LIFE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL DISPOSITIF: REFLECTIONS ON THE NOTIONS OF LIFE AND POLITICS IN G. AGAMBEN AND R. ESPOSITO

Abstract

In this paper, we will discuss the notions of life and politics in the work of Giorgio Agamben and Roberto Esposito, who complement and expand Foucault’s reflections on biopolitics. Assuming that life and politics cannot be thought extrinsically or outside the historical processes that make them possible, we will ask ourselves: what do these authors understand by «life» and «politics»? What relationship do they establish between both terms? And between life and power? What relationship do these terms hold in our days? What conceptions of biopolitics do their theories enable? Can life be a foundation for politics?