Responsible Suspension and the Persistence of Subjectivity: Toward an Ontology of Endurance

AbstractContemporary social and political philosophy has extensively examined the constitution, alienation, acceleration, exhaustion, and fragmentation of the subject. However, a fundamental question remains insufficiently addressed: how does subjectivity persist under conditions of uncertainty, transformation, and structural pressure? This article argues that Responsible Suspension constitutes a distinct ontological principle capable of explaining the continuity of subjectivity without appealing either to metaphysical essences or to deterministic social constructions. Through a critical engagement with the works of Foucault, Derrida, Rosa, Han, and existential phenomenology, the paper develops a theoretical framework centered on Responsible Suspension, the Sufficiency Threshold, Dynamic Masking, and Productive Destruction. Together these concepts form a unified account of subjective endurance in late modernity.Keywords: Responsible Suspension, Subjectivity, Ontology, Identity, Late Modernity, Dynamic Mask, Productive Destruction