Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

147471

Rule as sovereignty

the universal and homogeneous state

Francis Slade

pp. 159-180

Abstract

Alexandre Kojève introduced the term universal and homogeneous state.4 I appropriate Kojève's term, but understand it somewhat differently. The appropriation acknowledges the felicity of the term as a name for the political phenomenon characteristic of modernity, a form of political mobilization which, progressively, is to be found everywhere and is the same everywhere it is found. This political phenomenon is rooted in the concept of sovereignty, the creation of modern political philosophy. By universal and homogeneous state I mean rule emptied of any specifically human identity, therefore, among other things, indifferent to natural and concrete forms of human community as well as to virtue and vice, the extremes of the spectrum within which human life takes place.

Publication details

Published in:

Drummond John, Hart James G (1996) The truthful and the good: essays in honor of Robert Sokolowski. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 159-180

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-1724-8_11

Full citation:

Slade Francis (1996) „Rule as sovereignty: the universal and homogeneous state“, In: J. Drummond & J.G. Hart (eds.), The truthful and the good, Dordrecht, Springer, 159–180.