'What ought we to think?' Castoriadis' Response to the Question for Thinking

Authors

  • Toula Nicolacopoulos La Trobe University
  • George Vassilacopoulos La Trobe University

Keywords:

Castoriadis, autonomy, philosophical critique, thinking

Abstract

Castoriadis views the project of autonomy as central to both political action and philosophical thinking. Although he acknowledges that the political project has retreated, he insists on its thinkability as a viable project. We argue that this insistence gives rise to an unresolved tension. Specifically, Castoriadis' substantive response to the question ‘what ought we to think?', which he gives in terms of the pursuit of the philosophical project of autonomy, ultimately fails to recognise the unavoidable effect of the political project's retreat on the thinker and this failure raises doubts as to whether Castoriadis' own thinking has the potential to move beyond a merely journalistic style of critique, which he finds objectionable.

Author Biography

Toula Nicolacopoulos, La Trobe University

a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/philosophy/toulan.htm" target="_blank"homepage/a

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Published

26-11-2012

How to Cite

Nicolacopoulos, T., & Vassilacopoulos, G. (2012). ’What ought we to think?’ Castoriadis’ Response to the Question for Thinking. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 8(2), 21–33. Retrieved from http://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/307