Retreating the Political

"Retreating the Political" presents many of the key issues at the heart of Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy's work. Published here for the first time in English, we see some of the key motifs that have characterized their work: their debt to a Heideggerian pre-understanding of philosophy; the centrality of the "figure" in western philosophy and the totalitarianism of both politics and the political. Through contemporary readings of the political in Freud, Heidegger and Marx they reveal how philosophy relies on the political for its representation and reinvention and how it has done so ever since Socrates' meditation on the polis.

This collection of essays presents, for the first time in English, some of the key essays on the political by Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy. Including several unpublished essays, Retreating the Political offers some highly original perspectives on the relationship between philosophy and the political. Through contemporary readings of the political in Freud, Heidegger and Marx, the authors ask if we can talk of an a priori link between the philosophical and the political; they investigate the significance of the 'figure' - the human being as political subject - in the history of metaphysics; and they inquire how we can 're-treat' the political today in the face of those who argue that philosophy is at an 'end'.

Chapter 1 La panique politique, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 2 The Free Voice of Man, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 3 In the Name of…, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe; Chapter 4 ‘Political’ Seminar, Christopher Fynsk, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe; Chapter 5 Foreword to The Centre for Philosophical Research on the Political, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 6 Opening Address to the Centre for Philosophical Research on the Political, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 7 The ‘Retreat’ of the Political, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 8 Annexe, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 9 ‘Chers Amis’ A Letter on the Closure of the Political, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy; Chapter 10 The Spirit of National Socialism and its Destiny, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe; Chapter 11 ‘What is to be Done?’, Jean-Luc Nancy;

Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy are both Professors of the Faculté de Philosophie, Université des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg and Visiting Professors at the University of California, Berkeley. Their most recent books include Musica Ficta, The Experience of Freedom and The Birth of Presence and have all been translated into English.