Jacques Derrida, Of Hospitality (Stanford University Press, 2000) pp. 81-83
9 Mar 2020
A law without imperative
Let us note parenthetically that
as a quasi-synonym for "unconditional," the Kantian
expression of "categorical imperative" is not unproblematic;
we will keep it with some reservations, under erasure, if you like, or under epoche. For to be
what it "must" be, hospitality must not pay a debt,
or be governed by a duty: it is gracious, and "must"
not open itself to the guest [invited or visitor], either
"conforming to duty" or even, to use the Kantian
distinction again, "out of duty." This unconditional
law of hospitality, if such a thing is thinkable, would
then be a law without imperative, without order
and without duty. A law without law, in short. For
if I practice hospitality "out of duty" [and not only
"in conforming with duty"], this hospitality of paying
up is no longer an absolute hospitality, it is no
longer graciously offered beyond debt and economy,
offered to the other, a hospitality invented for the
singularity of the new arrival, of the unexpected
visitor.
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