Alterity and division in Marcel Gauchet.

Abstract

This research project will put forth an examination of the works of Marcel Gauchet on the subject of alterity and division and his questioning of their role in defining political and social organization. The recent presence of division and alterity, (or otherness) will be retraced through the transformation from earlier to modern societies, pausing to understand the phenomenon of the appearance of the State in human history. It will focus particular attention on the continuing role of alterity in modern and democratic society.