The concept of limit in the context of phenomenology of art

This study examines different understandings of the concept of limit through a phenomenological survey. Ancient Greek thought provides us with a series of terms the possibilities of which offer us a lead to the discussions in the context of contemporary philosophers' ideas of art and the concept of limit. To this aim, throughout the thesis the concept of σύνορος [synoros], is used as it refers to the points of intersection among beings in thinkers who take a relational ontological approach; πέρας [peras] as it refers to the specific limits that something has in terms of making the Being of beings visible; ὅρος [horos] as it refers to the absolute non-intersectional boundaries; and finally ὅριον [horion] as it refers to field closures constructed by anthropological borders. The distinctions between concepts have enabled the meaning of the limit to be considered as an opening. As a matter of fact, it has been argued that ontological and dialectical dualisms associated with horotic field closures (problematic closure, conceptual demarcation and anthropological border) in Derrida's Aporias exhibit a non-relational ontological approach and unlike exceptionalism, the possibilities in beings can be revealed through art. On the other hand, while discussing the effects of the limit-thoughts of contemporary philosophers on works of art, the effects of the limit-images in works of art came to be evaluated from a relational perspective. Inspired by the opening offered by art and new images of thought regarding the concept of limit, peratic limits and synorotic encounters are associated with the opening of paranthrōpos, and it is claimed that these insights, which propose an intersectional ontology by disrupting oppositions, appear through the work of art. In this context, it is argued that the conceptualizations of dynamic limit, limitrophy, sympoiesis and the flesh of the world that we encounter in contemporary philosophers make synorotic intersections possible, and it is emphasized that these non-horotic notions become visible through the work of art. In addition to painting, the possibilities of synorotic encounters through literary space have been emphasized and the idea that language is grafted through other-than-human beings has been discussed within the framework of zoopoetics. In conclusion, the concepts proposed in this thesis, which basically reflect on three different limit- thoughts, are intended to provide an ontological basis for animal and plant studies. Arguably, the grafting of life with peratic limits and synorotic encounters provides us with dynamic limits that enable us to relate that which is other-than-human beings in a non-violent fashion.