“Ontological Exhaustion”: From Indignation to Resignation and Exhaustion by Marina Christodoulou (Bremen, Germany)

Feb 17 2026 Posted: 12:11 GMT

Discipline of Philosophy Speakers Series presents “Ontological Exhaustion”: From Indignation to Resignation and Exhaustion 

by Marina Christodoulou (Constructor University Bremen, Germany) 

Time:              Tuesday, 17th February @ 1:00-2:30 pm (Lunch will be provided) 

Location:        THB G010 

Abstract: In this talk I will examine the passage from indignation to resignation and its culmination in what I call and conceptualize as "ontological exhaustion". While indignation arises as a moral revolt against injustice, repeated frustration often transforms it into resignation, that is, a passive acceptance that signals the depletion of ethical and political energy. Resignation, in turn, extends into ontological exhaustion, where not only the will to act but even the will to be collapses. By drawing on Plato, Spinoza, and other contemporary thinkers, I argue that resignation is a critical pivot, marking both the failure of indignation and the threshold of possible renewal. 

PreviousNext