什么是Homo Sacer?

What Is Homo Sacer?

一、为什么会造成"神圣人"的误译阿甘本在国际学界的成名作与代表作是《Homo Sacer:主权权力与赤裸生命》(Homo Sacer:Sovereign Power and Bare Life.Homo SacerI,1995),它也是以homosacer为名的九本系列著作的第一本。①作为阿甘本思想的核心概念,homo sacer到底是什么意思,又究竟该如何翻译呢?这一直是每个阅读阿甘本著作的人要面临的第一个挑战。如果连这本书的书名以及这一系列的主题讲的是什么搞不清楚,显然也就谈不上对阿甘本思想的深入理解和阐释。

"Homo Sacer"is the core concept in renowned contemporary philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s work Homo Sacer:Sovereign Power and Naked Life.It is also undoubtedly the key to understanding Agamben’s philosophical thought,and has been translated into Chinese as"shen sheng ren神圣人"(sacred person).However,our understanding of the word Homo Sacer is not accurate,and its translation is also inconsistent.After a close reading and analysis of the text,argument and context of the work Homo Sacer:Sovereign Power and Naked Life,this paper argues that the best definition of Homo Sacer is"a human being who can be killed yet not be sacrificed."This means Homo Sacer is a person who is excluded through a double exclusion,namely,the naked life produced by the"sovereign exception"through"exclusive-inclusion."The Chinese translation of Homo Sacer as"sacred person"thus makes a fatal mistake,because it does not transmit the actual meaning of homo sacer.