The Agonistic Condition: Materialism and Democracy
Dimitris Vardoulakis, "The Agonistic Condition: Materialism and Democracy"
English | ISBN: 139954960X | 2025 | 320 pages | PDF | 7 MB
English | ISBN: 139954960X | 2025 | 320 pages | PDF | 7 MB
Political theory influenced by philosophy examines the political as the sphere of human interaction that is distinct from politics, the sphere of political institutions and parties. The political is usually described in conflictual terms, such as Marx’s class struggle, Heidegger’s polemos, Rancière’s dissensus, or the discourse of agonistic democracy.
This book challenges the premise of such constructions of agonism, namely, that the political is essentially distinct from means and ends calculations. He argues that this premise is derived from the critique of instrumental reason, which assumes that utilitarianism is correct that instrumental ends are measurable. This forgets an ancient tradition that describes phronesis as the primary ethical and political virtue because it calculates the good, which is however impossible to measure with any certainty.
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