From Sacrificium Intellectus to Excess of Meaning: Contemporary Debates on the Event

Abstract

This article reconstructs Jean Grondin’s critique of the contemporary fascination with the concept of the event, focusing on his warning against a possible sacrificium intellectus. It examines whether the incorporation of the event into the philosophies of Emmanuel Levinas and Claude Romano entails a subordination of reason. To this end, the article explicates Grondin’s etymological, metaphysical, and transitive arguments, contrasting them with Levinas’s evential account of the face as enigma and trace, as well as Romano’s evential hermeneutics and conception of the il y a. The analysis argues that Grondin’s critique exhibits inconsistency, particularly in its transition from the demand for explanation to the understanding of the event. Against this backdrop, the article shows that, rather than sacrificing the intellect, Levinas and Romano move towards realist positions grounded in a defense of cordial reason. It contends that affirming the event entails an excess of meaning—a significance that exceeds purely objectifying or procedural reason—without requiring the renunciation of rationality. Instead, it calls for an expansion of reason’s scope, enabling it to respond to what is transcendent or inaugural. Ultimately, the event demands a fuller conception of reason, one capable of engaging with the excess that grounds it.

Keywords: Event, Hermeneutics, Cordial reason, Sacrificium intellectus