Plato's dialogues stand at a transition from orality to literacy. They are living contradictions-partly oral and partly literary. This relationship between orality and writing is one of the most vexed issues in the history of Platonic interpretation and has particular relevance for the progressive erosion of literacy in favour of digitalisation today. This book argues that the relationship between the oral and the written in Plato's dialogues is not a straightforward opposition, but is instead grounded in ontological analysis and exemplified (...) by the ontology of the image, which appears throughout the Platonic canon. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:The Realm of Mimesis in Plato: Orality, Writing, and the Ontology of the Image by Mariangela EspositoDoug Al-MainiESPOSITO, Mariangela. The Realm of Mimesis in Plato: Orality, Writing, and the Ontology of the Image. Boston: Brill, 2023. xiv + 173 pp. Cloth, $143.00This manuscript grew out of the author’s original interest in Platonic aesthetics, itself developing into a more particularized examination of Plato’s account of beauty. Plato’s (...) interest in the arts is famously bound up in a broad criticism of their imitative nature; the relation between the original and the imitation, or the eidos and the eidolon, is the core topic of this book. When this binary nature of mimesis is emphasized, it is difficult not to see the two poles as opposed to each other, and indeed there are several passages in the Platonic corpus that tell us directly to value the eidos over the eidolon. “The critique of the arts, in general terms, is based on the assumption that they produce multiple, false, sensorial images (eidola ) that are far removed from the truth, while the truth is a process through which multiplicities are gathered together into an intellectual unity (eidos).” While this duality shows up in the dialogues in numerous ways, Esposito seeks to show a method that transcends it, a method that depends on the experience of [End Page 347] beauty. Beauty is the entity that allows for a transition from the sensual to the intellectual, a point Plato makes in both the Symposium and the Phaedrus, and thereby supports the view that the binary pair of image and original are not so discrete as we might originally believe.Esposito’s analysis of the relation between image and original is made concrete through its application to writing and speech. The book is divided into an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion that track the progress of our ascent to the eidos, with the first chapter devoted to Plato’s critique of writing, the second to the critique of speech, and the third to an analysis of how beauty facilitates going beyond their opposition. The main sources for the critique of writing are the Phaedrus and the Seventh Letter; Socrates in the Phaedrus explicitly declares writing to be an imitation of speech and the Seventh Letter supports this position. Esposito follows Derrida’s famous essay, Plato’s Pharmacy, stating, “In Derrida’s account of the Phaedrus, this is the main charge against the written word: first, it imitates the original, and then—its second crime—substitutes itself for the original.” The ability of the copy to substitute itself for the original shows a sensitivity on Derrida’s part to the kind of project that Esposito wants to engage in, and indeed a major theme of Derrida’s work was his use of the concept of the pharmakon as something that transgressed a boundary between seemingly discrete opposites; the term pharmakon could refer to either a poison or a cure. But Esposito claims that focusing on the opposition between speech and writing ensures that it will never be overcome, and so this criticism of writing (as an imitation) must be demoted in importance. Esposito therefore ultimately distances herself from Derrida and also spends time taking on the importance of the so-called Unwritten Doctrines, especially as outlined by the Tübingen School. The Tübingen School straightforwardly accepts the criticism of writing in comparison to speech and so develops a theory of unwritten doctrines that Plato would only transfer orally. Given her project of synthesizing the tension between writing and speech, it is unsurprising that Esposito would be hostile to the project of the Tübingen School, “which this work does not consider sustainable.”In the second chapter Esposito moves on to the critique of speech. Here the core of her analysis is given to the Sophist, which provides us with “the best ontological expression of the criticism of image making.” The wider criticism of the Sophist is centered on the observation that appearances are bound up with nonbeing itself; “the biggest challenge posed by the sophist and the main danger of the mimetic mechanism is revealed: both allow the pseudos... (shrink)

For over a decade now epistemologists have been thinking about the peer disagreement problem of whether a person is reasonable in not lowering her confidence in her belief P when she comes to accept that she has an epistemic peer on P who disbelieves P. However, epistemologists have overlooked a key realistic way how epistemic peers can, or even have to, differ epistemically—a way that reveals the inadequacy of both conformist and non-conformist views on peer disagreement by uncovering how the (...) causes of peer disagreement bear on the debate’s core philosophical issue. Part of our argument for this thesis will involve giving a thorough yet entirely informal presentation of mathematical theorems in economics by Robert Aumann :1236–1239,1976) and Polemarchakis and Geneakoplos which represent a formally precise description of how two rational agents must deal with disagreement under certain epistemically interesting circumstances. (shrink)

We show a somewhat surprising result concerning the relationship between the Principal Principle and its allegedly generalized form. Then, we formulate a few desiderata concerning chance-credence norms and argue that none of the norms widely discussed in the literature satisfies all of them. We suggest that the New Principle comes out as the best contender.

Far from considering the phenomenon of disagreement across the board, the peer debate in epistemology solely focuses on cases of disagreements that are at least assumed to be genuine. What counts as a genuine disagreement is most of the times kept on the level of a pre-theoretical intuition according to which the peers disagree insofar as they hold incompatible doxastic attitudes with respect to a proposition P (King, 2012). Yet, the pre-theoretical intuition yields the wrong verdict when the bone of (...) contention is a proposition whose truth is relativized. In order to avoid these counter-intuitive results, the peer debate needs to replace the pre-theoretical intuition of genuine disagreement with a full-fledged account of it. In this essay I firstly put forth a possible candidate for the role coming from an ongoing discussion in philosophy of language. Then, I assess how well such an account fares in both an outright and a credal model of belief. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Ideas 66.4 (2005) 527-539 [Access article in PDF] Salvatore Camporeale's Contribution to Theology and the History of the Church Mariangela Regoliosi University of Florence Salvatore Camporeale's research, as rich and varied as it was, revolved around several primary axes and was inspired by several fundamental concerns.1 One of the objectives that certainly oriented his cultural effort was a serious, critical, and passionate desire (...) to reform the church, to recuperate its radical and founding truths, to go beyond all superstructure and pseudo-truth. I believe that, for this very reason, Camporeale engaged with Valla (to whom he devoted most of his scholarly work): because the latter had, with extraordinary lucidity, raised issues and proposed solutions in perfect keeping with his own essential needs.Naturally, arriving at such a perception of the innovativevalue and ideological depth of Valla's thoughtinvolved far more than this. We are indebted to Camporeale for having developed the lesson of his mentor, Eugenio Garin: that is, the view that—against the interpretive limitations widely heldby other scholars and other schools—Lorenzo Valla was not onlythe excellentphilological emender of Livy's text, nor simply the "grammarian" restorer of the Latin language, but that such tangible gifts and capacities were sustained by more general philosophical motives and by an organic project of cultural refounding, that would challenge established categoriesin all fields, from language to history to theology.Camporeale was thus able to identify—beginning with his distinguished book published in 1972, Lorenzo Valla. Umanesimo e teologia—the foundations and ultimate scope of Valla's philosophy of language and, consequently, the unifying elements in his apparently heterogeneous works, which range from historiography to historical criticism, from ethics to linguistics, from [End Page 527] logic to rhetoric, from the philological study of classical works to that of the NewTestament. And he was able to see that, also for Valla, the critical revision of the ecclesiastical tradition, and of the "models" of theological discourse, had been a Leitmotiv or, better yet, an arrival point.It is within this specific, though not limited sphere of inquiry that I intend to situate my study, a personal, brief recollection of the friend we lost. Therefore, I will focus on two particular contributions, one from 1977, Lorenzo Valla tra Medioevo e Rinascimento. "Encomion s. Thomae". 1457, the other from 1988, Lorenzo Valla e il "De falso credita donatione". Retorica, libertà ed ecclesiologia nel '400. As their titles openly declare, they investigate two of Valla's works diverging not only in time but in content as well ("De falso credita donatione" dates from 1440, the "Encomion sancti Thomae" from 1457); the one is intended to denounce the so-called "Donation of Constantine" as a forgery, the other to commemorate Saint Thomas on the day of his liturgical anniversary. And yet, Camporeale correctly identifies a peculiar and intrinsic unity in these works, namely the effort to rediscover an authentic Christianity: an authentic "form" of the church on the one hand, and an authentic "form" of Christian theology on the other.I will start with, and devote special attention to, the Encomion sancti Thomae. Camporeale correctly recognized this short text as Valla's "spiritual testament," not only, or not so much because it is his last piece of writing (he died a few months after the Encomion), but because, in a few dense but clear pages, it sums up Valla's entire logico-linguistic program and, consequently, his stance on the expressive potentialities of human language, up to the highest levels of the expressible, those of metaphysics and of theology. The way Camporeale develops his considerations on the "panegyric" is admirable, as he supports it with the experienced philosophical and theological competence (in the history of theology, and especially Thomistic theology) that he, as a Dominican, mastered so well. (In passing, it is worth noting that such competence alone could allow for a thorough assessment of the historical significance of Valla's discourse, too frequently trivialized or misunderstood by readers lacking the necessary tools). The following... (shrink)

This paper aims to focus on certain aspects of two education methods: one initiated in the first half of the twentieth century by Maria Montessori, and the other in the second half of that century by Matthew Lipman. The aim – neither comparative nor analytical – is to shed light on the connections and, more specifically, the elements of the Montessori Method that reflect on Lipman’s proposal. The question this paper aims to answer is: can P4C find fertile ground in (...) schools applying the Montessori Method? The paper will focus, among other elements: on the importance to give space to thinking experience from childhood and on the recognition of the value of childhood. Both Lipman and Montessori have systematically observed children of different ages – the former in the first half, the latter in the second half of the twentieth century. Both characterized, gave value, and focused their scientific contributions on children’s ability to think and express their thoughts through languages. As educational researchers and professionals know, children have the ability to think, but such ability has not always been considered to exist. Even when it is evoked in words, educational choices and proposals seem – still today – to express mistrust towards children’s thought. The two mentioned authors have repeatedly highlighted the importance of an essential right: the right to think and to be given a space – even as children – to exercise thinking with others. In particular, both authors – though envisaging different educational paths – identified the same categories functional to exercising thinking. Their interconnection may guide the actions of teachers, educators, and learning process experts. In fact, P4C might play a role in educational contexts in which the class is already considered a community of inquiry, in which the teacher is assigned the same role as a facilitator. (shrink)

Estudo bibliográfico, teórico-exploratório sobre memória institucional e sua complexa relação com a memória histórica nacional. Teve por objetivo geral contribuir para a reflexão acerca do modo como a biblioteca do Tribunal de Justiça Militar do Rio Grande do Sul poderia analisar documentos sensíveis para organizar, preservar e disseminar as informações contidas nos processos judiciais históricos atinentes a fatos ocorridos de 1964 a 1985 de forma a torná-las disponíveis para pesquisas futuras. Apresenta breve reflexão sobre memória institucional e sua tensão frente (...) à memória/história. Mostra, como exemplos de processos judiciais sensíveis relevantes, os que foram instaurados durante o regime de exceção de 1964, e alcançaram os chamados grupos “Os Onze da Brigada”, utilizando a metáfora dos “homens infames” de Michel Foucault. Por fim, postula a pertinência de manutenção deste tipo de processo para evitar o apagamento das informações e proporcionar futuras pesquisas. Reconhece lacunas não respondidas acerca da organização propriamente dita deste acervo, motivadas pelo período de fechamento das instituições no contexto da COVID-19, pandemia mundial, e aponta para a conveniência de prosseguimento da pesquisa ou novas pesquisas no rico acervo. (shrink)

Cet article a pour objet de mettre en perspective, selon une approche épistémologique, les théories du _blending _(ou « intégration conceptuelle ») et de l’analogie. Il se situe dans le cadre de la sémantique cognitive (Fauconnier, 1985 ; Fauconnier et Turner, 1996, 1998 et 2002), de la linguistique analogique (Monneret 2004, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023) et de la psychologie cognitive (Gentner 1983 ; Gentner _et al_., 2001 ; Hofstadter 2001 ; Hofstadter et Fluid Analogies Research Group 1995; Hofstadter (...) et Sander 2013). Plus spécifiquement, la question posée est celle de savoir si le processus analogique est sous-jacent à la formation et à la structuration de l’IC ou si ce dernier n’est qu’un cas particulier de processus analogique. L’article se développera en trois points i) une introduction aux espaces mentaux et à l’IC visant à examiner la place de l’analogie dans le modèle ; ii) une présentation du modèle analogique en linguistique ; iii) une comparaison entre les deux modèles. (shrink)

This essay analyses Leibniz’s criticism of Thomasius’s work Is Heresy a Punishable Crime (1697) which at first glance could be seen as an argument against the inclusion of Leibniz in the history of toleration - a much-discussed topic in the Leibniz literature. Through close examination of Thomasius’s reasons in support of the decriminalization of heresy and Leibniz’s replies to them, I aim to demonstrate that Leibniz’s criticism towards Thomasius was more concerned with the foundation of religious truth than the extent (...) of toleration, which, for Leibniz as well as for Thomasius, should characterise public and, especially, intellectual life. (shrink)

Este artigo buscou analisar alguns aspectos discursivos na obra Tenda dos Milagres, de autoria de Jorge Amado. Parte da percepção de que a discursividade religiosa que permeia a discursividade literária de Jorge Amado apresenta uma simbolização e ressignificação dos processos identitários, culturais e sócio-históricos próprios da matriz africana. Logo, adotando alguns dos procedimentos da análise do discurso sob uma perspectiva foucaultiana, o objetivo foi, por meio das práticas de subjetivação e objetivação, perceber as subjetividades que envolvem as vozes que emergem (...) no discurso religioso, o candomblé, na obra Tenda dos Milagres. As análises oportunizaram a constatação de que os silenciamentos e as subjetividades produzidas nos locais de moradia e no Candomblé constituem sentidos nos movimentos na e da história, na composição dos sujeitos do discurso e suas identidades, demarcando resistências e lutas que preservam a cultura, etnicidade, manifestações de fé e de pertencimentos dos sujeitos-personagens da obra desse escritor baiano. (shrink)

O presente artigo discute a educação de pessoas jovens e adultas privadas de liberdade como um direito humano. Analisa as principais normas nacional e internacionais que fundamentam esse direito e discute o modo precário como ele vem sendo implantado no Brasil, tomando por base empírica a pesquisa realizada pela organização nãogovernamental Ação Educativa e parceiros em quatro penitenciárias e quatro centros de detenção provisória do Estado de São Paulo. As informações levantadas entre os meses de outubro e novembro de 2012 (...) buscaram traçar um diagnóstico sobre as condições físicas para o funcionamento das atividades educativas, as expectativas da população carcerária acerca dos estudos, além de procurar compreender o envolvimento de funcionários com as práticas educativas. Os dados foram analisados tomando-se as dimensões propostas por Tomasevski, ex-relatora da ONU para o direito à educação, com base na noção de educação como um direito humano: disponibilidade, acessibilidade, adaptabilidade e aceitabilidade. O material empírico e as análises apontam para, por um lado, oreconhecimento legal do direito à educação da população encarcerada, seja ela formal ou não formal, e por outro, a precária condição de oferta desse direito. Baseado no conceito “prisão pós-disciplinar” de Chantraine, o texto conclui que o direito à educação tem sido utilizado muito mais como mecanismo de controle das populações encarceradas, estando distante do seu reconhecimento como um processo de promoção humana e reinserção na sociedade. Palavras-chave: Educação nas prisões. Educação de jovens e adultos. Educação como direito humano. Educação escolar. Educação não formal. (shrink)

This paper argues that James Mill is worthy of greater study than he now receives. It outlines the course of scholarship on James Mill, and considers various hypotheses to explain the decline of interest in his writings. Two examples, in education and penal theory, are presented of cases in which James Mill's views differed significantly from Bentham's, and anticipated those of John Stuart Mill.

Este artigo aponta as mudanças de paradigmas que revelam a crise da soberania, conceito central de toda a estrutura teórica e política da modernidade, que tem origem e se sustenta na ideia do poder como fenômeno que transcende a realidade objetiva dos homens. A crise da soberania coloca em evidência o poder como potência que se manifesta através das relações de forças no campo social. É essa mudança de perspectiva que atribui ao poder concretude histórica. E é nela que se (...) assenta o pensamento de alguns autores como Arendt, Foucault e Negri. (shrink)

Estudo bibliográfico, teórico-exploratório sobre memória institucional e sua complexa relação com a memória histórica nacional. Teve por objetivo geral contribuir para a reflexão acerca do modo como a biblioteca do Tribunal de Justiça Militar do Rio Grande do Sul poderia analisar documentos sensíveis para organizar, preservar e disseminar as informações contidas nos processos judiciais históricos atinentes a fatos ocorridos de 1964 a 1985 de forma a torná-las disponíveis para pesquisas futuras. Apresenta breve reflexão sobre memória institucional e sua tensão frente (...) à memória/história. Mostra, como exemplos de processos judiciais sensíveis relevantes, os que foram instaurados durante o regime de exceção de 1964, e alcançaram os chamados grupos “Os Onze da Brigada”, utilizando a metáfora dos “homens infames” de Michel Foucault. Por fim, postula a pertinência de manutenção deste tipo de processo para evitar o apagamento das informações e proporcionar futuras pesquisas. Reconhece lacunas não respondidas acerca da organização propriamente dita deste acervo, motivadas pelo período de fechamento das instituições no contexto da COVID-19, pandemia mundial, e aponta para a conveniência de prosseguimento da pesquisa ou novas pesquisas no rico acervo. (shrink)

Introduction -- Ethics and aesthetics, theories of intersection -- Memory, redemption and salvation -- Disembodied tellers and delayed signification -- Orality and the ethics of telling -- Healing hands, harming hands -- "Body talk": beloved and fragmentation.

Este artigo propõe uma leitura da relação entre a cidade, a morte e algumas das religiões que presidiram ou consolidaram a formação das cidades. Tendo por objetivo investigar paradigmas que nortearam a criação e habitabilidade de cidades em diferentes lugares e períodos históricos, pressupõe que uma reflexão sobre esses paradigmas, ainda que breve, fornecerá algum subsídio para uma leitura da cidade contemporânea e da crise que atravessa. Nesse intuito, propõe o cotejamento de textos históricos e míticos, atribuindo igual valor ao (...) que se tem registrado sobre a gênese das cidades, à luz dos estudos culturais. Destacam-se a presença da morte e a maneira como propiciou o desejo de união dos grupos. Nesse contexto, diferentes religiões incidiram como laço e lastro do espaço público, condição necessária para a manutenção da ética. Exerceram seu papel de religar vivos e mortos, a realidade natural e a sobrenatural, mesmo quando manipuladas em busca de poder. Isso se dá, de diferentes maneiras, até o século XIX, quando cedem lugar a outras instituições e novos pressupostos. No século XXI, assistimos a uma crise das cidades, o que, se bem valiado, pode propiciar a construção de outros paradigmas, em consonância com as aspirações contemporâneas. Palavras-chave: Cidade; Morte; Religião. ABSTRACT This article presents a reading of the relation between the city, death and some of the religions that presided over or consolidated the development of cities. Aiming at investigating the paradigms that oriented the creation and viability of cities in various places and historical periods, it assumes that a reflection on those paradigms, however brief, can provide subsidies for a reading of the contemporary city and the crisis it is facing. In that sense, it focuses on historical and mythical texts, attributing equal value to what is recorded concerning the genesis of cities, in the light of cultural studies. Emphasis is given to the presence of death and the way it propitiated an urge for union in groups. In that context, different religions were the bonds and the reservoir of public space, a necessary condition to preserve ethics. They played the role of re-connecting the living and the dead, natural and supernatural reality, even when they were manipulated in the search for power. This happened, in different ways, until the 19th century, when new institutions and presuppositions emerged. In the 21st century, we witness a crisis in the cities, which, if properly assessed, may lead to the construction of other paradigms, in harmony with contemporary expectations. Key words: City; Death; Religion. (shrink)

Roberto Esposito is one of the most prolific and important exponents of contemporary Italian political theory.

: By introducing us into core concepts of Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems, Elena Esposito shows their relevance for contemporary social sciences and the study of unsettled times….

This book by Roberto Esposito - a leading Italian political philosopher - is a highly original exploration of the relationship between human bodies and societies. The original function of law, even before it was codified, was to preserve peaceful cohabitation between people who were exposed to the risk of destructive conflict. Just as the human body's immune system protects the organism from deadly incursions by viruses and other threats, law also ensures the survival of the community in a life-threatening (...) situation. It protects and prolongs life. But the function of law as a form of immunization points to a more disturbing consideration. Like the individual body, the collective body can be immunized from the perceived danger only by allowing a little of what threatens it to enter its protective boundaries. This means that in order to escape the clutches of death, life is forced to incorporate within itself the lethal principle. Starting from this reflection on the nature of immunization, Esposito offers a wide-ranging analysis of contemporary biopolitics. Never more than at present has the demand for immunization come to characterize all aspects of our existence. The more we feel at risk of being infiltrated and infected by foreign elements, the more the life of the individual and society closes off within its protective boundaries, forcing us to choose between a self-destructive outcome and a more radical alternative based on a new conception of community. (shrink)

Roberto Esposito is one of leading figures in a new generation of Italian philosophers. This book criticizes the notion of the person and develops an original account of the concept of the impersonal - what he calls the third person.

In this book, Esposito presents a historiography of organicist and holistic thought through an examination of the work of leading biologists from Britain and America. He shows how this work relates to earlier Romantic tradition and sets it within the wider context of the history and philosophy of the life sciences.

Introduction : nothing in common -- Fear -- Guilt -- Law -- Ecstasy -- Experience -- Appendix : nihilism and community.

The work of contemporary Italian thinkers, what Roberto Esposito refers to as Italian Theory, is attracting increasing attention around the world. This book explores the reasons for its growing popularity, its distinguishing traits, and why people are turning to these authors for answers to real-world issues and problems. The approach he takes, in line with the keen historical consciousness of Italian thinkers themselves, is a historical one. He offers insights into the great "unphilosophical" philosophers of life—poets, painters, politicians and (...) revolutionaries, film-makers and literary critics—who have made Italian thought, from its beginnings, an "impure" thought. People like Machiavelli, Croce, Gentile, and Gramsci were all compelled to fulfill important political roles in the societies of their times. No wonder they felt that the abstract vocabulary and concepts of pure philosophy were inadequate to express themselves. Similarly, artists such as Dante, Leonardo Da Vinci, Leopardi, or Pasolini all had to turn to other disciplines outside philosophy in order to discuss and grapple with the messy, constantly changing realities of their lives. For this very reason, says Esposito, because Italian thinkers have always been deeply engaged with the concrete reality of life and because they have looked for the answers of today in the origins of their own historical roots, Italian theory is a "living thought." Hence the relevance or actuality that it holds for us today. Continuing in this tradition, the work of Roberto Esposito is distinguished by its interdisciplinary breadth. In this book, he passes effortlessly from literary criticism to art history, through political history and philosophy, in an expository style that welcomes non-philosophers to engage in the most pressing problems of our times. As in all his works, Esposito is inclusive rather than exclusive; in being so, he celebrates the affirmative potency of life. (shrink)

An invaluable introduction to the breadth and rigor of Esposito's thought, the book will also welcome readers already familiar with Esposito's characteristic skill in overturning and breaking open the language of politics.

What is the relationship between persons and things? And how does the body transform this relationship? In this highly original new book, Roberto Esposito - one of Italy’s leading political philosophers - considers these questions and shows that starting from the body, rather than from the thing or the person, can help us to reconsider the status of both. Ever since its beginnings, our civilization has been based on a strict, unequivocal distinction between persons and things, founded on the (...) instrumental domination of persons over things. This opposition arose out of ancient Roman law and persisted throughout modernity, to take its place in our current global market, where it continues to generate growing contradictions. Although the distinction seems to appear clear and necessary to us, what we are continually witnessing in legal, economic, and technological practice is a reversal of perspectives: some categories of persons are becoming assimilated with things, while some types of things are taking on a personal profile. With his customary rigour, Roberto Esposito argues that there exists an escape route out of this paradox, constituted by a new point of view founded in the body. Neither a person nor a thing, the human body becomes the decisive element in rethinking the concepts and values that govern our philosophical, legal, and political lexicons. (shrink)

This exceptionally successful survey text introduces the teachings and practice of Islam from its earliest origins up to its contemporary practice. John L. Esposito, an internationally renowned expert on Islam, traces the development of Islam and its impact on world history and politics.Lucidly written and expansive in scope, Islam: The Straight Path, Updated Fifth Edition, provides keen insight into one of the world's least understood religions. It is ideally suited for use in courses on Islam, world religions, comparative religions, (...) and Middle East history and culture.A FREE 6-month subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies Online, edited by John L. Esposito, is included with the purchase of every new copy of this text. (shrink)

After two years of global pandemic, it is no surprise that immunization is now at the center of our experience. From the medicalization of politics to the disciplining of individuals, from lockdowns to mass vaccination programs, contemporary societies seem to be firmly embedded in a syndrome of immunity. To understand the ambivalent effects of this development, it is necessary to go back to its modern genesis, when the languages of law, politics, and medicine began to merge into the biopolitical regime (...) we have been living under for some time. This regime places a high priority on immunization and security: no security is more important than health security. The Covid-19 pandemic has taken the dynamic of immunization to a new level: for the first time in history, we see societies seeking to achieve generalized immunity in their entire populations through vaccination. This allows us to glimpse the possibility of a “common immunity” that strengthens the relation between community and immunity. The dramatic tensions we have experienced in recent years between security and freedom, norm and exception, power and existence, all refer to the complex relationship between community and immunity, the decisive features of which are reconstructed in this book. Building on the prescient argument originally developed two decades ago in Immunitas, Roberto Esposito demonstrates in this new book how the pandemic and our responses to it have brought into sharp relief the fundamental biopolitical conditions of our contemporary societies. (shrink)