BIOS: Biopolitika in filozofija

Knjiga velja za ključno delo v opusu italijanskega filozofa Roberta Esposita in prelomno delo na področju sodobnih raziskav koncepta biopolitike, ki ga je arheolog vednosti Michel Foucault uvedel sredi sedemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja. Esposito izhaja iz konceptualne zagate, ki preči Foucautovo teorijo biopolitike. Ta namreč nenehno niha med dvema nekompatibilnima definicijama, in sicer med pozitivno definicijo, ki biopolitiko pojmuje kot politiko življenjske rasti in širitve, in negativno definicijo, po kateri je biopolitika praksa uničevanja življenja. To protislovje Esposito razreši z uvedbo novega koncepta, ki manjka znotraj Foucaultovega aparata: paradigme imunosti kot načela moderne politike. Ta razdelava mu omogoča novo interpretacijo totalitarizmov 20. stoletja, v prvi vrsti nacizma, kjer iz predhodno utemeljene teze o uničujočem presežku imunosti in njeni nujni sprevrnitvi v svoje etimološko nasprotje (skupnost) izpelje tezo o ontološki nujnosti propada nacizma. Izhajajoč iz te dekonstrukcije avtor predstavi svojo teorijo afirmativne biopolitike, ki temelji na zagovoru primata skupnega in skupnosti nad lastnim in imunim.

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This key work by the Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito is widely regarded as a turning point in contemporary discussions on biopolitics, a concept invented in the 1970s by the archaeologist of knowledge, Michel Foucault. Esposito’s book ('Biopolitics and Philosophy') addresses the deadlocks in Foucault’s theory, which oscillates between two incompatible definitions: a positive one, attributing to biopolitics the capability to stimulate the growth and spread of life, and a negative one, according to which biopolitics annihilates life. Esposito resolves this contradiction by introducing a new concept, missing from Foucault’s apparatus: the paradigm of immunity as the principle of modern politics. This addition enables him to reinterpret the totalitarianisms of the 20th century, especially Nazism. His thesis on the destructive surplus of immunity and its inevitable transformation to community – its etymological opposite – leads the author to argue for the ontological necessity of the downfall of Nazism. On the basis of this deconstruction, Esposito presents his affirmative theory of biopolitics, founded on the primacy of the community and the common over immunity and the private.