The first part of the lecture maps out the breadth of the philosophical thematization of the Holocaust, and in particular philosophy’s contribution – or lack thereof – to Holocaust studies. The second part expounds how in the post-Holocaust discourse, even the name “Auschwitz” grows into a codeword for an unutterable “tremendum,” that is, an (un)imaginable “radical evil.” The final portion of the lecture turns towards the possibilities to question the refrain that language and reason are (entirely) impotent before the Holocaust challenge, as well as looking at some pacifications of provocations “the Auschwitz case” nevertheless directs towards thought. There is a suggestion that the significance (not) ascribed to the ethically inspired epistemological and critical social theory, also determines the legitimacy of philosophy’s “fascination” or “indifference” to the Holocaust.

The lecture is part of the cycle “Holocaust and Genocides in the 20th century: Open Lectures” organized by the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade together with partners within the project “Introduction of the first MA Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Serbia”, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Serbia. This project was supported by the U.S. Embassy Belgrade.  The opinions and  conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government.

Predrag Krstić is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, and PhD Professor at the Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University, Belgrade. In addition to fifteen theoretical books and numerous articles, monographic studies and editorial contributions in academic publications, he is also the author of one novel and two books of poetry.