Alexandre Kojève

The objective of this project is to write a history of significant currents in contemporary philosophy and political debates, based on an overall innovative interpretation of Alexandre Kojève’s thought, diplomatic activity, and intellectual legacy, which centres around the concept of transnationality.

Kojève has been one of the most inspiring intellectual figures of the past century, whose full significance for post-war thought has hardly been acknowledged yet. He gave a decisive impulse to French and international philosophy through his impactful seminars on Hegel’s “Phenomenology of Spirit” in Paris, bringing for the first time into the limelight such pivotal concepts of present debates as “end of history” and “struggle for recognition”. In addition to this, he played a direct and remarkable role in political history: his post-war activity as a negotiator for the French government had nothing less than a powerful effect in the shaping of European economic institutions.

A thorough scholarly debate on Kojève, including the publication of his huge posthumous work, has only begun in recent years, thus opening a promising research field. However, there exists neither a unified analysis of his philosophy and political engagement, nor a systematic reconstruction of his influence on contemporary philosophy in and outside France. My hypothesis is that both are made possible in terms of Kojève’s long-standing commitment to the overcoming of nation-states into a post- or transnational context. From his reinterpretation of Hegel’s dialectic as the history of European modernity to his late reflections on politics and law, the Russian expatriate Kojève acquires an ever more concrete awareness of the challenge to achieve political freedom at a global scale, without either abstracting from the existence of conflicting states or abandoning the horizon of a transnational rule of law. Thus, Kojève’s philosophical path and the issues at stake in his diplomatic endeavors – Europe’s economic, political and cultural union; the emancipation of poorer countries – illuminate each other, providing a solid and original conceptual framework for international cooperation, which also lies at the core of Kojève’s legacy in contemporary critical theories and political thought. At a time marked by the return of war in Europe and of nation-states on the global scene, investigating Kojève’s views on this topic may provide both an original contribution to the history of philosophy and fresh viewpoints on transnational cooperation.