Abstract:
This thesis is aimed to give an in-depth interpretation of theories about authority elaborated by Alexandre Kojève and Gaston Fessard. Chapter 1 is concerned with the intellectual biography of Kojève and Fessard and provides an overview of main sources of their works. Chapter 2 endeavours to point out two philosophers’ attitude toward ideologies of authority in Vichy years, especially the relation between Kojève and Henry Moysset. Chapter 3 and 4 trace the growth and development of kojèvian and fessardian philosophies of authority. Chapter 5 provides a critical survey of ontological relation between authority and time. Chapter 6 focuses on the contemporary debate and discusses the proliferation of theoretical models of authority.
