Amid a devastating economic crisis, two tragic events coming from the outside the wave of immigration and Islamic terrorism have radically changed the profile and significance of the space we call Europe. Given a paradigm leap of this sort, philosophical reflection is in a position to exert its creative power more than other types of knowledge. But this can only happen if it is able to go beyond its own lexical boundaries, by turning its gaze outside itself.Here the leading Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito looks at how various strands of German, French, and Italian thought have achieved this outward turn and successfully captured international attention by breaking with the language of early nineteenth-century crisis philosophies. When analyzed from this novel perspective, the great texts of Adorno, Derrida, Foucault, and Deleuze, as well as works by the latest Italian thinkers, are cast in a new light. From the relationship and tension between them, reconstructed here with extraordinary theoretical sensitivity, a form of thought can arise that is equal to the challenges faced by Europe today. This erudite and wide-ranging analysis of European thought in the light of the crises facing the continent today will appeal to students and scholars of philosophy, critical theory, and beyond.

Roberto Esposito teaches contemporary philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa.

IntroductionI. The Crisis Dispositif1. The Metaphysics of Crisis2. From the Night3. Sea and LandArticulation III. German Philosophy1. From the Other Shore2. The Resurgence of the Archaic3. Outside in the ConceptArticulation IIIII. French Theory1. Difference and History2. The Undecidable3. The Thought of the OutsideArticulation IIIIV. Italian Thought1. Power and the Immediate2. An Affirmative Thought3. Beyond Political TheologyArticulation IVV. A Philosophy for Europe1. A Europe with No People2. On the Borders of Europe3. The Two Peoples of EuropeIndexNotes