Pensare attraverso la tradizione : Cornelius Castoriadis e gli antichi

My doctoral thesis analyzes the relationship between Cornelius Castoriadis’ thought and ancient Greece. The aim is to demonstrate how the ancient world serves as a tool to revitalize and develop his reflections. In other words, Castoriadis thinks through the ancients and uses Greece as laboratory for rearticulating a crystallized thought. In this sense, his interest is not limited to the analysis of Greek democratic society but also concerns the discussion of ancient philosophy. My research shows the different forms and dimensions of his focus on Greece and reconstructs its origin, methods, and implications for his philosophical and political perspectives. Since Castoriadis’ interest in antiquity is not an expression of antiquarian or scholarly study, but rather of political and theoretical reflection, the operational questions through which he interrogates the Greeks primarily develops during the Socialisme ou barbarie period. The first chapter examines Castoriadis’ preliminary research for an unfinished doctoral thesis and demonstrates its connection to political and militant discussions about bureaucracy and workers’ self-management. Then, the analysis focuses on his critiques of contemplative thought and his definition of socialism. The second chapter illustrates how, during the 1960s, the framework of Marxist categories became theoretically untenable and practically inconclusive. In this context, ancient Greece offers new insights for articulating a project of collective emancipation in a democratic sense. It is also during these years that, through anthropological studies of the ancient world (i.e. Vernant, Vidal-Naquet), the author acquires the appropriate method for his investigation. The third chapter examines how The Imaginary Institution of Society articulates a new perspective through the discussion of Greek philosophy, particularly in relation to the notions of institution, time, magma, technique, and psyche. Finally, the fourth chapter addresses Castoriadis’ analysis of ancient society, as presented in his seminars of the 1980s at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. This analysis illustrates the shift towards a new notion of social autonomy and a new concept of “physis”.