Alexandre Kojève and the Specters of Russian Philosophy

Recounts Koj鋦e's key role in the pivotal exchange of ideas between Eastern and Western European intellectuals in the early twentieth century

This book shines critical new light on the story of Alexandre Koj鋦e's intellectual origins and his role in the emigration of Russian philosophy into the West in the early twentieth century. Trevor Wilson illustrates how Koj鋦e, at once adversarial to the insular communities of 幦igr?philosophy and yet dependent on their networks and ideas for professional success, navigated the specters of the Russian tradition in pursuit of an autonomous self-definition as a philosopher and intellectual.

Alexandre Koj鋦e and the Specters of Russian Philosophy analyzes the philosopher's complicated relationship to the interwar diaspora and the complex role played by the Russian tradition in his intellectual formation. Wilson examines Koj鋦e's early writings in the 幦igr?press on Russian religious philosophy, Soviet politics, and Eurasianism and argues for their enduring relevance for understanding Koj鋦e in his mature period. Crucially, he contextualizes Koj鋦e's famed seminars on Hegel and examines how Koj鋦e's thought became embedded in the politics of the Cold War. Based on newly transcribed and translated archival material, he highlights a previously unacknowledged, transnational exchange of ideas between Eastern and Western European intellectuals and shows how it played a pivotal role in twentieth-century intellectual history--and its legacy in the twenty-first.