This seminar is the first part of an introduction to French political philosophy since 1945. It has three aims: Firstly, we want to get an overview of the rapid development in French political philosophy. Secondly, we want to see what commonalities we can find in the (fervid) disputes between the different theorists: What are the shared themes, concepts or problems from which we can understand the different theories? Thirdly and finally, we will analyse the respective concepts of politics and the respective tasks attributed to political theory as they appear in the thoughts of the different theorists.
Preparatory Reading
Alliez, Éric (2010): What is — Or What is Not — Contemporary French Philosophy, Today? In: Radical Philosophy 2010 (161), 9–18.
Badiou, Alain (2015): Das Abenteuer der französischen Philosophie seit den 1960ern. Übersetzt von Paul Maercker. Wien: Passagen.
Gutting, Gary (2011): Thinking the Impossible. French Philosophy since 1960. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Poster, Mark (1975): Existential Marxism in Postwar France. From Sartre to Althusser. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.