Two
The Machine of Political Theology and the Place of Thought
Published on 1. September 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
248 pages
978-0-8232-6762-0 (ISBN)
Description
The debate on "political theology" that ran throughout the twentieth century has reached its end, but the ultimate meaning of the notion continues to evade us. Despite all the attempts to resolve the issue, we still speak its language-we remain in its horizon.
The reason for this, says Roberto Esposito, lies in the fact that political theology is neither a concept nor an event; rather, it is the pivot around which the machine of Western civilization has revolved for more than 2,000 years. At its heart stands the juncture between universalism and exclusion, unity and separation: the tendency of the Two to make itself into One by subordinating one part to the domination of the other. All the philosophical and political categories that we use, starting with the Roman and Christian notion of "the person," continue to reproduce this exclusionary dispositif.
To take our departure from political theology, then-the task of contemporary philosophy-we must radically revise our conceptual lexicon. Only when thought has been returned to its rightful "place"-connected to the human species as a whole rather than to individuals-will we be able to escape from the machine that has
imprisoned our lives for far too long.
The reason for this, says Roberto Esposito, lies in the fact that political theology is neither a concept nor an event; rather, it is the pivot around which the machine of Western civilization has revolved for more than 2,000 years. At its heart stands the juncture between universalism and exclusion, unity and separation: the tendency of the Two to make itself into One by subordinating one part to the domination of the other. All the philosophical and political categories that we use, starting with the Roman and Christian notion of "the person," continue to reproduce this exclusionary dispositif.
To take our departure from political theology, then-the task of contemporary philosophy-we must radically revise our conceptual lexicon. Only when thought has been returned to its rightful "place"-connected to the human species as a whole rather than to individuals-will we be able to escape from the machine that has
imprisoned our lives for far too long.
Reviews / Votes
"Two is a tour-de-force by Roberto Esposito: an attempt to grasp the phenomenon of political theology, from its origins in Roman jurisprudence and Christian theology, all the way up to the twentieth-century debate on this theme." -- -Miguel Vatter University of New South Wales "With his usual genealogical acumen, in Two, Esposito makes a very significant contribution to the dismantling of what he identifies as the hierarchical dispositive of Western civilization as such: political theology. Philosophy can and must develop a new conceptual lexicon able to overcome the forgetting of the Two within the One. What is here ultimately at stake is an ambitious redefinition of thought as impersonally applicable to the human species, rather than to individuals. This book is indispensable reading for anybody interested in biopolitics and the future of critique at large." -- -Lorenzo Chiesa Director of the Genoa School of Humanities "This work, beautifully translated by Zakiya Hanafi, shows how professor Esposito's thought is developing from his groundbreaking earlier work on community and immunity. This book will be a welcome and important contribution to students of the history of biopolitics, continental philosophers, historians of ideas, and political theorists." -- -Jonathon Short York UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
339 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8232-6762-0 (9780823267620)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2015
1st Edition
Fordham University Press
€27.99
Available for download
E-Book
09/2015
1st Edition
Fordham University Press
€34.49
Available for download
Persons
Roberto Esposito is Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa. His many books in English include Bios: Biopolitics and Philosophy and Two: The Machine of Political Theology and the Place of Thought (Fordham).
Content
Introduction Passage: Gestell 1. Machination Passage: Katechon 2. The dispositif of the person Passage: Nexum (economic theology I) 3. The Place of Thought Passage: Sovereign debt (economic theology II) Index