Rhythms of Breath, Rhythms of Love

Abstract

This paper contributes to the philosophy of breath, more specifically offering an investigation of three breathing rhythms, as opposed to three ruptures of breath. It begins with an outline of the emerging field of respiratory philosophy, with special attention to Ludwig Klages’s idiosyncratic contribution. This introductory section is followed by an elaboration of the three rhythms of breath: the rhythm of Nature/Cosmos, the rhythm of God, and the rhythm of human beings. Within these three rhythms, the paper elaborates on the pre-Socratic (Empedocles), the Hesychast tradition, and the philosophy of breath in the work of Luce Irigaray. In the second part, the essay brings to the fore three ruptures of breath: first, as manifested in the death of Christ; second, in extermination camps; and finally, in current and anticipated climate disasters of the Anthropocene.