Political Philosophy

Agamben's Heidegger notebooks published: the Le Thor seminars

The notes Giorgio Agamben took at Heidegger's Le Thor seminars in Provence in 1966 and 1968 have appeared as 'The Time of Thinking'. Zone Books has also reissued the philosopher's collection 'Profanations'.

Giorgio Agamben

After Jürgen Habermas: the philosopher of the public sphere dies at 96

The philosopher who set the intellectual direction of post-war Germany died in Starnberg on 14 March 2026. President Steinmeier spoke at the memorial service in Frankfurt.

Jürgen Habermas

Two books from Žižek: 'Liberal Fascism' is out, 'Signs from the Future' in October

The Slovenian philosopher's collection of essays on authoritarianism packaged in the language of the free market has been published. The second book arrives on 29 October 2026.

Slavoj Žižek

Judith Butler at The New School: 'Contemporary fascist passions'

Butler gave the keynote at the GSSI Symposium on 23-25 April 2026. In February she spoke to an audience of some two hundred at WashU on 'Who's Afraid of Gender?'.

Judith Butler

Elizabeth Anderson at Lund: 'Libertarianism, inequality and the slide to authoritarianism'

The Michigan philosopher used her Pufendorf Lectures, delivered on 11-13 May 2026, to argue that the language of market freedom erodes political freedom.

Elizabeth Anderson

Cornel West: 'The United States is facing moral collapse and democratic decay'

The Union Theological Seminary philosopher told Al Jazeera that both major parties serve entrenched power. He gave a series of university lectures across the United States in the spring.

Cornel West

The Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture goes to Michael Sandel

The ninth winner of the one-million-dollar prize is the Harvard political philosopher known for his work on justice, the moral limits of markets and democracy. The ceremony takes place in Cambridge in the spring of 2026.

Peter Singer, Michael Sandel, Martha Nussbaum

Nussbaum's new book: opera and political freedom

Oxford University Press published Martha Nussbaum's 'The Republic of Love: Opera and Political Freedom' on 16 April 2026. Nussbaum reads opera, from Mozart to Verdi, as a field of political thought.

Martha Nussbaum

This Day in Philosophy — 5 August: the death of Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels died in London on 5 August 1895. Marx's close collaborator was decisive in the spread of historical materialism.