Breaking Grounds : Philosophy, Politics, and the Question of Foundation

Confronted with an arguably incomplete critique of the notion and history of sovereignty, contemporary lines of thinking have forcefully returned to the inquiry into philosophical and political foundations. These theoretical approaches in philosophy and the humanities at large have attempted to find possibilities of dialogue concerning the critique of sovereign structures of power, the undoing of systemic violence, as well as the development of ideas of community and mutual aid. This volume aims to investigate the contemporary philosophical attempts at questioning traditional concepts of philosophical and political foundations in order to rethink the central notion of ground or arché. By considering from the outset the notion of “ground” or foundation as an inherently philosophical and political notion, the authors of the essays investigate the mutual dependence and constitutive influence of philosophy and politics. The essays thus highlight in particular the political stakes of what appear to be philosophically neutral concepts, as well as the philosophical origin of what appear to be politically contingent events.