![]() ![]() ![]() As a function of our dependence on others, it cannot exist apart from them. Freedom, conceived in these terms, is understood as the gift of others. He does so by understanding political freedom in terms of embodiment-in particular, in terms of the finitude and interdependence that our embodiment entails. To contest this interpretation, Mensch argues against its presupposition, which is to equate freedom with sovereignty over others. This involves confronting a line of interpretation, stretching from Hobbes to Agamben, which sees violence as both initiating and preserving the social contract. He then applies the results of his investigation to the relations of power, authority, freedom, and sovereignty in public life. Mensch begins his inquiry by developing a philosophical anthropology based on this concept. How does the body politic reflect the nature of human embodiment? To pursue this question in a new and productive way, James Mensch employs a methodology consistent with the fact of our embodiment he uses Merleau-Ponty’s concept of "intertwining"-the presence of one’s self in the world and of the world in one’s self-to understand the ideas that define political life. ![]()
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