Authority, History and Political Theology

This is the first systematic reconstruction of the rich conversations between French philosopher Alexandre Kojève and leading Jesuit theologian Gaston Fessard. Kojève is widely regarded as the one of the most influential secular interpreters of Hegel in France, with his lectures attended by leading intellectuals and high-ranking religious figures. Through those theological connections, Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard completes a rich sense of his Hegelianism and its contribution to political theology. Collected here for the first time in English are the writings, documents and letters that passed between Kojève and Fessard during the fifty years of their intellectual relationship. Shedding new light on the history and development of French political theology, these archival materials bring to life a powerful moment in Western thought when the boundaries between Hegelianism, political theology and the Christian tradition were shifting. The two thinkers exchange reflections on, among other topics, Hegel, Marx and Christianity, the structure and history of philosophy, and one another's lectures and writing. Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard is a rich resource for understanding the ways in which political theology helped to plant the seeds of crucial themes in twentieth-century French thought.