Alexandre Kojève (born Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov; 28 April 1902 – 4 June 1968) was a Russian-born French philosopher and international

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

whose philosophical seminars had some influence on 20th-century French philosophy, particularly via his integration of

Hegelian Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and the ...

concepts into twentieth-century

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...

Life

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov was born in the Russian Empire to a wealthy and influential family. His uncle was the abstract artist

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

, about whose work he would write an influential essay in 1936. He was educated at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, both in Germany. In Heidelberg, he completed in 1926 his PhD thesis on the Russian religious philosopher Vladimir Soloviev's views on the union of God and man in Christ under the direction of

Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (; ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. His 1913 work ''General Psychopathology'' influenced many ...

. The title of his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was ''Die religiöse Philosophie Wladimir Solowjews'' (''The Religious Philosophy of Vladimir Soloviev''). Early influences included the philosopher

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

and the historian of science

Alexandre Koyré Alexandre Koyré (; ; born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra; 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964), also anglicized as Alexander Koyre, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science. ...

. Kojève spent most of his life in France and from 1933 to 1939 delivered in Paris a series of lectures on

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

's work ''

Phenomenology of Spirit ''The Phenomenology of Spirit'' (or ''The Phenomenology of Mind''; ) is the most consequential philosophical work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel described the 1807 work, a ladder to the greater philosophical system of the '' Encyclopaed ...

''. After the Second World War, Kojève worked in the French Ministry of Economic Affairs as one of the chief planners to form the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. Kojève studied and used

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, Chinese, Tibetan, Latin and

Classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

. He was also fluent in French, German, Russian and English. Kojève died in 1968, shortly after giving a talk to civil servants and state representatives for the European Economic Community (now the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

) in Brussels on behalf of the French government.

Philosophy

Hegel lectures

Although not an orthodox

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

, Kołakowski, Leszek. ''Main Currents of Marxism''. Trans. P. S. Falla. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2005. . p. 929. Kojève was known as an influential and idiosyncratic interpreter of Hegel, reading him through the lens of both

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

. The well-known

end of history The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human go ...

thesis advanced the idea that

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

history in a limited sense had ended with the French Revolution and the regime of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and that there was no longer a need for violent struggle to establish the "rational supremacy of the regime of rights and equal recognition". Kojève's end of history is different from

Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, and international relations scholar, best known for his book '' The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992). In this work he argues th ...

's later thesis of the same name in that it points as much to a socialist-capitalist synthesis as to a triumph of liberal capitalism. Kojève's lectures on Hegel were collected, edited and published by Raymond Aron in 1947, and published in abridged form in English in the now classic '' Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit''. His interpretation of Hegel has been one of the most influential of the past century. His lectures were attended by a small but influential group of intellectuals including

Raymond Queneau Raymond Auguste Queneau (; ; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo (), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau, the only child of Auguste Que ...

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 8 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...

Maurice Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. ( ; ; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interes ...

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his ...

Michel Leiris Julien Michel Leiris (; 20 April 1901, Paris – 30 September 1990, Saint-Hilaire, Essonne) was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer. Part of the Surrealist group in Paris, Leiris became a key member of the College of Sociology with Geor ...

Henry Corbin Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978) was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was influential in extending the modern study of traditional Islami ...

and Éric Weil. His interpretation of the master–slave dialectic was an important influence on

mirror stage The mirror stage () is a concept in the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan. The mirror stage is based on the belief that infants recognize themselves in a mirror (literal) or other symbolic contraption which induces apperception (the turning ...

theory. Other French thinkers who have acknowledged his influence on their thought include the

post-structuralist Post-structuralism is a philosophical movement that questions the objectivity or stability of the various interpretive structures that are posited by structuralism and considers them to be constituted by broader systems of Power (social and poli ...

philosophers

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

and

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida;Peeters (2013), pp. 12–13. See also 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French Algerian philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, ...

Friendship with Leo Strauss

Kojève had a close and lifelong friendship with

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was an American scholar of political philosophy. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students an ...

which began when they were philosophy students in Berlin. The two shared a deep philosophical respect for each other. Kojève would later write that he "never would have known ..what philosophy is" without Strauss. In the 1930s, the two began a debate on the relation of philosophy to politics that would come to fruition with Kojève's response to Strauss' ''On Tyranny''. Kojève, a senior statesman in the French government, argued that philosophers should have an active part in shaping political events. On the other hand, Strauss believed that philosophy and politics were fundamentally opposed and that philosophers should not have a substantial role in politics, noting the disastrous results of Plato in Syracuse. Philosophers should influence politics only to the extent that they can ensure that philosophical contemplation remains free from the seduction and coercion of power. In spite of this debate, Strauss and Kojève remained friendly. In fact, Strauss would send his best students to Paris to finish their education under Kojève's personal guidance. Among these were

Allan Bloom Allan David Bloom (September 14, 1930 – October 7, 1992) was an American philosopher, classicist, and academician. He studied under David Grene, Leo Strauss, Richard McKeon, and Alexandre Kojève. He subsequently taught at Cornell Un ...

, who endeavored to make Kojève's works available in English and published the first edition of Kojève's lectures in English, and Stanley Rosen.

Political views

Marxism

According to his own account shortly before his death, Kojève was a communist from youth, and was enthusiastic regarding Bolshevik revolution. However, he "knew that the establishment of communism meant thirty terrible years.", so he ran away. From now on, he once claimed in his letter to Tran Duc Thao, dated October 7, 1948, that his "... course was essentially a work of propaganda intended to strike people's minds. This is why I consciously reinforced the role of the dialectic of Master and Slave and, in general, schematized the content of phenomenology." His articles from 1920s, talked positively about the USSR, saw it as something developing new. In an article to magazine Yevraziya, a left Eurasianist journal, he praised the CPSU's struggle against bourgeois philosophy, arguing that it would lead to something new, whether one calls it proletarian or not:

Mark Lilla Mark Lilla (born 1956) is an American political scientist, historian of ideas, journalist, and professor of humanities at Columbia University in New York City. A self-described liberal, he typically, though not always, presents views from that p ...

notes that Kojève rejected the prevailing concept among some European

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

s of the 1930s that

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

were failed artifacts of

the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...

that would be destroyed by either

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. While initially somewhat more sympathetic to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

than the United States, Kojève devoted much of his thought to protecting western European autonomy, particularly relating to France, from domination by either the Soviet Union or the United States. He believed that the capitalist United States represented right-Hegelianism while the state-socialist Soviet Union represented left-Hegelianism. Thus, victory by either side, he posited, would result in what Lilla describes as "a rationally organized

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

without class distinctions".

Stalin and the Soviet Union

Kojève's views of Stalin, while changing after World War II, were positive. Kojève's interest in Stalin, however, might have been continued, whether positive or negative, after World War II. According to

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

, a contemporary of Kojève and his friend, during their meeting in Paris c. 1946-1947, they talked about Stalin and the USSR. Berlin comments on his relations with Stalin, saying "(...) Kojéve was an ingenious thinker and imagined that Stalin was one too. (...) He said that he wrote to Stalin, but received no reply. I think that perhaps he identified himself with Hegel, and Stalin with Napoleon. (...)" The most important result of this era was Kojève's work addressed to Stalin, ''Sofia, filo-sofia i fenomeno-logia'' ('' Sophia, Philo-sophy and Phenomeno-logy''), a manuscript of more than 900 pages that was penned between 1940 and 1941. In that manuscript, according to Boris Groys, Kojève defended his thesis that the "universal and homogeneous state in which the Sage can emerge and live is none other than Communism" and "scientific Communism of Marx–Lenin–Stalin is an attempt to expand the philosophical project to its ultimate historical and social borders". According to Groys, "Kojève sees the end of history as the moment of the spread of wisdom through the whole population – the democratization of wisdom; a universalization that leads to homogenization. He believes that the Soviet Union moves towards the society of wise men in which every member will have self-consciousness." According to Weslati, several versions of ''Sofia'', including a typesetted copy, had been completed in the first week of March 1941, and one of them was given to Soviet vice consul in person by Kojève. Soviet consul "... promised to send the letter with the next diplomatic bag to Moscow." However, " ss than three months later, the embassy and its contents would be put to the torch by Nazi troops." It's not known whether Kojève's work had reached the USSR or was burned with the embassy. In 1999, ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' published an article reporting that a French intelligence document showed that Kojève had spied for the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

for over thirty years. Although Kojève often claimed to be a

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

, he largely regarded the Soviet Union with contempt, calling its social policies disastrous and its claims to be a truly classless state ludicrous. Kojève's cynicism towards traditional Marxism as an outmoded philosophy in industrially well-developed

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

nations prompted him to go as far as idiosyncratically referring to capitalist

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

as "the one great authentic Marxist of the twentieth century".Nichols, James H. ''Alexandre Kojève: Wisdom at the End of History''. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. , . p. 90. He specifically and repeatedly called the Soviet Union the only country in which 19th-century capitalism still existed. His Stalinism was quite ironic, but he was serious about Stalinism to the extent that he regarded the utopia of the Soviet Union under Stalin and the willingness to purge unsupportive elements in the population as evidence of a desire to bring about the end of history and as a repetition of the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

of the French Revolution.

Kojève and Zionism

According to

, Kojève was not fond of the idea of a state of Israel. Berlin's several different accounts, like the ones published in the Jewish Chronicle in 1973, in The Jerusalem Report in October 1990, and in his interview with Ramin Jahanbegloo in 1991 (also published as a book), are about his meeting with Kojève. According to the 1973 account, "ten years ago or more" he was "dining in Paris with a distinguished historian of philosophy who was also a high official of the French Government", namely, Kojève. 1990 account also records that they were talking in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. While talking, the issue of Israel and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

was also discussed. Kojève, who "was plainly taken aback" at Berlin's defence of Zionism, asked Berlin: In return, according to the interview with Jahanbegloo, Berlin replied: "For the Jews to be like Albania constitutes progress. Some 600,000 Jews in Romania were trapped like sheep to be slaughtered by the Nazis and their local allies. A good many escaped. But 600,000 Jews in Palestine did not leave because Rommel was at their door. That is the difference. They considered Palestine to be their own country, and if they had to die, they would die not like trapped animals, but for their country." "We reached no agreement.", records Berlin.

Critics

In a commentary on

's ''

The End of History and the Last Man ''The End of History and the Last Man'' is a 1992 book of political philosophy by American political scientist Francis Fukuyama which argues that with the ascendancy of Western liberal democracy—which occurred after the Cold War (1945–1991) ...

'', the traditionalist conservative thinker

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...

calls Kojève "a life-hating Russian at heart, a self-declared Stalinist, and a

who played a leading behind-the-scenes role in establishing both the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its p ...

and the

" and states his opinion that Kojève was "a dangerous

psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

His works

Kojève's correspondence with

has been published along with Kojève's critique of Strauss's commentary on

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

's '' Hiero''.. In the 1950s, Kojève also met the rightist legal theorist

Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...

, whose "Concept of the Political" he had implicitly criticized in his analysis of Hegel's text on "Lordship and Bondage". Another close friend was the Jesuit Hegelian philosopher Gaston Fessard, whom with also had correspondence. In addition to his lectures on the ''Phenomenology of Spirit'', Kojève's other publications include a little noticed book on

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

and articles on the relationship between

and Marxist thought and Christianity. His 1943 book ''Esquisse d'une phenomenologie du droit'', published posthumously in 1981, elaborates a theory of justice that contrasts the aristocratic and bourgeois views of the right. ''Le Concept, le temps et le discours'' extrapolates on the Hegelian notion that wisdom only becomes possible in the fullness of time. Kojève's response to Strauss, who disputed this notion, can be found in Kojève's article "The Emperor Julian and his Art of Writing".Published in , as well as in the above-mentioned edition of Strauss's ''On Tyranny.'' Kojève also challenged Strauss' interpretation of the classics in the voluminous ''Esquisse d'une histoire raisonnée de la pensée païenne'' which covers the

pre-Socratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of the ...

philosophers,

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

, as well as

Neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

. While the first volume of the previous work was still published during his life-time, most of his writings remained unpublished until recently. These are becoming the subject of increased scholarly attention. The books that have so far been published are the two remaining volumes of the ''Esquisse d'une histoire raisonnée de la pensée païenne'' (1972, 1973

952 Year 952 (Roman numerals, CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I (Holy Roman ...

, ''Outline of a Phenomenology of Right'' (1981 943, ''L'idée du déterminisme dans la physique classique et dans la physique moderne'' (1990

932 Year 932 (Roman numerals, CMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Alberic II of Spoleto, Alberic II leads an uprising at Rome against his stepfather Hugh of Italy, Hu ...

, ''Le Concept, le Temps et Le Discours'' (1990

, ''L'Athéisme'' (1998

931 Year 931 ( CMXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place North Africa * The Ummayad Caliphate of Córdoba invades and conquers the city of Ceuta, which was ruled by the Berber dynasty Banu I ...

, ''The Notion of Authority'' (2004

942 Year 942 (Roman numerals, CMXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – The Hungarian raid in Spain (942), Hungarians invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and besiege the f ...

, and ''Identité et Réalité dans le "Dictionnaire" de Pierre Bayle'' (2010

937 Year 937 ( CMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southwards to Italy, pillaging the environs of ...

. Several of his shorter texts are also gathering greater attention and some are being published in book form as well.

Bibliography

Books

* Alexander Koschewnikoff, ''Die religiöse Philosophie Wladimir Solowjews''. Heidelberg Univ., Dissertation 1926.
Online
* Alexander Koschewnikoff, ''Die Geschichtsphilosophie Wladimir Solowjews (Sonderabdruck)''. Verlag von Friedrich Cohen. 1st Ed., 1930. Bonn.
Offprint of an article he penned (see below section). * Alexandre Kojève, '' Introduction à la Lecture de Hegel''. Paris, Gallimard, 1947. ** Alexandre Kojève (ed.

, transl. James H. Nichols, Jr.), ''Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit''. Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. 1st Ed., 1969. New York-London. / Cornell University Press. 1980. Ithaca.
An abridged translation edited by Allan Bloom, roughly half of the original book. According to the translator's note: "The present translation includes slightly under one half of the original volume: the pasages translated correspond to pp. 9-34, 161-195, 265-267, 271-291, 336-380, 427-443, 447-528, and 576-597 of the French text." (p. XIII) ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Joseph J. Carpino), ''The idea of death in the philosophy of Hegel''. Interpretation: a journal of political philosophy. Winter 1973. Vol.: 3. No.: 2-3. Pages: 114-156.
Includes the complete text of the last two lectures of the academic year 1933-1934, published in French text as an appendix named ''L'idée de la mort dans la philosophie de Hegel'' (pp. 527–573). ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Ian Alexander Moore), ''Interpretation of the general introduction to chapter VII he religion chapter of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit'. Parrhesia: A Journal of Critical Philosophy. 2014. No.: 20. Pages: 15-39
Online

Includes the fourth and fifth lectures of the academic year 1937-1938. * Alexandre Kojève, ''Essai d'une histoire raisonée de la philosophie païenne''. Tome 1–3 (Vol.: 1 968 Vol.: 2 972 Vol.: 3

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias ( Domestic of the Schools in the East), continues the op ...

. Gallimard. Paris. 1968-1973 997 * Alexandre Kojève, ''Kant''. Gallimard. 1st Ed., 1973. Paris. ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Hager Weslati), ''Kant''. Verso. 1st Ed., 2025. o be published* Alexandre Kojève, ''Esquisse d'une phénoménologie du Droit'' 943 Gallimard. Paris. 1982. ** Alexandre Kojève (ed. Bryan-Paul Frost, transl. Bryan-Paul Frost and Robert Howse), ''Outline of a Phenomenology of Right'', Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000. * Alexandre Kojève and Auffret D., ''L'idée du determinisme dans la physique classique et dans la physique moderne''. Paris, 1990. ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Robert B. Williamson), ''The Idea of Determinism''. St. Augustine's Press, South Bend IN, 2025 o be published * Alexandre Kojève, ''Le concept, le temps et le discours''. Paris, 1991. ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Robert B. Williamson), ''The Concept, Time and Discourse''. St. Augustine's Press, South Bend IN, 2013. * Alexandre Kojève, ''L'empereur Julien et son art d'écrire''. Paris, 1997. * Alexandre Kojève (transl. Nina Ivanoff and Laurent Bibard, ed. Laurent Bibard), ''L'athéisme''. Gallimard. 1st Ed., 1998. Paris. ** Александр Кожев (Пер. с фр. А.М. Руткевича), ''Атеизм и другие работы''. Праксис. 1st Ed., 2006. Moscow.
Includes the original Russian text and his several other writings (translated by A. M. Rutkevich): ''Descartes and Buddha'' (1920), ''The Religious Metaphysics of Vladimir Solovyov'' (1934-1935) ''Kandinsky's Concrete (Objective) Painting'' (1936), ''An Essay on the Phenomenology of Law: Chapter 1'' (1943), ''Tyranny and Wisdom'' (1954), ''Colonialism from a European Point of View'' (1957), ''Moscow, August 1957'' (1957) and ''The Christian Origin of Science'' (1964) * Alexandre Kojève, ''Les peintures concrètes de Kandinsky'' 936 La Lettre volée. 1st Ed., 2002. Paris. * Alexandre Kojève, ''La notion d'autorité''

Gallimard. 1st Ed., 2004. Paris. ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Hager Weslati), ''The Notion of Authority''. Verso. 1st Ed., 2014. London-New York. * Alexandre Kojève, ''Identité et Réalité dans le «Dictionnaire» de Pierre Bayle'' 936-1937 Gallimard. 1st Ed., 2010. Paris. * Alexandre Kojève, ''Oltre la fenomenologia. Recensioni (1932-1937)'', Italian Translation by Giampiero Chivilò, «I volti», n. 68, Mimesis, Udine-Milano, 2012. . * Alexandre Kojève, ''Sophia, tome I : Philosophie et phénoménologie'' 940-1941 Gallimard. 2025. o be published

Articles, chapters, speeches

* Alexandre Kojève, ''Die Geschichtsphilosophie Wladimir Solowjews''. Der Russische Gedanke. 1930. Jahrg.: I. Heft: 3. Pages: 305-324.
A short article based on the dissertation. * Alexandre Kojevnikoff, ''La métaphysique religieuse de Vladimir Soloviev''. Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie religieuses. Novembre-décembre 1934. Année: 14. № 6.
Online

Alexandre Kojevnikoff, ''La métaphysique religieuse de Vladimir Soloviev (suite et fin)''. Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie religieuses. Janvier-avril 1935. Année: 15. № 1-2.
Online

Famous two parts article based on the dissertation. ** Alexandre Kojève (transll. Ilya Merlin, Mikhail Pozdniakov), ''The Religious Metaphysics of Vladimir Solovyov''.

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

. 1st Ed., 2018. .
Translated from the French edition. * Alexandre Kojève, ''L'origine chrétienne de la science moderne'' 961 in: ''Mélanges Alexandre Koyré: publiés à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire'' (Tome II - « L'aventure de l'esprit »). Hermann. 1st Ed., 1964. Paris. ** Alexandre Kojève, ''The Christian Origin of Modern Science''. The St. John's Review. Winter 1984. Pages: 22-26.
Online
* Alexandre Kojève, ''The Emperor Julian and His Art of Writing''. in: Joseph Cropsey, ''Ancients and Moderns: Essays on the Tradition of Political Philosophy in Honor of Leo Strauss''. Basic Books. 1st Ed., 1964. Pages: 95-113. New York. * Alexandre Kojève, ''Tyranny and Wisdom''. in: Leo Strauss, ''On Tyranny - Revised and Expanded Edition'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 135-176, 2000. * Alexandre Kojève, ''Esquisse d'une doctrine de la politique française'' (27.8.1945). ''La règle du jeu''. Mai 1990. 1re année. № 1. ** Alexandre Kojève (transl. Erik De Vries), ''Outline of a Doctrine of French Policy''. ''Policy Review''. August-September 2004. Pages: 3-40.
Online
* German language lecture given in Düsseldorf on January 16, 1957. It wasn't published during the lifetime of Kojève, although a French translation was circulated. According to De Vries (see below, p. 94) some parts of it were omitted in French. ** Alexandre Kojève, ''Capitalisme et socialisme : Marx est Dieu, Ford est son prophète''. Commentaire. Printemps 1980. Vol.: 3. № 9 (1980/1). Pages: 135-137. ** Alexandre Kojève, ''Du colonialisme au capitalisme donnant''. Commentaire. Automne 1999. Vol.: 21. № 87 (1999/3). Pages: 557-565. ** Alexandre Kojève, ''Le colonialisme dans une perspective européenne''. Philosophie. Septembre 2017. № 135 (2017/4). Pages: 28-40.
Publication of the French text with the added passages from German. ** Alexandre Kojève, ''Düsseldorfer Vortrag: Kolonialismus in europäischer Sicht''. In: Piet Tommissen (Hg.): ''Schmittiana. Beiträge zu Leben und Werk Carl Schmitts''. Band 6, Berlin 1998, pp. 126–143. *** Alexandre Kojève (transl. and comment. Erik De Vries), ''Alexandre Kojève — Carl Schmitt Correspondence and Alexandre Kojève, "Colonialism from a European Perspective"''. ''Interpretation''. Fall 2001. Vol.: 29. No.: 1. Pages: 91–130 iven speech in pp. 115-128

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

''Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: lectures on the phenomenology of spirit''
English text

"The Discursivity of the Negative: Kojève on Language in Hegel" by Daniel J. Selcer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kojeve, Alexander 1902 births 1968 deaths 20th-century atheists 20th-century French philosophers Atheist philosophers European Union Existentialists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Hegelian philosophers Scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Phenomenologists Philosophers of history French political philosophers Hegel scholars