This is the first systematic reconstruction of the rich conversations between French philosopher Alexandre Kojeve and leading Jesuit theologian Gaston Fessard. Kojeve 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 Kojeve 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 Kojeve 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 Kojeve 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.

Autorentext
Isabel Jacobs is completing her PhD in Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University of London, UK. As a Fellow at the German Center for Art History in Paris, she worked extensively with Kojève's manuscripts and photographs at the Bibliothèque nationale. Jacob Saliba holds an MA in Political Philosophy from Boston College, USA. His writing on
philosophy, Catholicism, and French history have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy, Marcel Studies, and European History Quarterly.

Klappentext

For the first time in English, this volume brings together the writings, lectures, and correspondence of Alexandre Kojève (1902-1968) and Gaston Fessard, S.J. (1897-1978), two of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century French thought.

Kojève is widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophers in France, with his famous Hegel seminars of the 1930s shaping an entire generation of intellectuals, including Georges Bataille, Jacques Lacan, and Raymond Aron. Among his closest interlocutors was Fessard, a leading Jesuit theologian, whose work, though little known in the Anglophone world, revolutionized the study of Hegel, Marx, and Christianity.

Authority, History and Political Theology presents many rare documents exchanged between Kojève and Fessard over the course of their friendship, spanning from the early 1930s until Kojève's death in 1968. These texts show how each thinker grappled with pressing questions around historical progress, authority, freedom, revolution, and law. Their debate sheds light not only on the ideological and religious crises of their own time but also on the broader tensions between theology and secular modernity.

Including reviews, lectures, letters, and unpublished essays, alongside an editorial introduction, the volume situates the Kojève-Fessard exchange at the intersection of Hegelian philosophy, theology, and politics. It shows how two readers of Hegel-one an atheist philosopher, the other a Jesuit theologian-challenge how we think about political life, religion, and the meaning of history today. Part of Bloomsbury's Political Theologies series, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of political theology, modern European philosophy, social theory, intellectual history, and readers interested in the entanglement of politics and religion.

Inhalt

1. Introduction
   Part One: Book Reviews and Essays
   
   2. Gaston Fessard, "Mystery of Society and History" (ca. 1930s)
   3. Alexandre Kojève, "Review of two books by Fessard" (1936/1937)
   4. Alexandre Kojève, "Christianity and Communism" (1946)
   5. Alexandre Kojève, "Hegel, Marx and Christianity" (1946)
   6. Gaston Fessard, "Two Interpreters of Hegel's Phenomenology: Jean Hyppolite and Alexandre Kojève" (1947)
      Part Two: Lectures
   7. Gaston Fessard, "Revolution and Persecution: Principles of a Political Decision" (1938)
   8. Gaston Fessard, "Hegel" (1948)
   9. Gaston Fessard, "Presentation to Kojève's Lecture at Chantilly" (1965)
   10. Alexandre Kojève, "Structure and History of Philosophy" (1965)
       Part Three: Letters, Correspondence, and Personal Commentaries
   11. 24 letters between Kojève and the Jesuits, from the mid-1920s to 1968