Overview

A fresh and vivid reappraisal of one of the most influential intellects of the modern era   Alexandre KojÈve is one of the twentieth century’s most seductive and intriguing figures. A product of the Russian merchant bourgeoisie, he became, depending on one’s point of view, either an overzealous bureaucrat or a secret agent who infiltrated the upper echelons of French state bureaucracy, spending the last twenty years of his life working in international diplomacy and high finance. Marco Filoni describes each facet of KojÈve’s different lives in crystalline detail: the cultural circles of his youth, his studies, his philosophical passions, his fundamental theoretical choices, and his intellectual network, as well as the students who would become part of the intellectual elite, including Lacan, Bataille, and Merleau-Ponty. Drawing on rich archival material, unpublished texts, correspondence, and written and oral testimonies, The Life and Thought of Alexandre KojÈve is a major benchmark for scholars of KojÈve and of twentieth-century intellectual and political history. Filoni paints a vibrant portrait of one of the most influential intellectuals of the modern era, deftly composing KojÈve’s personal, political, and philosophical lives.

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9780810148789

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Reviews

""For decades, Alexandre Kojève--the Russian-born philosopher of mastery and recognition, the French diplomat, the spy, prophet, and photographer of the end of history--has entranced and mystified intellectuals of the Left and the Right. In this towering biography, Marco Filoni sets the discussion of Kojève on entirely new ground, making radiant sense of his complex life, thought, and influence."" --Stefanos Geroulanos, New York University

Author Information

Marco Filoni is an associate professor of political philosophy at Link Campus University, Rome.   David Broder is a historian of French and Italian communism, as well as a writer and translator.

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