This article has two mail goals. The first one, to present a synthesis of the main characteristics of Castoriadis’ sociohistorical world ontology. In other words, to expose the "theory of society" of the Greek French philosopher and its central concepts. The second is to problematize some of the key elements of this proposal, particularly the notion of social imaginary significations. Through a reflection on the idea of the site of significations, a proposal will be presented for the extension of the (...) Castorian ontology that will allow the organic inclusion in its interior of the whole of the material world. This will provide the reader with a tool for analysing the sociohistorical world, which may be the starting point for an entire programme of specific sociohistorical researchs. (shrink)

This article discusses the work of Cornelius Castoriadis, an important political thinker and theorist of democracy. Castoriadis developed not one but two theories of democracy based on two distinct understandings of autonomy. The first is compatible with the key features of representative government; the second is not. Unfortunately, Castoriadis models his interpretation of the idea of popular sovereignty on the second view, thereby concluding, like Rousseau before him, that it is incompatible with representative government. This article discusses both approaches and (...) presents a reinterpretation of political representation and of the idea of popular sovereignty in order to show how they can be made compatible. I argue that the discourse of popular sovereignty and the modern principles of representative government entail one another. (shrink)

¿Qué significa “la creación política”? Si deducimos esta idea general valorizando el discurso del filosofo contemporáneo Cornelius Castodiadis, cuando habla de proyecto de autonomía refiriéndose al proceso social-histórico donde nace la polis de Atenas, gracias al imaginario político griego, y donde se produce la revolución francesa a partir de la fin del cambio de la sociedad religiosa de la Edad Media, entonces podemos mostrar cuales son las presuposiciones lógica-ontológicas que constituyen las raíces de esta idea. Podemos aclarar su condición especifica (...) y su condición general, como también su expresión concreta a nivel de praxis de transformación social-histórica. Para llegar a este resultado es necesario analizar críticamente las ideas principales que Castoriadis conecte con la idea y la práctica de autonomía, y, en particular, las ideas de social-histórico y de política. Encontrando en la filosofía practica de Aldo Capitini, filosofo de la religión, una confirmación importante de una posible traducción ético-política de estas presuposiciones. (shrink)

In this paper I examine two theories of democracy that can be found in contemporary French philosophy. Both Cornelius Castoriadis and Jacques Rancière offer a critique of modern democracy with the purpose of refounding it. The ‘refoundation narratives’ they propose are both based on an account of the origins of democracy in ancient Greece. According to Castoriadis, ancient democracy is grounded in a ‘magma’ of ‘social imaginary significations’ in which ‘autonomy’ is considered the correct response to Being defined as an (...) insurmountable ‘Chaos’. On the contrary, modern democracy defines Being as a determinacy and consequently fails to grasp the notion of autonomy. According to Rancière, the origins of democracy are to be found in the invasion of the public space by ‘those without a part’ who consequently have no title to govern. The problem with the ‘domesticated’ modern democracy is that it denies the existence of Otherness; that is, of non-citizens excluded from the public space. Therefore it appears incapable of letting the ‘dis-agreement’ manifest itself and consequently incapable of transforming the ‘police’ order. After examining the meaning of both theories, I attempt to elucidate the difficulties encountered by each author in the attainment of his goal, which is that of refounding modern democracy. (shrink)

Sin lugar a dudas, los problemas que enfrenta hoy la humanidad, no son los mismos que enfrentamos en el siglo XIX. Una revisión somera de la prensa de cada país nos muestra en el acto una serie de fenómenos que, queramos o no, nos tocan a todos, son universales. Son fenómenos o problemas que se caracterizan por dos asuntos: primero, son enormes, es decir, están por fuera de las normas conocidas y por mucho que lo intentemos no los podemos reducir. (...) Segundo, al analizarlos empezamos a notar que se interconectan con otra serie de problemas o asuntos, es decir, se muestran en toda su complejidad. (shrink)

En este artículo me preguntaré por las razones que hicieron a Foucault, Castoriadis y Rancière ocuparse por la democracia antigua, básicamente a principios de los años 80 del siglo XX. Para dilucidar tales razones los vincularé con una tradición del helenismo francés–la Escuela de París–, con una trayectoria biográfica específica a cada uno de ellos y con los desafíos que representa la crisis del marxismo. Terminaré explicando por qué podemos aprender de nuestros tres autores gracias a un estudio del contexto (...) en el que produjeron sus ideas. (shrink)

This article examines the link between oligarchy and the notion of representative democracy, which for Castoriadis also implies the bureaucratisation of society. However, in an argument with and against Castoriadis, one has to decipher modern oligarchies before launching into a radical critique of the principle of representation. There is a diversity of representative democracies, and the complexity of modernity comes from a mixture of oligarchy, representation and democracy. Even though the idea of democracy has evolved, we do not live under (...) representative democracies but under liberal oligarchies. Direct democratic procedures and representative elements can sometimes be gathered in order to create new forms of political commitment. The main problem is avoiding a concentration of powers, which cannot create the conditions for the emergence of democratic institutions. (shrink)