Wartinger, Gabriel; (2025) Ontological Sovereignty and the Ontology of Suspension. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The deconstruction of metaphysics, whether through Nietzsche’s hammer or Heidegger’s Abbau, has disrupted traditional philosophical frameworks. With gods, humanity, and morality no longer providing transcendental grounding, the risk of violent confrontation through unchecked affirmative force, as in Nietzsche’s Will to Power, becomes pertinent. The destruction of transcendental grounding has thus necessitated a critique that suspends and reconstructs conceptual restraints to address this violent play of forces. This suspension is a contingent attempt to resolve such violence, exemplified by sovereignty, where the absence of foundations results in provisional political grounding. I argue that this ontological suspension requires the continued use of force, whether archaic or interpretative, to sustain its capacity to suspend while simultaneously resisting absolute grounding. This thesis interprets the aporetic harnessing of force as a sovereign gesture that shapes (political) existence. The suspension of foundations and the perpetuation of sovereignty are therefore not mutually exclusive. To question this connection, I examine sovereign modalities in the works of Heidegger, Schmitt, and Bataille, aiming to conceptualise how they construct a sovereign dynamic through an analysis of the forces shaping existential and political realities. Chapter I analyses Heidegger’s notion of Walten (prevailing) to understand ontological sovereignty and how it consolidates and constrains ontological difference. Chapter II evaluates Schmitt’s concept of Ausnahme (exception) as an existential decision perpetuating the context for political becoming. Chapter III assesses Bataille’s notion of dépense (expenditure), arguing that sovereignty is linked not to utility but to servitude within a horizon of excessive force. The sovereign decision becomes a choice between more or less destructive forms of expenditure. Chapter IV synthesises these perspectives, arguing that ontological sovereignty is an existential obligation to actively reshape violent forces. Understanding existence through this process of reshaping leads to an ontology of suspension.

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