Khôra

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Khôra is a philosophical term described by Plato in Timaeus as a receptacle, a space, or an interval. It is neither being nor nonbeing but an interval between in which the “forms” were originally held. Khôra "gives space" and has maternal overtones (a womb, matrix).

Key authors addressing "khôra" include Heidegger who refers to a "clearing" in which being happens or takes place (El-Bizri, 2004). More recently, Jacques Derrida uses "khôra" to name a radical otherness that "gives place" for being. For Derrida, "khôra" defies attempts at naming or either/or logic which he attempts to "deconstruct" (see deconstruction).

Following Derrida, John Caputo describes khôra as:

"neither present nor absent,active or passive, the good nor evil, living nor nonliving - but rather atheological and nonhuman - khôra is not even a receptacle. Khôra has no meaning or essence, no identity to fall back upon. She/it receives all without becoming anything, which is why she/it can become the subject of neither a philosopheme nor mytheme. In short, the khôra is tout autre [fully other], very”^[1]

References

• Derrida, J. (1995). "Khôra". in T. Dutoit. On the Name. Stanford: Stanford University Press.  Translation of Derrida, Jacques 1993: Khôra. Paris: Galilée.
• Caputo, J. D. (2004). "Love among the Deconsructibles: A Response to Gregg Lambert"". JCRT 5 (2): 37ff. http://www.jcrt.org/archives/05.2/caputo.pdf. 
• El-Bizri, N. "‘Qui-êtes vous Khôra?’: Receiving Plato’s Timaeus," Existentia Meletai-Sophias, Vol. XI, Issue 3-4 (2001), pp. 473-490
• El-Bizri, N. "ON KAI KHORA: Situating Heidegger between the Sophist and the Timaeus," Studia Phaenomenologica, Vol. IV, Issue 1-2 (2004), pp. 73-98.
• El-Bizri, N. "Ontopoiēsis and the Interpretation of Plato’s Khôra," Analecta Husserliana: The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research, Vol. LXXXIII (2004), pp. 25-45.

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