severed head, n.All

The Severed head (n.) gets ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its symbolic quality not from Hegelian negativity or the impersonal death of the philosophers but from the mimetic contagion of collective murder.

The Severed head (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a philosophical scandal: in the prophet's head each guest sees his own scandal, the object of his own desire and hatred.