Human/Animal : Stathis Gourgouris

My interest on this occasion is not to test the traditional humanist human-animal distinction, which in recent years has been examined in inventive ways, sometimes under the rubric of so-called posthumanism or animal studies. On the contrary, one might say that I am—for the purposes of argument—abolishing the distinction in the name of raising the possibility of. . .

Human/Animal : Stathis Gourgouris

My interest on this occasion is not to test the traditional humanist human-animal distinction, which in recent years has been examined in inventive ways, sometimes under the rubric of so-called posthumanism or animal studies. On the contrary, one might say that I am—for the purposes of argument—abolishing the distinction in the name of raising the possibility of. . .

Identity : Akeel Bilgrami

It is doubtful that the concept of identity is susceptible to a substantial philosophical treatment at a high level of generality. This is so not so much because there are too many disparate theories of identity, but more because the sorts of things, the question of whose identity are taken up by philosophers, are too disparate to get a uniform treatment. Broadly speaking. . .

Identity : Akeel Bilgrami

It is doubtful that the concept of identity is susceptible to a substantial philosophical treatment at a high level of generality. This is so not so much because there are too many disparate theories of identity, but more because the sorts of things, the question of whose identity are taken up by philosophers, are too disparate to get a uniform treatment. Broadly speaking. . .

Impolitic : Emily Apter

Impolitic, used as an adjective, hardly stands out as a high-performing political concept or premier Untranslatable on the order of the citoyen-sujet, partisano, subaltern, party hack, unpolitical man (as in Thomas Mann’s 1918 Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen (Reflections of an Unpolitical Man), or der Untertan (the title of Heinrich Mann’s 1914 novel. . .

Impolitic : Emily Apter

Impolitic, used as an adjective, hardly stands out as a high-performing political concept or premier Untranslatable on the order of the citoyen-sujet, partisano, subaltern, party hack, unpolitical man (as in Thomas Mann’s 1918 Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen (Reflections of an Unpolitical Man), or der Untertan (the title of Heinrich Mann’s 1914 novel. . .

Impunity : Zahid R. Chaudhary

On January 23, 2016 Trump declaimed at a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” The statement—perhaps exaggerated and perhaps not—is outside the bounds of true and false because it is a performative, enacting, among other things, a masculinist will to power, one that anticipates . . .

Impunity : Zahid R. Chaudhary

On January 23, 2016 Trump declaimed at a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” The statement—perhaps exaggerated and perhaps not—is outside the bounds of true and false because it is a performative, enacting, among other things, a masculinist will to power, one that anticipates . . .

Intelligence : Oded Zipory

A common discussion of the concept of intelligence is taking place in the discourse of psychology, which considers the most effective and reliable ways to measure this concept. This discussion also deals with the tension between the biological and the social foundations of intelligence, and mainly through an elaboration upon this tension, the context in which the. . .

Intelligence : Oded Zipory

A common discussion of the concept of intelligence is taking place in the discourse of psychology, which considers the most effective and reliable ways to measure this concept. This discussion also deals with the tension between the biological and the social foundations of intelligence, and mainly through an elaboration upon this tension, the context in which the. . .

Interior Frontiers : Ann Laura Stoler

This moment in which I write is one for which we should have been prepared: Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and Geert Wilders are no longer on distant dark horizons: they are dead center in forging the political cleavages of our times. They are singular crusaders but they are not alone. They operate through racialized distinctions and fears to which we might have . . .

Interior Frontiers : Ann Laura Stoler

This moment in which I write is one for which we should have been prepared: Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and Geert Wilders are no longer on distant dark horizons: they are dead center in forging the political cleavages of our times. They are singular crusaders but they are not alone. They operate through racialized distinctions and fears to which we might have . . .

Katechon : Peter Szendy

When one looks up the entry for the verb katechō in an ancient Greek dictionary—let us say the Liddell and Scott—, one finds: to hold fast, to hold back, to withhold, to check, to restrain, to bridle, to detain, to inhibit, to gain possession of, to be master of, to control, to possess, to occupy, to fill, to be spread over, to cover. The polysemy of the word is restrained, though, or . . .

Katechon : Peter Szendy

When one looks up the entry for the verb katechō in an ancient Greek dictionary—let us say the Liddell and Scott—, one finds: to hold fast, to hold back, to withhold, to check, to restrain, to bridle, to detain, to inhibit, to gain possession of, to be master of, to control, to possess, to occupy, to fill, to be spread over, to cover. The polysemy of the word is restrained, though, or . . .

Materialism : Patrice Maniglier

The concept I have chosen is not just one political concept among others; it is the concept of the politicality of concepts in general. This concept is materialism. Some might object that it is not a political but rather a metaphysical concept, and even that it is not a concept at all, but rather a doctrine, that is a system of concepts, or maybe just an Idea or an . . .

Materialism : Patrice Maniglier

The concept I have chosen is not just one political concept among others; it is the concept of the politicality of concepts in general. This concept is materialism. Some might object that it is not a political but rather a metaphysical concept, and even that it is not a concept at all, but rather a doctrine, that is a system of concepts, or maybe just an Idea or an . . .

Missing : Thangam Ravindranathan

Missing is not so much a concept here as a conceit, a trick, and I cannot say for sure whether I am the one playing the trick or the one tricked. Here’s how I might quickly tell this sticky, burdensome, embarrassing tale, less like an albatross than like a dog. There is a part of me that feels secretly, inordinately anxious in the presence of concepts. Do not worry, I said to . . .

Missing : Thangam Ravindranathan

Missing is not so much a concept here as a conceit, a trick, and I cannot say for sure whether I am the one playing the trick or the one tricked. Here’s how I might quickly tell this sticky, burdensome, embarrassing tale, less like an albatross than like a dog. There is a part of me that feels secretly, inordinately anxious in the presence of concepts. Do not worry, I said to . . .

Moral : Steven Lukes

Is the concept moral a political concept and, if so, in what ways? To address this as yet opaque question we must first recognize that the meanings of both ‘moral’ and ‘political’ are multiple and controversial. Some initial semantic underlaboring is therefore necessary to clear the way forward and this will inevitably involve stipulating, albeit provisionally, definitions of. . .

Moral : Steven Lukes

Is the concept moral a political concept and, if so, in what ways? To address this as yet opaque question we must first recognize that the meanings of both ‘moral’ and ‘political’ are multiple and controversial. Some initial semantic underlaboring is therefore necessary to clear the way forward and this will inevitably involve stipulating, albeit provisionally, definitions of. . .

Movement : Hagar Kotef

Movement is the change in the position of a body (object or subject) or part of it over the course of a certain interval of time. This is my working definition. By the end of this essay I hope to open this definition, not so much by “abstracting movement”—by thinking of the more “metaphoric” meanings it encompasses—but by exploring the ways in which the. . .

Movement : Hagar Kotef

Movement is the change in the position of a body (object or subject) or part of it over the course of a certain interval of time. This is my working definition. By the end of this essay I hope to open this definition, not so much by “abstracting movement”—by thinking of the more “metaphoric” meanings it encompasses—but by exploring the ways in which the. . .

Myth : Chiara Bottici

Why are philosophers, and in particular political philosophers, reluctant to focus on political myth as a primary topic for their investigations? Why do they keep oscillating between the Scylla of rationalism, with its normative standards, and the Charybdis of political theology, with its smell of death? Not only do political myths exist, but they are also theorized . . .

Myth : Chiara Bottici

Why are philosophers, and in particular political philosophers, reluctant to focus on political myth as a primary topic for their investigations? Why do they keep oscillating between the Scylla of rationalism, with its normative standards, and the Charybdis of political theology, with its smell of death? Not only do political myths exist, but they are also theorized . . .

Nature : Lukas Rieppel

Nature may seem like an unlikely choice for a lexical project devoted to political concepts. This is because it is often defined in terms of the non-human, such as when John Stuart Mill described it as everything “that takes place without the agency… of man.” For many, I suspect the word conjures a mental image of plants, animals, and perhaps even the wilderness. The . . .

Nature : Lukas Rieppel

Nature may seem like an unlikely choice for a lexical project devoted to political concepts. This is because it is often defined in terms of the non-human, such as when John Stuart Mill described it as everything “that takes place without the agency… of man.” For many, I suspect the word conjures a mental image of plants, animals, and perhaps even the wilderness. The . . .

Occupation : Jacques Rancière

Contributing to a lexicon of political terms normally supposes that you take for granted that politics exists per se as a well-established sphere of human activity, so that one should choose either a concept belonging to that sphere or a concept dealing with its foundations, be they ontological, theological, or other. My own contention, however, is that this . . .

Occupation : Jacques Rancière

Contributing to a lexicon of political terms normally supposes that you take for granted that politics exists per se as a well-established sphere of human activity, so that one should choose either a concept belonging to that sphere or a concept dealing with its foundations, be they ontological, theological, or other. My own contention, however, is that this . . .

Parasite : Anders M. Gullestad

From holy to base and comic, and then to degenerate and utterly worthless, fit for nothing but extinction: few examples show the extreme flexibility, adaptability, and changing fortunes of concepts as well as that of the parasite. What’s more, this strange historical trajectory has turned the parasite into a key term for understanding the exclusionary. . .

Parasite : Anders M. Gullestad

From holy to base and comic, and then to degenerate and utterly worthless, fit for nothing but extinction: few examples show the extreme flexibility, adaptability, and changing fortunes of concepts as well as that of the parasite. What’s more, this strange historical trajectory has turned the parasite into a key term for understanding the exclusionary. . .