The Notion of Authority (A Brief Presentation)
2015; Lawrence and Wishart; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2633-8270
Autores Tópico(s)Political Philosophy and Ethics
ResumoAlexandre Kojeve, The Notion of Authority (A Brief Presentation), translated by Hager Weslati London: Verso, 2014; 224pp; ISBN: 978-1781680957Alexandre Kojeve, the Russian-French philosopher, is probably best known in the English-speaking world for his Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on Phenomenology of Spirit (1948). This text and the original lectures on which it is based exercised a significant - and I would argue unfortunate - influence on the development of French thought in the twentieth century. Less well-known in the English-speaking world, however, is Kojeve's social theory - itself heavily dependent on Hegel's philosophy - which is articulated in his The Notion of Authority (1842) and Outline of a Phenomenology of Right (1843). The former - a relatively short, yet still systematic and ambitious work - has just been translated into English for the first time. It may prove to be of interest to scholars of Hegelian thought, twentiethcentury French philosophy, and the problem of authority (including theorists of anarchism).The Notion of Authority is divided into two parts. The first and longer part, entitled 'Analyses', develops Kojeve's theory of authority. The second part, entitled 'Deductions', applies this theory to certain relations and institutions. The first part is preceded by a preface, entitled 'Preliminary Remarks', in which Kojeve provides a very concise outline of the work. The second part is followed by two brief appendices in which two concrete, contemporary cases are considered: the authority of Marshal Petain in Vichy France; and revolutionary authority in the same socio-historical context. We may also note that this new edition contains a helpful introduction from the original French edition by the legal scholar Francois Terre.Kojeve begins his study by stating that his basic (though not sole) interest lies in the very idea or 'essence' of authority (p1) rather than in the origins and transmission of authority. Accordingly, we might say that his basic interest is more philosophical than sociological. Few theories of authority attend to such fundamental philosophical matters, according to Kojeve. What is required, from this point of view, is an analysis of authority that yields a 'general definition' (p7) and a comprehensive taxonomy of each 'particular type of Authority' (p14).The general definition of 'authority' that Kojeve develops and defends is - in its best formulation - the following: 'Authority is the possibility that an agent has of acting on others (or on another) without these others reacting against him, despite being capable [of doing] so' (p8). Authority, then, is a social relation that occurs between an agent and a patient (or, more accurately, another agent who chooses to play the role of patient). It is a social relation in which the authoritative agent may act on the authoritative patient, but does not have to do so. It is also a social relation in which the authoritative patient necessarily refrains from reacting against the authoritative agent (and this supposedly distinguishes authority from 'Right'). With respect to the previous point, Kojeve states that 'one needs to do nothing in order to exert Authority' (p10). But when the authoritative agent acts (performs an 'authoritarian act' (p 8)) - and the authoritative patient chooses not to react 'against' this act (but, say, to react 'in accordance with' it) - the question is: precisely what kind of act is involved? …
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