions or harmonies" (Structure x-xr). Consistent with antipositivism, Weinstein proposes a "critical examination and defense of our being as it is lived from within" (Structure xr). In the spirit of border thinking,'Weinstein invites us to accept an understanding of experience that is composed primarily of "conflicting tendencies and incapable of final reconciliation" (Structure ix). In this sense, he had developed a particular coordinated consciousness by having adopted the finalist concept of zozobra. Against the grain of the American philo'Weinstein introduces us to "a mode of existence that sophical tradition, refuses to sacrifice values, although the values appear to be contradictory" (Polarity 1.08). Zozobra, ashe describes it, is "an attempt to 'burn the candle at both ends,' to coordinate heterogeneous elements in their totalities" (Polarity 109). Therefore, zozobra for \Teinstein "describes the ceaseless transit between perspectives on human existence-this transit itself presupposes contingency" (Polarity 109). This form of relation between poles, or polarity of thought, seems to be "the most consistent with Mexican finalist thought" (Polarity 107). As a fundamental relationality between poles, zozobra is something like a dance, a nomadic dance at the borders of instrumentalized culture. \Writing for The Hispanic American Historical Reuiew, critic '$Tilliam .Weinstein's J. Kilgore (1930) finds that philosophical understanding of ZoZobra provides extfeme clarity to one of the least understood concepts 'Weinstein grasps eoeooriginating south of the border. He explains that bra's primary insights: " a way of attempting to coordinate opposing forces found in human experience without the exclusion of either and with the living in tension between the two" (51,3). Zozobra, located at the heart of border thinking, is precisely where we encounter the polarity of thought that attempts to actualize contradictory values. Akin to Deleuze's nomad thought, border consciousness coordinates a myriad of intensities, and its location is a deterritorialized dwelling in the in-between of cultures, of states, and of other modern despotic inventions. In Deleuzian terms, goZobra's dance is construed as the "play of high and low intensities" that takes place in the plane of intensities ("Nomadic" 257)' \7ith his/her pla5 the border savage keeps a perpetual mi 257). Border thinking thus fun.ric rhizome, where "a high coetficien normalizing (or despotic) forces at Inspired by Vasconcelos, \-eins him into a border savage: "l s'an them simultaneously" (Tragic 2l . landscape,'Weinstein writes, "Final of modernity, has now infiltrated I in youthful Saxon skins" (Polarin incubated in the Global South beg fertile soil in New Left movemenr, *inte ground in devising a series of istic polity that organizes life accor nistic processes" (Polarity 10t. Founded on finalist insighrs. instrumentalization of life and its ues. The border savage, a "Latinthe language of decolonization to values by modern technocracies. alrzing refers to that aspect of nr iry of human existence over and ; life. As Latin Americanist criric S about "'finalism' with its empl'la, con "a meaningful alternatir e r.t ir ( "Institution alized" 292\. DETERRITORIALIZING CL,{.SS] "The most famous North Americ; work resembles that of Caso. \ a" in Polarity, thereby illuminating a ' that has penetrated classical -{mer losophies of Santayana, Josiah Ror Dewey, The.Wilderness and tl:e Crl with the main pillars of U.S. polin "[f]or several decades the Ameri.-. moribund" (156). Santayana reFlr, geographical movement of life-ph sophical thought to areas south o: denotes something like an anoma had been territorialized by a beliei outcome of a foundational haret Santayana "placed himself outsid Pue (cuolllPerl lErnllnJ uefIJeIuV oql aPISrno flasurrq paJEId,, euEdeluEq 'uta1su1a16 ol Surprorry .oluolsrxa rot perrELI l€uo4ppuno, e Jo oruoJtno eqr_sE aJII 11e 1o Surnletuaurutsur aql ur Jerloq e dq pazrler.rolrrrol uoaq peu dqdosopqd u€lrrarrrv Jo oro) aqt rot tleruoue ue a41'Burqtotuos setouap euedelue5 ,,u.ar,r. srq uI :raproq .S.n ar{l Jo qtnos ,"rr"-ol lqbnoqr letrqdo_. -ollqd 'S'n to raluar oqr urory .(qdosolqd-afll tuouraloru lerrqderdoa8 ogt ol uortdaf,xo ue urolsulelxr .ro; stuasarda.r euedBlues '(qSf j .,punQr.rotu 'o ueoq seq dqdosollqd-oJll Jo uorrrperr uerrraruv eqr sepelap 1e.re,ras ro[] * 'srutepord urarsulol)N 'areq1 'rq8noqr lecrrrlod .S.n to srelpd ureu aqr qlr,$ luaua8e8ue snorros lsoru s(urelsugarg s1 lC713 aql put2 ssaunpfy aql,iattaq uqof pue^'sauef ruerlplX ,ac.rra4 .5.3 ,at,(o6 qersof ,euedetue5 ;o sarqaosol -tqd aqr 3ur11ce1 '(yg1) dqdosolrqd uurrraruv peterleuad ,"q l"qi l€rrssel, luerrnf,repun yecrqdosoyqd leuoneusuerl e Burleurulnllr ,(qaraqt,r{&w1o4 ur. ur3lsulelx\ salrJl( ,.,SOlUeu pue ,solaruocsen ,ose3 Jo leq] SelgluoseJ >lJo,\\ esor{la 'euedelue5 aSroeg sE./$. lsrleug uBJrJeruv qrroN snoru'J rsoru Jr]J_ :qi 'de1d raq/srq qrr16 '(1_c7 :o 'sarntlnc Jo uoe,lllaq-ur aqr ur i: tue tsarlrsuJlul Jo per.rnLu E ::lE. Peluou s(eznelac ot ur{Y 'sonle'! :q8noqr Jo drFelod eqt ratunolj! lo treer{ erll te peletol (otqo:o7 ' rql qlr,t\ PUP reqlre Jo uorsnll\e : , ,, sarro; Sursoddo alBurprooc o: 3uu; -o-'oz sdse.r8 utJtsulJr( reqr surrl; :tdaruor poolsrapun tseal eqt lo : 1o Surpuets:rapun lecrqdosopqJ s.r -UEIIIL4N tr.1r.tc' mautaY ln ua ls : 11 -nJlsur Jo sreProq aql tE ' (Z6T,,paz111euortnt4sul,, i sll qll,l\ usrlelueruulsur ol olrleuJelle 1n;Buruearu e,, uof -xa_l lEJlfllod rno ot sppE (.spue uo srseqdrua sll gfy\\ (rusrlEug,,, lnoqe slq8rsur s(urJrsurelxt 'sen8.re ssog daluerg Jrlrr) lsruerrreruv urre-I sv .eJll ra,to luaruaSeuerrr Jo srazu,od eql lsureSe puB JaAo aJuolsrxe .r"*nq ;o ,lai -lerl^ eql pelurUteer reqr rqSnoql tsrleug ot s.ra;a,r lcadse Surzrle leql Jo -Irolrrrelep se dlrleruolorep .ero;erelJI .serJeJ)ouqtel uropour ,,(q sanle r JISurJlur Jo uorrpzrl€lrollrrar e anbrlrJf, ol uorlezruololep Jo a3en3ue1 aqr ,a8e,4.es iaproq sasn 'ur1s uoxEs e ,,(g palseu lrrrds ur eql .son <ulte-L u -le^ srsurrlur UEL[] reglo ezrleeJ ol e^lrp slr puB aJrl,o uorlBzllElueurnr]sur eql se8e8ua a8e,res reproq s(urorsuralxt ,stq8rsur rirleug uo'papunoC ' (91 Klttolo tr) .,sasseco.rd crlsru -eLIlOLu puE senlE^ Ieluournrtsul ol Surptocru a;ry sazrue8ro lEr{l .ftr1od orrsr -,ttrrsod e ol sasuodser lElrFelsrp a1gr8rl1alur,, Jo sarres e Sursr.r,ip ur puno.rS uo{uruor PunoJ r.llnos puE r.{uou qlog .stuauo^otu ua-I . aaN ur Iros alrlro-+ punot rr erer{I 'prp^\quou Surreyncrn ue8ag qlnos lpqolC oi{l ur poteqnlur peq lEr{l anbrrr.rc lsr^rlrsodnue aqr '(sI K7ttv104) ((sur>ls uoxEs 1n;qrnod ui pareadde e^el{ (sut1eT, ' ' . alodorlou oql parerrlyul ,/urou seq ,fli,rirpo*;o sur8reu aqr re pereaddB lsrg qllq^\ .tusr1eurg,, ,satlr,to .rrr1r.rirr16 ,aAetspuel qdlru;aporu ul Ilqs e parrrpard 3ur,re11 .(17 ct4vtl) .,dlsnoaueqnurrs rueql 8ur,tr1 'san1e,r.{.rotcrperluoJ ozrlpal ol luelv\ 1,,,a8"n"r'repJoq e orq rfupp rrf r', 'selod uaaluag drlleuorrelar IEtu:; -lBug uEf,rxatr{ L[1]^\ lue]srsuot tsn-_ ro 'sayod uao,/{laq uorlg]al _Jo rrrroj AHdOSO]IHiI NV]ruIWV fV]ISSV'If, CNIZI-IVnIOIIUUf,IIIO (<sueatrl uo snJoJ .lpr selel luql (.sorlrsuelur .rto1 pue qir: -o:oz (sruJel uBrznalac uI 'suor_lu:,, ;o ,r1r:erurrj : ol sn salr-\ur urals: -uapuat Surlcrguol,, -Japun ue ldatce ulo{ pa^rl sr Jr se Suraq ,ino -Jo :su:: ulolsula/N'rusutlrsodrluE qr-r\ t;;-, suortaldr-uor tr;oquls tnoql.\\ i;-: -l-llJl uaql tsaruor,u;eq rrlotlr-u.is r., sotnlrlsqns crlogruds asaqt 1 '(\ i*,:, rrloquds,,'aqrszlar51 pue so{aruLr:si '(xr a,Ln4tn,t1c) ,.8uraq Jo upeq ti: puU ellr's,r\ar,r tsqplt^ puE lst.\urs..J urlq Polurolsuert puq Suqurqt raprog s(uretsurJl1! .soletuocsun dq parrdsul t;:,:;p'#:J:T j:lrTTj[ffi: dealors>rro. a,,o,r,,,i,$lo::r;:Jfi aqr yo rdacuof, s,ezneleq ol dlrepurs suontrunJ snqr Burlurql nprcg .(1g7 ,,crperuo1q,,) sarlrsuotur uaa,laleq uorler8nu Isnledred e sdaal a8eles raproq tLl Kqdosopq4 uo)xtatuv puo Bur4urqa taprog , -dnsa;d flasrl rlsuert srqt-af,ualsi\: ssalesBoJ er.p sagrJtsap,, urJlsurJ-\\ .,sOrlrlBlol Jrar{l ur slualuela snoeur: -upl eql uJnq, ol ldtuelle uE,, sr 'l : . ,(rotcrpe.rtuor aq ot readde srniE.l. leqt Otruelsrxo,o aPotu 8., ol sr. !. -o1rqd uerrraulv aqt ;o urer8 :;: : paldope Sur.teq .,(g ssausnorrsuLrr : aq 'asuas sqt uI '(xt a.n4ltt1S _;, -e,Ld1od ol pue 'sseusnorfsuoJ Jepltl, 114 Ram6n E. Soto-Crespo positioned himself as not an American "except by long association" (109). Santayana's location within classical American philosophy is an ambivalent one given that he "shared the universe of discourse of the other American classical philosophers, but not their 'Anglo-Saxon piety"' (127). Santayana's life-philosophy embodied for'Weinstein a refreshing distancing from the "wilderness." In the context of classical American philosophn the wilderness stood for "the mental space into which the philosopher withdrew in an act of separation from the moral conventions, the cognitive assumptions, and the practical certitudes of the 'city'" ('Wilderness 5). The retreat to the "wilderness" promised the thinker a "treasure" that will allow him or her "to reenter community with a special gift" ('Vlilderzess 5). Weinstein's phrase "'Latin' in Saxon skin" reverberates in his understanding of Santayana's life-philosophy by presenting him as the anomaly among those with whom he shared a discursive world. If, in'Weinstein's view, Santayana was "suspicious of any claims that truth could be discovered in the wilderness of pure experience or pure reflection," he nevertheless understood that Santayana believed in the need for "acceptance of personal finitude and an affirmation of the goods that appear in the flux of existence" (109). Santayana's philosophy of "acceptance" was a philosophy at the border of those stemming from the wilderness. 'Weinstein's border savage is one who knows that there cannot be a mere repetition of the American classical tradition today. The efficient megalomania . . . has worked its way into the center of American culture and will not be easily plucked out. Contemporary fanaticism feeds on the hatred for existence, proliferating weapons and poisons and wastes. The intolerance of existence has issued in the systematic erosion of the basis of life (155). Border thinking and the concept of zozobra allow'Weinstein a vantage point from which to examine the erosion of life in instrumentalized society. Con- with life-philosophy, 'Wilderness proposes a "renewal of individualism in America," and it recommends that this "tradition be deepened and revitalized" (156). For'Weinstein, individualism is not the possessive indisistent vidualism created by moralized society but rather the individualism of those who embrace finitude. Life-philosophy is at the heart of this revitalization process, for it provides a new balance. Inspired by zozobra, \Teinstein proposes a new recalibration for a tragic being-in-the-world: "The basis for renewal of individualism in the present day is a deepening of inner tolerance to the point at which it becomes normal and not eccentric to live with world-sickness and still to be free for commitment to limited tasks within the public domain" lWilderness 155). The affirmation of personal finitude is key because American pragmatism replaces this fundamental acceptance with morality. Brtri 'Weinstein's critique of the a and its moral invention is besr James, he argues, had "advan, \ietzsche" ('Wilderness 22r. \\ James's resort to a speciai the best diversionan' rarrr American philosophers ro ments that abound in his u between science and religii by science at the inceprirrr: can philosophers to cenre effort that may, indeed. ha The shift in life-philosophr trr-r moral commitment is prim.rr keeps in place the self-rightec Santayana, the border sa\.age the insight that informs \\er Nietzsche's abyss, James inr t: how life-philosophy has been ; helping people to live from o-.tion in the common life. anci. : r Wilderness 154). Yet, for \\ ei. distances the individual fron: i Pragmatism had delii erei founded on finitude. Furrhern: imperative of producing a nc,r . totality of voluntary sen'anrs r rhe divinity . . . The solurioir .r tual problems created bv rhe i, of society for God as the obie ship, and service" (Wilderness ery the abyss of finitude is c.. instrumentalization of living e: U.S. culture toward an ever-mLi future. In Wilderness we undt: away from the abyss, for our for a society built further au'a can civilization contemplares experience nor the life-philosol instead it rushes forward torr'ar consumed, and inhabited. 'palrqequl PUE (peunsuol 'pecnpo.rd aq ol dtanos lerr8rp ro IEn]rI € pre^ ol prEA\roJ saqsnJ 1I p€elsul !&ru.repou str yo sa8po eqt le Surrelotrad dqdosolrqd-o;l otl] rou acuarredxa str Jo rarluory oqt ts ssoureplr,^ aql raqllau saleydualuoo UoIIEZIIIAIf, uef -rJatrry 'spuelJapJoq slr pu€ otqozoz ruo.r; .(e,u.e Jaqrrn; tlrnq &arcos e ro; ur€JJOI Jql sres af,ueJelor Jeuul to uorle8au Jno JoJ 'ssdge eqr tuorl de.ra'e azv? tno Sururnl yo saruanbasuof aql puetsropun aM ssaunpltA uJ 'arntn{ 'S'n lerrSolouqcal crteru8erd pue poteoltslqdos-arour-rolo uP premol Jrnrlnl sladord ssdqe aqr to le,ta'o^psrp eql 'af,uotslxo 8ur,,rr1 Jo uollezlletueurnrlsul t€ql usrlursod e dq ro^o peJeAoJ sI ePnllug ;o ss.{qr aqr 'lra -rros Ierorrl e 1o osnuord eql .,(q pepullg '(191 ssautapyryr) ,,atrrrtas pue 'drqs -aldnsrp 'aruera,Lrlap 'Juetutnuruor-aJll to rralgo ar{r se PoC ro; .&arlos ;o uorlnlrlsqns oql s€^\ lsq)N eqr ul Poc Jo qreaP eql ,(q palearf, sruelqord lent -urds aqt or .{qdosolrqd lecrsselr upflraurv to uollnlos eql ' ' ' dlrur,trp aqr ol tou 'a1oq.,ra. Ielros eql ot punoq ere,^ . oq,^a sluelres .{relunlo.t Jo drllerot lJerlsqe uE se,ln. dltunruruoc aq1,, :dtanos IEJotu u Surcnpo.rd ;o a.ttleradrur agl saurnsse asnJ leJoru srql (pfrJoury ur 'arotu.reqlJnJ 'JPnlIug uo PoPunol ,(qdosopqd-a;r1 e Surceldal uI esnr leroru E Pera^IIOP peg usrteru8er4 'afueralol rJuur rer{/slq luo{ I€nPI^IPUI eq} saf,uElsIP reqlouE tust,ttlrsod stqt'utalsutarl6.ro; 'laa '(y91 ssautapy,Xl' e8errlu st teqt aql SurlBnluaf,f,e ,,e.trlrsod Jo dezrt e '11e a.r.oqe 'pue 'e;t1 uouurof, aql uI uoll -edlcrued Surrrdsur yo .,(ezra. B 'lxau aqr or dep euo tuo{ J^II ol eldoad Surdloq rot su€oru e uaaq seq tI 'Ef,rraluv uI pallaruof, ueaq seg dqdosolrqd-ey1 .uoq ,,{1reap lsoru s,laoqs sauref,, :rul€al ,laeu e sluelul saruef 'ssdqe s.aqrszlar5 qlrl\ Poluoryuol uaqlN 'luarunSre sculalsulal)N surJoJul reqr lqSrsur aqr sl slql 'rsanb le.rotu srqr .{q papullq lou sr a8eles roproq eq} 'euedelurs a41 'trrrds uBlrrnd eqr Jo f,rlsrJorJerel{o snoatg8r.r-Jlas eq} areld ur sdaal ler{l uorlerlap E ulalsulal[ Jot stuasardar dreurrd sI luolullururof, I€Jou] qtrlqn ur ouo ol erueralot reuul uo snf,oJ E tuo.r1 ,(qdosollqd-eJll uI ltlqs aql ar.[r srequnJ (Sgf+gf ssautapy,y) 'lrrrds uetrrnd eql yo uortenulluof p uaaq a.leg 'paapur {eur leqr uoga uE 'tuarulnuurol I€rour ur .,(qdosopqd-a1r1 ratuac ol sraqdosopqd uer -rraruy Jo troJJO oqt se^a 'e.ra u:apout aql 1o uortdaJul aq1 le acuaros dq uo,l uaoq peq 'petou orllsaerN sE 'L{flrl,Aa 'uot8tlar PUE eJuolf,s ueo,la.leq aySSnrrs lengredns oqt uer{r .redaaq ' ' ' sIro.^a slt{ uI Punoqe lerll sluaul -n8re pue 'sldaruot'slq8tsut leltuetslxo aqt or sraqdosolrqd uef,Ireurv .raqto Surpurlq ro; patuelul eAEq plnoJ eL{ rtloet .{reuoISJa^IP rsaq eql 'poapur 'se,,t.r ,.Suruoseal Ief,Ilf,EJd,, ;o ruleer lenads E ol uosal s,sauef :raqunt sureldxe ulotsulqlN' (77 ss autapT;rr16) ., aqlsztatl to asoqt or 1a11e.red erp rpql suotttsod ol perue^Pe,, peq 'san8re aq 'sauef 'sauref tuelllllA. uo ;ardeqr srq uI paleplJnle rseg sI uoltuelul lrrotu sll pur ursrleurSBrd uerrrourv Jo suorlEPunol lessdqe oql 10 anbrtuf, s(ulJlsulalN SII Kqdosopq1 uu)Ltaurv pua Sur4utql npng arueldacru leluaruepunJ sri{l sarEI-: apntrug leuos.rad Jo uorlururglp :'r. ol luoulrruLL. ol frJlualfJ lou pue lPLi-'. urqlr.^a s>ls?l Polllurl qlr,^a a^rl -lJlot rJuur 1o Suruadaop e sL ir: roJ srseq aqf,, :PlJo,^a-aqt-ur-3u::; -ord uratsurarl6 'vtqoloz,{g pa:r js; uorlBzrlelr^ar srr{r Jo ueorJ eql rE !r asoqr ]o usrlEnPr^rPur ar{l raqrEr r.: -rpur elrssessod aqr lou sr ursrlpn:i pue pauadaap aq uourpen,. srql :f -lenpr^lpur Jo lelrrurr.. e saso;, -* -uo3 'dlenos pazrlelueunrtsui ui ri rurod a8eluel e urelsurol(,\\ollp :-.'t_a -s.(s aqr ur penssr SELI OJuolSr\J lt-r . puu suodualr Surlera;r1ord'aluarsr) .i.reroduraluoJ'lno pa>pn1d,i1rsre JelueJ eL[] olur dezu, slr pa>1:o-r\ spu ' uorlrPBJl ]EfrssElf uBlrJeluy aqr ra lEtil s,\\o;! rsor1t Jo roprog aqr re ,{qdosolr'.1: ; -BtuES '(661) .,ecualsrxo Jo xng r;'l uE pue apnlru5 leuos.rad ;o arua;: tEql PoolsJePun ssaleLlua^au aq _'r -rrP]r,&\ erll ur Pere^o)srP aq Plnor i euedetue5 Aler,r. s,uralsulal( ul '_rl 'i asoql Suoue ,{leuoue aqr se Lurq S 1o Surpuulsropun srq ur seteraql;,r: -ulaA. '(S ssautappgy) ,,9r3 1er-.ri: ruiq.r\ollE IIr^ r€q] ((arnsearl.. P :: aql '(S ssautapplyr) ., .-trl:. -durnsse elrlruSof, oql (suonuJ-\uc'l rEaJteJ .\\erprllr^44 ragdosolrqd o{1 r{lrLl.t t-lrna eqr tqdosolrqd ueJrrollry IE]r! ruo.r; Surcuersrp Surgsa.r;er E ur:rsl -efe1ue5' (LU),,..,bard uoxe5-o1ii uErrJeurv Jerllo 0q1 Jo asrnolsrp :! ur sr,(qdosolqd uerr::i '(60I) .,uollptcosse 3uo1 dq rda:r:. tuele^rqruE 116 Border Ram6n E. Soto-Crespo FROM BORDER TO CTVIL SAVAGE \fhen, in Cuhure/Flesh (1.995), Weinstein writes, "The civil savage vindicates the finite flesh," we detect the intensity of border thinking in manl descriptions of this postcivilized consrruct that he calls the civil savage (5). If border thinking takes the form of coordinating irreconcilable forces, \feinstein's description of the civil savage emphasizes his srrategic geopolitical location at the border of all traditions and civilizations: "it is better for him to live with these doubts and to be free of any particular tradition, to be able to relativize all traditions, to see through the essence of all civilizations, and then to plunder the treasures of each one of them" (CulturelFle.sb 5). The border savage, with its antipositivist thought and border thinking, had led over the years to the coming into being of the civil savage of postcivilized modernity. The civil savage results from decades of 'Weinstein's deep explorations into his border consciousness in order to provide a philosophy of conduct. \fleinstein's encounter with finalist thought had pointed to a crisis that emerged with the perception of an "absence of legitimate and acknowledged forms for conducting life" (7). This absence of a philosophy of conduct for postcivilized modernity is a preoccupation that stems from those beginnings. The emergence of savagery amidst the ruins of civilization impels me to undertake a meditation on philosophy of conduct if only to draw attention to the horizon of possibilities that individuals might entertain as they seek to hold on to their existence day by day, to survive and, perhaps to flourish. (Cuhure/Flesh 1) It is in light of this pursuit that 'Weinstein states, "this is the book of the civil savage who seeks to live well in the culture jungle" (culture/Fle.sh viii). Like Foucault, who in The History of Sexuality and in Tbe'tJse of pleasure sought to understand contemporary culture by studying forms of sexual conduct that preceded the deployment of modern sexuality, \Teinstein delves into studying contemporary culture with his "border eyes." In \7einstein's case, he studies the deployment of culture in postcivilized society. This epistemological vantage point allows Weinstein to spell out not only what we have become but also what we, as a civilization will become. In postcivilized modernity, Culture has become king. He explains further that civilization emerges "in the spiritual act of removing the individual self from its connections to an ongoing community, revealing the self to itself as a strange and fragile being and then reconnecting the self to a reality surpassing in its being and goodness the reality of the particular community" (Cubure/Flesh 3).If society had replaced god in the creation of American civilization, then in contemporary postcivilized modernity culture had replaced civilization. This cultural world is "dominated by 7 icience and technology" at the erp privileges the externally perceprit'l It is precisely this "cultir.ared in undesirable in civilized socien. rh thinking's fundamental premise. F inwardness stemming from the s-i \merican classical philosophr fror phy of the wilderness had led ro r the civil savages as one of the lasr s TOWARD A MINOR WEINSTEI Finalism had invited people ro a li of authenticity but in terms of a , people's attention to the possibilin tents of existence into acts" {Pol-l self-understanding, such as Finite l Meaning and Appreciation, and \\' ogy of self-reflection that stemmed thinking. It is in the last pages of I that have given impetus to \\einsr 'unity through coordination rarh, border thinking shows that he emb cal propositions, that is, his conc alegre"f. Therefore, it should nor on life that we see at work in D;f-; lve gain an even deeper undersuni when faced with the open solirud, are thrilled to "wait for the androii invited humans to a path of -b.err rheir own future replacemenr in : of "bare ltfe" at the border has le According to Giorgio Agamben. killed yet not sacrificed" rvith imp : "H"ppy pessimism" comprehends which instrumentalization produc, existence. This chapter sought to shed ligf vre. I have traced a trajecton- tiom age. Nevertheless, I acknou,ledge t than can be made to fit inro a sir oeuvre is rhizomatic. As Diane Rui am unpacking here can be conside in the Deleuzian sense-where I an aqt lsureSp uralsuralN Surpear luE I arerl/$-esuas uarznalec eqt ur rouru-uretsurqlN ur pEarql rourru e pareprsuor oq upf, eraq Surlcedun Lup .lno palurod urelsuaqng ouerq sV 'f,rleruozrqr J ler{t urelsura/N eqt sr orlnoo s(u_relsurol6 asneleq sl slql .pearqr al8urs e olur ty ot operu ag uEJ u€r{l rq8noqr s(uretsuro/N ol eroru sr erar{t reqr a8pal,u.ou>lrp I ,sse1oqlia,r.a51 .a8r -^ES Ir^rJ sllel eq leq-{\ ot a8e.\Bs repJoq uror; .fuolrelEJt E petBJl o^eq .or.\ J -noo s(urelsula,4A. ul Suqurqr Jeproq uo IqBII paqs ot rg8nos .rardeqc srql efuelsrxs PUE urPrS ueurnqlsod lerr8rp e Jot aJrsap nau p sacnpord uortezrletuaunrtsur r1rrq,\\ E to uozrror{ agr spuaqarduror ..r.usrrurssad dddeg.. '\ZI tazos otuoH'scrlelr leur8rro) dtrundrur qlrnt ,,pacltoos lou nK pa11t4 aq [.au oqm,, esoqt ol sroJJr c(eJrl oJEq,, ,uague8y o€rorg ot Burprocrl 'uorleururru yeoqdosolrqd ;o s:read or pel ser{ raproq aLIt le c(eJrl ereg,, ur dlrrnrn; pazr[,4.rotsod Jo dqdosolqd-alll eql .sseureplr,4 lerr8rp e ur luoruef,elda.r arnrn; u,{\o rrar.{l uasoqJ a^Er{ sueunq ,,,uorlce;rad .roy BuroQ,, ;o gred e ol sueuJnq potr^ur PEI{ rusrleug JI 'uroql aceldar IIL/!\ or{.rr\ (<sprorpue eql roJ Jre,^a,, oJ pollrrgl erp suEurnr{ 'ecuJlsrxo pazrlEluounrtsur Jo apnrrlos uodo aql qll.& perE uaq^\ lErll uorle^rasqo uaal s(uratsurel)N 1o Surpuelsrapun .redaap ua^a uE urES a,u reqr s3-u1r1rm scsolaf,uolse4 Er^ sr lI .qsorl oxaq u >lro,^ , le eas a.r\ reql eJrl uo ,eJoJarar{r .1,,ithap a.r.rtcadsrad eures aql sr srqr Jr sn asr,rdlns rou plnoqs lr owsttutsad,,] ,,rnsnurssed ,{ddeq,, yo ldacuoo srq .sr 1eql ,suorlrsodord Ier -txope.red s(solaf,uoJse^ Jo rer{touE seJprq{ua 3r{ rBgr s^\oqs Surlurqr reproq scurolsure/N .,'uoutnpeJ q8notqr uer{l JOrpeJ uorleurpJooo q8notqr ,brun,. Sur4aag 'seprrep arll re^o Suquiqr s(urolsuralx! o1 snlodrur ue,rr8 aaeq teq: stq8rsur ,{a>1 asoqr pug e-AA orar.l/y\ ["1r.to1o4;o sa8ed rspl eq] ur sr lI .Burlurq: raproq Jo drlrelod patrurproof, or{r ruo{ paruruels leqt uorpegar-1as ;o,{Bo -lopoqteur E erer{s '[.113 aql puo ssaunpllA pue,uorjatatddy pua Butuaal4 'a,ft1 uawng lo atnltn,Llg aq1 ,uoUta/tad ailwy sB qJns ,Burpuels.rapun_Jles uo sasrleart.{ueru s,uralsulelN.(9II tQtn\oL) c(sJJE olur eJualsrxo stual JO -uor snoaueSoJeteq aqr Surteurp,rooJ,, drrlrqrssod aqt ot uortuane s.aldoad Jo paDarrp peq tI '@11 Kyn1o.I) agl poo8 e Jo surel ur lnq dlnlruaqrne 1o surrar ur rou .6uorlf,oJrad ro; 3ureq,, Jo eJII E ol aldoed palr^ur peq ursrlpurl NIIIISNIILK UONII,{ V CUVINOJ .\q paleuruoP,, sr Plro,r\ IEJnt[n] -repotu pazrlr,rrctsod,{rerodue:,r aqr ur po8 paceldar peq ,,banos t; aqr;o drrlea.r aql ssaupoo8 pue Si -llauuorer uer{t pue Suraq alr8r:r '.\Iunurtuof Suro8uo up ot suor! lo trp Ienrlrrds oqt ur,, sa3:eil: '3ur1 e; IIr.^a uorlEzrlr,\rf e sF .iyuo 1ou 1no leds ot uratsulJ.\\ j uJ 'aluolaq '.itetros pezrlra.rttsod ur arntlnr J uI ,.'seda .reproq,, srq r{tr.\\ utalsulelN Xrllen"rs uropoLLr _lrr l -xas Jo surro; Surdpnrs ig rlnllr-.: -uap lo asn aqI ur pue ,(y1r-ri:t:' ' lltr^ qsal1/a,tniru)),,e13un[ ::rui: JLll Jo looq Jql st slql., ,sr_lpl: : -ure/N tt qsaw/affiqn)) 'pue r^r^tns or 'lep Xq iep r:u; ureuelue rq8rur slenpr^rpur leqt s \\erp ol lluo ;r tJnpuo) qo iq;, eru sledurr uorlezrlrlrt Jo surnr :i 's8uruur8ag osoqt tuo{ sruJts lE-.: ro; lrnpuor;o dqdosolrqd e 1o :: pue aterurtr8al lu r. teql sISIrl E ol paturod peq :;: pa8pa1.uou>1f,E 'lrnpuoo yo .{qdosolrqd e apr.rtuJ suorteroldxa deap s,uratsule.\\ r., ;o aSe.tes ]t-\rl rril j. prl peq '3ur>1urqr lrproq pup l.lraql '(S qsaq/amXp)) ,,uraqt sc, pue 'suortezrl^rJ IIe to aruessa rq aJqE aq ol'uotltpell relncrued -i::r ruFI JOJ taDeg sr lr,, :suortBzrlr,\tr l pazrlzr.Dlsod . ',,(aurno[ 3uo1 e Jo uorteurulnr eqt ur sdols tsel or{t Jo ouo se sa8e,\es lr^r] aql ol uor{t_pue raproq aqr ;o lqdosolrqd aqr or pal peq ssaureplr,/\^ aql dqd ;o -osolqd oYI 'firou ol oJJred pue seruef ruor; ,,tqdosolrqd lerrssep ugJrroruy pelnJ peq leql uralled E s,AAolloJ ssJureplrlv\ eqr tuoJt Burlurua]s sseuprBr\ .ur pote^nln) yo dqdosolqd e ,uralsural6 rog .asrure_rd letueuepun; s,Burlurqr JAPJOq PUE IAUE] IETIUEC S.IUSIIEUU SI IEI{I T]AIIOS PAZIII^IJ Ur AIqEJISEPUN pue ,,iressatauun aq ol punot ,.,sseupJe,r\ul palelrllnf,,, srqr ,{lasrcaid sr ri g lr esneJog 'sseupre,u,ur Ln alqpdatrad dlleuraxa eqr sa8alr,rrrd asuedxa agr re ..,,€o1our{fol pup aluerrs qsa1g1a,Ln71n3) patelrlFl;o Kqdosoltq4 ua)ttaLuv puo Sut4urqa raprcg lerrrrlodoaB rrBalu.rts slrl sJZr5rqJ -urar1'.'sauot algelrluoJar;r 8ur:.r; '(g) a8e.tes aqt sller eq rpul 11 I^n .(ueuu ur Surlurqr leptoq 1o rrr.-rpur,r a8e,res IIAIJ erl1., (satrJ-\\ -- 118 where I pursue the thread of the border savage as one of the philosopher's many masks. I see \Teinstein's works as a series of critical engagements by a border savage who, like a Deleuzian war machine, learned to spot and deterritorialize the despotic formations of culture. Weinstein's vitalist critique seeks to dig deeper underneath the despotic codes of postcivilized society. The border savage, as a Deleuzian "war machine of thought," attempts to escape the codes of culture by having them flow through him and by not becoming encoded, or coded over, by them ("Nomadic" 260). \Teinstein's border savage is fundamentally an experimental creature in postcivilized culture. In work after work, \fleinstein analyzed and decoded the despotic avatars of instrumentalized society. By welcoming codes without being coded and by remaining uncoded while mixing up all the codes, Weinstein has provided a philosophical trajectory for rethinking the border, nomadism, and power. NOTES 1. There is yet another type of border thinking that develops from the U.S.- 2. BorJe, Ram6n E. Soto-Crespo Caribbean borderlands, more specifically, from the borderland state of Puerto Rico. I highlight this particular thread rn Mainland Passage: The Cubural Anomaly of Puerto Rico (2009). Gilles Deleuze develops these ideas with Feliz Guattari in their best-known work Anti-Oedipws. But it is in their work on Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature that we see the application of their concepts into the field of literaryl cultural forms. Herndndez-Cela, C6sar. "The Pol;.: Finalism, by Michael A. \\eins 224-225. Kilgore, lTilliam J. "The Polarit., '.: ism, by Michael A. 'Weinstein." I (1980):513-514. Mignolo, 'Walter. Local Histories C edges, and Border Thinking. PrirRibeiro, Darcy. Las Americas .. .. sas del desarrollo desigual Ji Ayacucho, 1968. Ross, Stanley R. "Institutionalized R, Reuiew 1.4:1. (1979): 292-29 6. Soto-Crespo, Ram6n. Mainlan,l P;. Minneapolis: Minnesota Unir';rsr Weinstein, Michael A. The Poi:,:: F inal ism. University Park: Per.r-.r. The Tragic Sense of Poi::::; Press, 1977. Meaning and Apprecitti...,:: IN: Purdue University Press. 19-! Structure of Httman Liie: -, versity Press, 1979. The tVilderness arrd tl:e C:: Quest. Amherst: Universin' oi \1. Cuhure/Flesh: Explor;t:,: Rowan and Littlefield, 199,i. and Arthur Kroker. D-::; J--: Palgrave Macmillan, 199-{. 'Wiarda, Howard. "The Polsri:, .: .'.: by Michael A. Weinstein... i,-= .' REFERENCES Agamben, Giorgio. Homo Sacer: Souereign Potuer and Bare Life. Trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998. Anzaldria, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books,1987. Deleuze, Gilles. "Nomadic Thought." Desert Islands and Other Texts, 1953-1974. Ed. David Lapoujade. Trans. Michael Taormina. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2004.252-26r. Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature. Trans. Dana Polan. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986. Nomadology: The 'Vlar Machine. Trans. Brian Massumi. New York: Semiotext, 1986. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1: An Introduction. l976.Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Pantheon, 1978. PowerlKnowledge: Selected Interuiews and Otber'Writings, 1971-1977. Ed. C. Gordon. New York: Pantheon, 1980. The Use of Pleasure: Volume Two of the History of Sexuality.1984. Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage, 1990. Hart, John M. "The Polarity of Mexican Thought: Instrumentalism and Finalism 'Weinstein." by Michael A. The American Political Science Reuiew 72:4 (t978): 1395-1396. ,$L6L) V:ZL mamad nuaDs f.)q:i LustlDutJ _ puu Lusrlotudtuntlsttl :1:,it: 'sue{ 'tg6I 'Kg1lonxag Jo ,Qo1sr11 :. 'll6L-Ll6L ,s3u111t,Xy nqjo prr ; 'suvrl'gL6I'uolpnpo4ul u\, :[ :IJo . AON .. 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