"Being-one-in-the-other"

Trinitarian perichoresis and the theory of sphers in Peter Sloterdijk

Abstract

In his work Spheres, Peter Sloterdijk takes up the question of existential philosophy: «Where are we when we say that we are in the world?» And he replies that we are in “bubbles”, spheres where we build, protect ourselves and change. Human life always self-organizes by creating protected spaces. To live is to create spheres, spaces of relationship, climates and atmospheres. The experience of space is the primary experience of existence. “Spheres” does not mean a neutral space, but an animated and lived one, the receptacle where we are immersed. There is no life without spheres. Space is the primary experience of existing. Being is “being-in” which must be understood as «the coexistence of something with something in something». Sloterdijk raises the question of “being-in” from the perspective of Trinitarian dogma and the theological reflections ranging from the Cappadocian Fathers to the Middle-Ages.