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OUT NOW THE NOTION OF AUTHORITY By ALEXANDRE KOJEVE Translated by Hager Weslati Landmark analysis of authority written in Nazi-occupied France http://www.versobooks.com/books/1431-the-notion-of-authority ------------ In THE NOTION OF AUTHORITY, written in the 1940s in Nazi-occupied France, ALEXANDRE KOJEVE uncovers the conceptual premises of four primary models of authority, examining the practical application of their derivative variations from the Enlightenment to Vichy France. This foundational text, translated here into English for the first time, is the missing piece in any discussion of sovereignty and political authority, worthy of a place alongside the work of Weber, Arendt, Schmitt, Agamben or Dumezil. THE NOTION OF AUTHORITY is a short and sophisticated introduction to KOJEVE's philosophy of right. It captures its author's intellectual interests at a time when he was retiring from the career of a professional philosopher and was about to become one of the pioneers of the Common Market and the idea of the European Union. ------------ ALEXANDRE KOJEVE (1902-68) was one of the key figures of twentieth-century philosophy. He is most widely known for his lectures on Hegel, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel, which shaped a generation of French intellectuals. Other titles in English include Outline of a Phenomenology of Right and The Concept, Time, and Discourse. ------------ "Kojeve was a magician of thought ... undoubtedly, he was the inventor of the last grand narrative of philosophy and history, of which the neo-conservative ideologue Fukuyama was but a mediocre imitator."?- Pierre Macherey "Kojeve's lectures made a deep impression on his listeners - to more various and influential effect than probably any others in France this century"?- Perry Anderson "Kojeve spoke of Hegel's religious philosophy, the phenomenology of Spirit, master and slave, the struggle for prestige, the in-itself, the for-itself, nothingness, projects, the human essence as revealed in the struggle onto death and in the transformation of error into truth. Strange theses for a world beleaguered by fascism!"?- Louis Althusser "Alexandre Kojeve's originality and courage, it must be said, is to have perceived the impossibility of going any further, the necessity, consequently, of renouncing the creation of an original philosophy and, thereby, the interminable starting-over which is the avowal of the vanity of thought."?- Georges Bataille "A brilliant Russian emigre who taught a highly influential series of seminars in Paris. Kojeve had a major impact on the intellectual life of the continent. Among his students ranged such future luminaries as Jean-Paul Sartre and Raymond Aron."?- Francis Fukuyama ------------- HARDBACK: AUGUST 2014 / 144 pages / ISBN: 9781781680957 / $24.95 / £14.99 /$28.95 (Canada) ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK: http://www.versobooks.com/books/1431-the-notion-of-authority THE NOTION OF AUTHORITY is also available at a 30% discount (hardback) and a 50% discount (ebook) on our website, with free shipping and bundled ebook. Purchasing details here: http://www.versobooks.com/books/1431-the-notion-of-authority For more information on university inspection/desk copies visit: http://www.versobooks.com/pg/desk-copies ----------- Visit Verso's website for information on our upcoming events, new reviews and publications and special offers: http://www.versobooks.com Sign up for the Verso mailing list: https://www.versobooks.com/users/sign_up Follow us online: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VersoBks Twitter: http://twitter.com/VersoBooks Instagram: http://instagram.com/versobooks Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/18970808-verso-books