Citation

Love J. Studies in East European Thought 2018; 70(4): 263-271.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018)

DOI

10.1007/s11212-018-9312-6

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Alexandre Kojève not infrequently claimed that he was a Stalinist. While many have ignored his claim, this paper takes it seriously and outlines several aspects of Kojève's thought that allow one to read Kojève as a philosopher of Stalinism, as one who articulates the self-consciousness of Stalinism. These aspects are three: (1) Kojève's association of finality and freedom with the overcoming of individuality; (2) the attempt to achieve finality and freedom so defined in the universal homogeneous state, and (3) the structure of that state as an essentially juridical administrative system. The question remains, however, whether one can truly overcome individuality while one is still living, the conflict between individual material existence and the overarching state being irresolvable. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Freedom; Individuality; Universal; Alexander Kojève; Homogeneous; Humanity; Stalin/Stalinism