Serious Subjects: on Values, Time, and Death

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a phenomenology of seriousness after the Mexican philosopher Jorge Portilla. Thought about as an intentional relation between a subject and values (or rules), seriousness is represented in subjective behavior as commitment, loyalty, and adherence to values (or rules). We consider the displacement of that commitment via disruptions that invert values. Following Portilla, we refer to these displacements as relajo. We also consider the relationship between seriousness and freedom and seriousness and liberation. With Portilla, we reflect on the example of punctuality. For the serious subject, punctuality is a significant value, and its realization (being punctual) demands the greatest commitment. Of course, can one ever be punctual? Our reflections on punctuality lead us to the idea that death is the absolute fulfillment of a serious commitment to punctuality, as being absolutely on time is to be incapable of being late, an incapacity that only death can make possible.